nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, november 2, 2011)

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

FOX (11.50 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.9, #1) was the demo king on Wednesday thanks to new episodes of "The X Factor" (11.18 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.7, #3) and another "The X Factor" (11.81 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 4.1, #2).

CBS (11.77 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.3, #3) then was the most-watched network with fresh installments of "Survivor: South Pacific" (11.87 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.5, #5), "Criminal Minds" (12.80 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.6, #4) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (10.64 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.7, #10).

Next up was ABC (9.35 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.5, #2) with new episodes of "The Middle" (9.35 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.9, #9), "Suburgatory" (8.49 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 3.1, #7), "Modern Family" (13.25 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.6, #1), "Happy Endings" (7.85 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 3.5, #6) and "Revenge" (8.57 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 3.0, #8).

Meanwhile, NBC (6.07 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4) continued to struggle with its mix of "Up All Night" (4.75 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.8, #12), a repeat of "Up All Night" (3.39 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.2, #13) and new episodes of "Harry's Law" (7.09 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.1, #14) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (7.04 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.0, #11).

And finally, a repeat of "Ringer" (1.20 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.4, #16) led into a new "America's Next Top Model" (1.80 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.8, #15) on The CW (1.50 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+7.14% - Revenge
+5.13% - The X Factor - 9:00 (vs. 10/5/11)
+3.85% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (vs. 10/19/11)
+2.94% - Survivor: South Pacific
0.00% - Modern Family (vs. 10/19/11)
0.00% - Happy Endings
-4.76% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (vs. 10/19/11)
-5.13% - The X Factor - 8:00 (vs. 10/5/11)
-6.45% - The Middle
-7.69% - Criminal Minds (vs. 10/19/11)
-8.33% - Harry's Law (vs. 10/19/11)
-8.82% - Suburgatory
-14.29% - Up All Night (vs. 10/19/11)
-20.00% - America's Next Top Model

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+192.86% - The X Factor - 9:00 (vs. Hell's Kitchen (Repeat))
+184.62% - The X Factor - 8:00 (vs. Hell's Kitchen (Repeat))
+57.89% - Revenge (vs. In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts: All Access Nashville)
+38.46% - Up All Night (vs. Undercovers)
+24.00% - Suburgatory (vs. Better With You)
+17.39% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (vs. The Defenders)
+16.67% - Modern Family
+16.67% - Happy Endings (vs. Cougar Town)
+5.26% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (vs. Law & Order: Los Angeles)
0.00% - The Middle
-5.26% - Criminal Minds
-5.41% - Survivor: South Pacific
-11.11% - America's Next Top Model (vs. Hellcats)
-47.62% - 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," 2.8/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.9/8; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.3/8; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.7/5.

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," 0.6/3.

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" (1.4/5). 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 0.9/4 in metered-market households with an encore 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 (11/3/10):

CBS (12.19 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.3, #1) was the network to beat on Wednesday thanks to new episodes of "Survivor: Nicaragua" (12.26 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.7, #3), "Criminal Minds" (14.40 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.8, #2) and "The Defenders" (9.91 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.3, #7).

A silver medal then went to ABC (8.25 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.8, #2) with its mix of "The Middle" (9.46 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.9, #5), "Better With You" (7.91 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.5, #6), "Modern Family" (12.21 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.8, #1), "Cougar Town" (7.54 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 3.0, #4) and the special "In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts: All Access Nashville" (6.19 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T9).

Next up was NBC (7.18 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.8, #3) with fresh installments of "Undercovers" (5.85 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T12), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (7.96 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.1, #8) and "Law & Order: Los Angeles" (7.72 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T9).

Meanwhile, FOX (3.23 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) was out of the hunt with repeats of "Hell's Kitchen" (3.27 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T12) and a second hour of "Hell's Kitchen" (3.20 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.4, #11).

And finally, new episodes of "America's Next Top Model" (2.97 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T12) and "Hellcats" (1.96 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.9, #15) on The CW (2.47 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.1, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Criminal Minds (11.80%), The Defenders (9.50%), Survivor: Nicaragua (8.80%), The Middle (3.60%), Better With You (0.00%), America's Next Top Model (0.00%), Modern Family (-5.90%), Undercovers (-7.10%), Cougar Town (-9.10%), Hellcats (-10.00%), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (-19.20% vs. 10/20/10), Law & Order: Los Angeles (-20.80% vs. 10/20/10).

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (3.1/8) took top honors over ABC's "Nightline" (3.0/7) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.8/7). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.5/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.4/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.6/5) and "Daly" (1.0/4) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research