nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for tuesday, july 17, 2012)

Here are the highlights of the 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

FOX (6.06 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.5, #1) was the top demo draw on Tuesday thanks to fresh installments of "Hell's Kitchen" (5.99 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.4, #3) and "MasterChef" (6.14 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.5, #2).

The silver then went to NBC (8.20 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #2) with a new two-hour "America's Got Talent" (10.10 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1) and the penultimate week of "Love in the Wild" (4.40 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.3, #6).

Next up was ABC (4.02 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #3) and its original lineup of "Wipeout" (4.64 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.4, #5), "Trust Us With Your Life" (1.36 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T11), another "Trust Us With Your Life" (1.31 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T11) and "NY Med" (4.75 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T7).

Meanwhile, CBS (6.17 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) offered up its repeat mix of "NCIS" (7.24 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T7), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (5.78 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T9) and "Person of Interest" (5.54 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T9).

And finally, The CW (0.81 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the night with a repeat of "Hart of Dixie" (0.96 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.4, #13) and the season premiere of "The L.A. Complex" (0.66 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #14).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+26.32% - Hell's Kitchen (vs. 7/3/12)
+25.00% - MasterChef (vs. 7/3/12)
0.00% - Love in the Wild
0.00% - The L.A. Complex (vs. 5/29/12)
-3.70% - America's Got Talent
-6.67% - Wipeout
-8.33% - NY Med
-18.18% - Trust Us With Your Life

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):

+50.00% - The L.A. Complex (vs. Shedding for the Wedding (Repeat))
+37.50% - NY Med (vs. Combat Hospital)
+13.64% - MasterChef
+1.96% - America's Got Talent (vs. It's Worth What?/America's Got Talent)
-4.00% - Hell's Kitchen
-12.50% - Wipeout (vs. Wipeout (Repeat))
-40.00% - Trust Us With Your Life (vs. 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show)
-60.61% - Love in the Wild (vs. America's Got Talent)

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," 2.5/6; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.1/5; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.0/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.5/4.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.7/3; "Late Show," 0.5/2; "Nightline," 0.8/3; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.4/2.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (0.9/3). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.2/2).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.9/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.3/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

[NOTE: Today's numbers are courtesy of TVMediaInsights.com due to delays from our usual sources.]

Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (7/19/11):

NBC (10.47 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.8, #1) was the network to beat on Tuesday with the debut of "It's Worth What?" (6.71 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.8, #4) and a new two-hour "America's Got Talent" (12.34 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.3, #1).

FOX (5.56 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.3, #2) then claimed the silver with fresh installments of "Hell's Kitchen" (5.77 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.5, #2) and "Masterchef" (5.35 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.2, #3).

Next up was CBS (7.92 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with its mix of "NCIS" (10.17 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #5), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (8.01 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #8) and "48 Hours Mystery" (5.58 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.2, #9).

Meanwhile, ABC (4.68 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) offered up a repeat of "Wipeout" (5.49 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.6, #6) alongside new episodes of "101 Ways to Leave a Game Show" (4.76 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #7) and "Combat Hospital" (3.78 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.8, #10).

And finally, repeats of the relocated "90210" (0.75 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.3, #11) and "Shedding for the Wedding" (0.51 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.2, #12) on The CW (0.63 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5) rounded out the night.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Masterchef (4.8% vs. 7/5/11), 48 Hours Mystery (0.0%), Combat Hospital (0.0%), 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show (-6.3%), America's Got Talent (-15.4%).

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," 3.2/8; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.4/6; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.4/6; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.1/3.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 1.0/4; "Late Show," 0.8/3; "Nightline," 0.8/3; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.4/2.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.6/5 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" (0.7/4 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.

Source: Nielsen Media Research