nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, august 1, 2012)

Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

Coverage of the "2012 Summer Olympics" (30.56 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 9.7, #1) not surprisingly kept NBC (30.56 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 9.7, #1) in front on Wednesday.

CBS (4.56 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.3, #2) then claimed a distant silver with its mix of a new "Big Brother 14" (5.27 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.9, #2) and repeats of "Criminal Minds" (4.45 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #3) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (3.96 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T6).

Next up was ABC (2.78 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.8, #3) with repeats of "The Middle" (3.18 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T6), "Suburgatory" (2.51 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T9), "Modern Family" (2.90 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.9, #5), another "Modern Family" (2.86 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) and a new "Final Witness" (2.61 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T6).

Meanwhile, FOX (2.10 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) offered up a rebroadcast of "So You Think You Can Dance" (2.10 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T9).

And finally, repeats of "Supernatural" (1.00 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T11) and a second "Supernatural" (0.87 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T11) on The CW (0.93 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out the evening. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Supernatural" delivered a 0.3 rating at 8:00/7:00c and a 0.2 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Big Brother 14
-20.00% - Final Witness

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
-24.00% - Big Brother 14
-38.46% - Final Witness (vs. Primetime Nightline)

[NOTE: Late-night metered market ratings will return after the Olympics.]

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (8/3/11):

FOX (5.40 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.8, #1) clinged to the top spot on Wednesday with another two-hour "So You Think You Can Dance" (5.40 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.8, #3).

NBC (6.36 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.6, #3) then continued its most-watched streak with new episodes of "Minute to Win It" (4.69 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.1, #11), "America's Got Talent" (9.64 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.4, #2) - a season low - and "Love in the Wild" (4.75 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T5).

Next up was CBS (6.11 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #2) with a new "Big Brother 13" (6.75 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.5, #1) followed by repeats of "Criminal Minds" (5.94 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T5) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (5.65 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T9).

Meanwhile, ABC (4.46 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) offered up repeats of "The Middle" (4.36 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T9), "Modern Family" (4.46 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T5), another "Modern Family" (4.31 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4), "Happy Endings" (2.86 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #12) and a new "Primetime Nightline" (5.38 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.3, #8).

And finally, repeats of "America's Next Top Model" (1.06 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #14) and another "America's Next Top Model" (1.10 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.4, #13) on The CW (1.08 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Primetime Nightline (30.0%), Big Brother 13 (8.7%), Minute to Win It (0.0%), So You Think You Can Dance (-10.0%), America's Got Talent (-11.1%), Love in the Wild (-12.5%).

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," 2.6/6; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.1/5; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.9/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.2/4.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.8/4; "Late Show," 0.6/3; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/4 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.1/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.9/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.4/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research