nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, august 15, 2012)

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

FOX (4.72 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.7, #1) pulled in front on Wednesday with the return of "So You Think You Can Dance" (4.72 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.7, #3).

NBC (6.16 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.6, #2) then had to settle for a competitive second place with a new "America's Got Talent" (8.33 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1) bookended by repeats of "America's Got Talent" (5.47 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T4) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (4.68 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T4).

Next up was CBS (5.55 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with an original "Big Brother 14" (5.83 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.1, #2) followed by repeats of "Criminal Minds" (5.39 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T8) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (5.43 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.62 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #4) served up repeats of "The Middle" (3.82 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10), "Suburgatory" (3.06 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10), "Modern Family" (3.65 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T4), another "Suburgatory" (2.92 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T8) and a special "20/20" (4.13 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T4).

And finally, the premiere of "Oh Sit!" (1.26 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.5, #13) and a repeat of "Supernatural" (0.68 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #14) on The CW (0.97 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Oh Sit!" delivered a 0.6 rating at 8:00/7:00c and "Supernatural" a 0.3 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+16.67% - Big Brother 14
0.00% - America's Got Talent (vs. 7/25/12)
0.00% - So You Think You Can Dance (vs. 7/25/12)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+142.86% - So You Think You Can Dance (vs. Mobbed (Repeat)/House (Repeat))
+25.00% - Oh Sit! (vs. America's Next Top Model (Repeat))
0.00% - 20/20 (vs. Primetime Nightline)
-8.33% - America's Got Talent
-32.26% - Big Brother 14

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," 2.9/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.2/5; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.9/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/4.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.7/4; "Late Show," 0.5/2; "Nightline," 1.0/4; 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" (1.0/4 with an encore). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2 with an encore).

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 1.0/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.3/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (8/17/11):

CBS (6.96 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.0, #1) was Wednesday's top draw thanks to a season high audience from "Big Brother 13" (7.96 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.1, #1) followed by repeats of "Criminal Minds" (5.86 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #5) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (7.06 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4).

NBC (6.18 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #2) then had to settle for second place with new episodes of "Minute to Win It" (4.65 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #10) and "America's Got Talent" (9.42 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.4, #2) alongside the season finale of "Love in the Wild" (4.49 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T6).

Next up was ABC (4.31 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with encores of "The Middle" (4.70 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T8), "Modern Family" (4.68 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T6), another "Modern Family" (4.82 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.7, #3), "Happy Endings" (2.93 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.1, #11) and a new "Primetime Nightline" (4.37 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T8).

Meanwhile, FOX (1.88 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) offered up repeats of "Mobbed" (1.91 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T12) and "House" (1.84 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T12).

And finally, repeats of "America's Next Top Model" (1.19 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T14) and another "America's Next Top Model" (1.05 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T14) on The CW (1.12 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Big Brother 13 (14.8%), America's Got Talent (0.0%), Primetime Nightline (0.0%), Minute to Win It (0.0%), Love in the Wild (-6.7%).

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," 2.1/5 with an encore telecast; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.0/5 with an encore; 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," 0.7/3 with an encore; "Late Show," 0.5/2 with an encore; "Nightline," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.1/4 in metered-market households with an encore) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.0/3 with an encore). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49 with an encore) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2 with an encore).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.7/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.3/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research