nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, october 12, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

ABC (9.08 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.4, #1) snagged the top spot on Wednesday thanks to new episodes of "The Middle" (8.83 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.8, #7), "Suburgatory" (8.79 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 3.0, #6), "Modern Family" (13.42 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.7, #1), "Happy Endings" (7.55 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 3.3, #3) and "Revenge" (7.94 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.7, #8).

CBS (11.33 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.2, #2) then was the most-watched network with fresh installments of "Survivor: South Pacific" (10.55 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.2, #4), "Criminal Minds" (12.68 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.7, #2) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (10.77 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.6, #9).

Meanwhile, FOX (9.44 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.0, #3) served up its rain delayed coverage of the "ALCS, Game 4" (9.44 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.0, #5).

Next up was NBC (6.48 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4) and its mix of "Up All Night" (5.25 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.0, #11), a repeat "Whitney" (3.99 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.3, #12), "Harry's Law" (7.64 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.2, #13) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (7.18 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 2.1, #10).

And finally, a repeat of "Ringer" (1.17 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #15) led into a new "America's Next Top Model" (1.86 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.8, #14) on The CW (1.52 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Ringer" posted a 0.5 rating while "Top Model" delivered a 1.1 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+13.79% - Happy Endings
+8.00% - Revenge
+3.70% - The Middle
+3.23% - Survivor: South Pacific
+1.79% - Modern Family
0.00% - Suburgatory
0.00% - Harry's Law
0.00% - America's Next Top Model
0.00% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
-2.63% - Criminal Minds
-9.09% - Up All Night
-10.34% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+50.00% - Revenge (vs. 20/20: Miracle at the Mine)
+42.86% - Suburgatory (vs. Better With You)
+33.33% - Up All Night (vs. Undercovers)
+21.28% - Modern Family
+16.67% - The Middle
+10.53% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (vs. Law & Order: Los Angeles)
+5.71% - Criminal Minds
+4.00% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (vs. The Defenders)
+3.12% - Happy Endings (vs. Cougar Town)
-11.11% - America's Next Top Model (vs. Hellcats)
-13.51% - Survivor: South Pacific
-45.45% - Harry's Law (vs. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)

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," 3.0/8; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 3.0/8; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.2/8; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.6/5.

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," 0.7/4.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.5/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.3/5). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/2).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 1.0/4 in metered-market households and a 0.4/3 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 (10/13/10):

CBS (11.96 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.2, #1) was the network to beat on Wednesday with new episodes of "Survivor: Nicaragua" (12.13 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.7, #2), "Criminal Minds" (13.84 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.5, #3) and "The Defenders" (9.90 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.5, #7).

A silver medal then went to FOX (6.79 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.1, #2) with fresh installments of "Hell's Kitchen" (6.26 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 2.8, #6) and a second hour of "Hell's Kitchen" (7.33 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 3.4, #4).

Next up was ABC (7.57 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.7, #3) with its mix of "The Middle" (7.94 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.4, #8), "Better With You" (6.50 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.1, #10),

"Modern Family" (11.34 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.7, #1), "Cougar Town" (7.30 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 3.2, #5) and its last-minute special "20/20: Miracle at the Mine" (6.16 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.8, #12).

Meanwhile, NBC (7.06 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #4) offered up new episodes of "Undercovers" (5.98 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.5, #13), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (8.00 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.2, #9) and "Law & Order: Los Angeles" (7.20 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.9, #11).

And finally, new episodes of "America's Next Top Model" (3.02 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.4, #14) and "Hellcats" (2.03 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.9, #15) on The CW (2.52 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): The Defenders (19.00%), America's Next Top Model (7.70%), Modern Family (4.40%), Cougar Town (3.20%), Survivor: Nicaragua (2.80%), Criminal Minds (0.00%), The Middle (0.00%), Undercovers (0.00%), Hellcats (0.00%), Hell's Kitchen (0.00%), Better With You (-8.70%), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (-12.00%), Law & Order: Los Angeles (-20.80%).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.4/8) took top honors over NBC's "Leno" (3.0/8) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.6/7). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.4/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.4/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.6/6) and "Daly" (1.0/4) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research