nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, december 21, 2011)

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

FOX (9.84 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.0, #1) was Wednesday's top draw thanks to the part one of the "The X Factor" (11.11 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.3, #1) season finale and the winter closer to "I Hate My Teenage Daughter" (6.02 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.1, #3).

ABC (4.52 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #2) then snagged a distant second place with its all-repeat lineup of "The Middle" (5.41 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T8), "Suburgatory" (4.82 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T6), "Modern Family" (6.44 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.2, #2), "Happy Endings" (3.91 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T8) and "Revenge" (3.27 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.9, #12).

Next up was CBS (6.12 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.3, #3) with its mix of "The 13th Annual A Home for the Holidays" (4.21 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.8, #13) followed by repeats of "Criminal Minds" (6.84 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T6) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (7.31 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #5).

Meanwhile on NBC (4.70 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.2, #4), night three of "Who's Still Standing?" (5.66 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.7, #4) lead into encores of "A Michael Buble Christmas" (4.40 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (4.05 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10).

And finally, repeats of "Gossip Girl" (0.73 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.2, #15) and "Gaga by Gaultier" (0.92 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #14) on The CW (0.82 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out the evening. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Gossip" delivered a 0.2 rating while "Gaga" posted a 0.3 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+10.53% - I Hate My Teenage Daughter
-2.94% - The X Factor

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+124.49% - The X Factor (vs. Human Target/Million Dollar Money Drop)
+54.55% - Who's Still Standing? (vs. Undercovers)
+31.25% - I Hate My Teenage Daughter (vs. Million Dollar Money Drop)

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," 2.8/7; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.9/6; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.3/4 with an encore.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.8/4; "Late Show," 0.7/3; "Nightline," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.7/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.3/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/3 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 0.3/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/22/10):

FOX (5.28 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #1) took home top adults 18-49 honors on Wednesday thanks to new episodes of "Human Target" (5.80 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.4, #7) and "Million Dollar Money Drop" (4.76 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.6, #3).

NBC (5.27 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T2) and ABC (4.99 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T2) then split the silver as the former served up the return of "Undercovers" (4.22 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T9) followed by repeats of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (5.03 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #8) and a second "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (6.55 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #2).

The Alphabet then offered up its all-repeat lineup of "The Middle" (6.13 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T4), "Better With You" (5.09 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T4), "Modern Family" (5.96 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.0, #1) and "CMA Country Christmas" (4.25 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T9).

Next up was CBS (5.48 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.1, #4) with "The 12th Annual A Home for the Holidays" (3.91 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T12) alongside repeats of "Criminal Minds" (6.94 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T4) and "The Defenders" (5.60 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T9).

And finally, repeats of "Hellcats" (1.45 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T12) and a second "Hellcats" (1.21 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.5, #14) on The CW (1.33 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Human Target (-6.70%), Undercovers (-15.40% vs. 12/1/10).

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (3.3/8) took top honors over ABC's "Nightline" (3.2/7) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.8/6). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.5/4) on ABC, "Ferguson" (1.4/4) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.6/5) and "Daly" (0.9/4) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research