nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, october 5, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 16 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

FOX (10.20 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.5, #1) edged out the competition on Wednesday thanks to a 90-minute "The X Factor" (11.54 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.9, #2) and a special "Raising Hope" (6.19 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.3, #10).

CBS (11.90 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.3, #2) then was a competitive second place with its mix of "Survivor: South Pacific" (10.54 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.1, #4), "Criminal Minds" (13.34 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.8, #3) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (11.81 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.9, #T6).

Next up was ABC (8.91 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.2, #3) and its lineup of "The Middle" (9.01 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.7, #8), "Suburgatory" (9.05 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.0, #5), "Modern Family" (13.08 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 5.6, #1), "Happy Endings" (6.92 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 2.9, #T6) and "Revenge" (7.69 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.5, #9).

Meanwhile, NBC (6.86 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4) offered up its sagging combination of "Up All Night" (5.65 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 2.2, #11), "Free Agents" (3.28 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.0, #14), "Harry's Law" (8.22 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #13) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (7.88 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.1, #12).

And finally, new episodes of "H8R" (1.15 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.4, #16) and "America's Next Top Model" (1.68 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.8, #15) on The CW (1.41 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5) rounded out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "H8R" posted a 0.4 rating while "Top Model" delivered a 1.1 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+5.56% - Criminal Minds
+5.00% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
+4.76% - Up All Night
+3.85% - The Middle
+2.63% - The X Factor
0.00% - Survivor: South Pacific
0.00% - Free Agents
0.00% - Modern Family
0.00% - Harry's Law
0.00% - America's Next Top Model
-3.33% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
-7.41% - Revenge
-9.09% - Suburgatory
-9.38% - Happy Endings
-33.33% - H8R

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+78.57% - Revenge (vs. The Whole Truth)
+46.67% - Up All Night (vs. Undercovers)
+38.10% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (vs. The Defenders)
+30.43% - Suburgatory (vs. Better With You)
+28.71% - The X Factor (vs. Hell's Kitchen)
+24.44% - Modern Family
+12.50% - The Middle
+8.57% - Criminal Minds
-6.45% - Happy Endings (vs. Cougar Town)
-11.11% - America's Next Top Model (vs. Hellcats)
-12.50% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (vs. Law & Order: Los Angeles)
-13.89% - Survivor
-30.30% - Raising Hope (vs. Hell's Kitchen)
-33.33% - Free Agents (vs. Undercovers)
-52.00% - Harry's Law (vs. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)
-69.23% - H8R (vs. America's Next Top Model)

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 3.1/8; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.9/7; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.4/8; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/4.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.9/4; "Late Show," 0.8/4; "Nightline," 1.2/5; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.7/6 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.4/5). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.5/3).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 1.0/5 in metered-market households and a 0.5/4 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (10/6/10):

FOX (6.63 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.1, #T1) and CBS (11.62 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.1, #T1) split adults 18-49 honors on Wednesday as the former offered up new episodes of "Hell's Kitchen" (6.22 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.9, #6) and a second "Hell's Kitchen" (7.03 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 3.3, #4).

The Eye then offered up its mix of "Survivor: Nicaragua" (11.83 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.6, #2), "Criminal Minds" (13.74 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.5, #3) and "The Defenders" (9.29 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.1, #11).

Next up was ABC (7.08 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.5, #3) with fresh installments of "The Middle" (7.97 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.4, #T8), "Better With You" (6.89 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.3, #10), "Modern Family" (11.34 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.5, #1), "Cougar Town" (7.20 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 3.1, #5) and "The Whole Truth" (4.53 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.4, #13).

Meanwhile, NBC (7.71 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.1, #4) offered up new episodes of "Undercovers" (6.24 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.5, #12), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (8.66 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.5, #7) and week two of "Law & Order: Los Angeles" (8.23 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.4, #T8).

And finally, new installments of "America's Next Top Model" (2.85 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.3, #14) and "Hellcats" (2.16 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.9, #15) on The CW (2.51 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.1, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Better With You (9.50%), The Whole Truth (7.70%), Cougar Town (6.90%), Hell's Kitchen (6.90%), Survivor: Nicaragua (5.90%), Modern Family (0.00%), The Middle (0.00%), America's Next Top Model (0.00%), Hellcats (0.00%), Criminal Minds (-2.80%), Undercovers (-6.30%), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (-7.40%), The Defenders (-16.00%), Law & Order: Los Angeles (-22.60%).

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (3.1/8) took top honors over ABC's "Nightline" (2.8/7) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.4/6). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.2/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.3/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.6/6) and "Daly" (1.0/4) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research