nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, november 30, 2011)

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

FOX (9.91 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.4, #1) was Wednesday's top draw thanks to a new "The X Factor" (10.93 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.7, #1) plus the premiere of "I Hate My Teenage Daughter" (6.84 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.8, #3).

CBS (8.03 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.4, #2) then claimed the silver with its mix of "Survivor: South Pacific" (10.92 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.1, #2), a repeat of "Criminal Minds" (7.55 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T6) and its annual special "The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! - Countdown to Music's Biggest Night" (5.62 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.9, #8).

Next up was NBC (9.72 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T3) with its annual "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" (9.42 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T9) special followed by new episodes of "Harry's Law" (9.91 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #12) - a season high - and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (9.83 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.2, #5).

Meanwhile, ABC (5.23 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T3) fell to fourth place with an all-repeat lineup of "The Middle" (6.00 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T9), "Suburgatory" (5.26 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.7, #11), "Modern Family" (7.16 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.6, #4), "Happy Endings" (4.96 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T6) and "Revenge" (4.01 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.2, #13).

And finally, the special "A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa" (2.40 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T14) led into a new "America's Next Top Model" (1.93 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T14) on The CW (2.16 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.8, #5). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Muppets" delivered a 1.1 rating while "Top Model" posted a 1.1 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+100.00% - America's Next Top Model
+63.16% - Survivor: South Pacific
+48.00% - The X Factor
+27.27% - Harry's Law (vs. 11/16/11)
+15.79% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (vs. 11/16/11)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+91.71% - The X Factor (vs. Human Target/Hell's Kitchen)
+7.69% - I Hate My Teenage Daughter (vs. Hell's Kitchen)
0.00% - America's Next Top Model (vs. Hellcats)
0.00% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (vs. Law & Order: Los Angeles)
-13.89% - Survivor: South Pacific
-44.00% - 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," 3.5/9; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.1/5 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.0/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.3/4.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 1.1/5; "Late Show," 0.8/5 with an encore; "Nightline," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.8/6 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.2/4). 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 1.1/5 in metered-market households with an encore 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 (12/1/10):

CBS (8.79 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.5, #1) was the network to beat on Wednesday with its mix of "Survivor: Nicaragua" (12.22 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.6, #1), a repeat of "Criminal Minds" (9.08 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.2, #6) and its annual "The Grammy Nominations Concert LIVE! - Countdown To Music's Biggest Night" (5.06 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.7, #8).

FOX (5.80 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.1, #2) then claimed the silver with fresh installments of "Human Target" (5.79 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.6, #9) and "Hell's Kitchen" (5.82 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.6, #2).

Next up was NBC (7.71 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.0, #3) with its combination of "Undercovers" (4.84 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #13), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (9.20 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.5, #3) and "Law & Order: Los Angeles" (9.10 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.2, #5).

Meanwhile, ABC (5.09 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4) was out of the hunt with repeats of "The Middle" (6.53 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.9, #7), "Better With You" (5.32 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.6, #10), "Modern Family" (6.96 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.3, #4), "Cougar Town" (4.46 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.6, #11) and a new "The Whole Truth" (3.64 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.9, #14).

And finally, the season finale of "America's Next Top Model" (3.34 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.5, #12) led into a new "Hellcats" (1.97 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.8, #15) on The CW (2.65 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.1, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): America's Next Top Model (87.50%), Survivor: Nicaragua (80.00%), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (19.00% vs. 11/17/10), Hell's Kitchen (18.20%), Law & Order: Los Angeles (15.80% vs. 11/17/10), Human Target (14.30%), Undercovers (8.30% vs. 11/10/10), Hellcats (-11.10% vs. 11/17/10), The Whole Truth (-25.00% vs. 10/27/10).

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (3.5/9) took top honors over ABC's "Nightline" (2.8/7) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.1/5). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.5/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.2/4) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.6/5) and "Daly" (1.0/4) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research