nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for tuesday, august 21, 2012)

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

NBC (7.86 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.0, #1) held onto top honors on Tuesday with a new two-hour "America's Got Talent" (9.64 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.5, #1) followed by encores of "Go On" (4.85 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) and "Animal Practice" (3.74 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8).

FOX (4.66 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #2) then was a close second with a repeat of "MasterChef" (3.42 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) followed by an original "MasterChef" (5.90 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.4, #2).

Next up was CBS (7.15 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.1, #3) and its second run mix of "NCIS" (8.05 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.2, #5), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (7.11 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T6) and "The Mentalist" (6.28 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T6).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.00 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #4) offered up repeats of "The Middle" (3.25 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T10), "Last Man Standing" (2.92 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T10), "Happy Endings" (2.12 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T10), "Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23" (1.72 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T13) and a new "NY Med" (4.01 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8).

And finally, a repeat of "Hart of Dixie" (0.88 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #14) and a new installment of the Monday-bound "The L.A. Complex" (0.59 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.2, #15) on The CW (0.74 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Dixie" delivered a 0.3 rating while "Complex" posted a 0.3 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - MasterChef
0.00% - NY Med
0.00% - The L.A. Complex
-7.41% - America's Got Talent

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

+220.00% - MasterChef (vs. Glee (Repeat)/Raising Hope (Repeat))
+19.05% - America's Got Talent (vs. It's Worth What?/America's Got Talent)
0.00% - NY Med (vs. Combat Hospital)
0.00% - The L.A. Complex (vs. Shedding for the Wedding (Repeat))

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," 2.5/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.2/6; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.7/7; 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," 0.8/4; "Late Show," 0.5/3; "Nightline," 0.8/3; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.4/2.

·At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.2/4 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.1/4 with an encore). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/2 with an encore).

·At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.3/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (8/23/11):

NBC (9.19 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.4, #1) climbed to the top spot on Tuesday with new episodes of "It's Worth What?" (4.32 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.1, #7) and "America's Got Talent" (11.62 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.1, #1).

The silver then went to CBS (8.38 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T2) with repeats of "NCIS" (9.28 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T4), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (8.34 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T4) and another "NCIS" (7.52 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T4).

Next up was ABC (4.59 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T2) with a repeat of "Wipeout" (6.19 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.0, #2) followed by new episodes of "Take the Money and Run" (4.11 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.6, #3) and "Combat Hospital" (3.47 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.0, #8).

Meanwhile, FOX (2.45 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #4) offered up encores of a 90-minute "Glee" (2.58 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.8, #9) and "Raising Hope" (2.06 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.7, #10).

And finally, repeats of "90210" (0.79 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.4, #11) and "Shedding for the Wedding" (0.52 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.2, #12) on The CW (0.66 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): America's Got Talent (14.8%), Take the Money and Run (14.3%), Combat Hospital (11.1%), It's Worth What? (10.0%).

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (2.8/7 in metered market households with an encore telecast) topped an original episode of CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman" (2.7/7); and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.0/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.1/4 with an encore.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: �The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,� 1.0/5 with an encore; "Late Show," 0.7/3 with an original; "Nightline," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3 with an encore.

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

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 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