nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, august 29, 2012)

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

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to NFL preemptions, Fast Nationals for ABC, CBS and NBC are approximate.]

NBC (6.49 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.7, #1) edged out the competition on Wednesday with an encore of "America's Got Talent" (5.81 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #4) followed by a new "America's Got Talent" (9.13 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.5, #1) and an "NBC News Special" (4.52 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T5).

FOX (4.31 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.6, #2) then was a close second place with its two-hour installent of "So You Think You Can Dance" (4.31 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.6, #3).

Next up was CBS (5.01 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with its mix of "Big Brother 14" (6.71 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.3, #2), "Criminal Minds" (5.47 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T5) and "CBS News Special" (2.84 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.6, #12).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.40 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) offered up repeats of "The Middle" (4.20 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.0, #10), "Suburgatory" (3.86 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T8), "Modern Family" (3.98 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T5), another "Suburgatory" (3.16 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T8) plus an "ABC News Special" (2.60 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.7, #11).

And finally, a new "Oh Sit!" (1.27 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.4, #13) and a repeat of "Supernatural" (1.03 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #14) closed out the night on The CW (1.15 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Oh Sit!" delivered a 0.6 rating at 8:00/7:00c and "Supernatural" a 0.4 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+15.00% - Big Brother 14
+8.70% - America's Got Talent
+6.67% - So You Think You Can Dance
0.00% - Oh Sit!

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+60.00% - So You Think You Can Dance (vs. Buried Treasure/Buried Treasure (Repeat))
0.00% - America's Got Talent
0.00% - Oh Sit! (vs. America's Next Top Model (Repeat))
-28.13% - 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," 2.3/6; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 1.8/5; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.2/5; 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," 0.7/3; "Late Show," 0.4/2; "Nightline," 0.6/3; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.4/2 with an encore.

· At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.1/4 in metered-market households with an encore) beat CBS's first-run "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (0.9/3). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.4/3 in 18-49 with an encore) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.7/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.2/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (8/31/11):

CBS (6.42 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.0, #1) took home the demo crown with a new "Big Brother 13" (8.21 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.2, #1) followed by repeats of "Criminal Minds" (5.26 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T5) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (5.77 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.2, #10).

NBC (6.93 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.7, #2) however was the most-watched network with new episodes of "Minute to Win It" (5.42 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T7), "America's Got Talent" (10.26 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.5, #2) and a repeat of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (5.10 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T7).

Next up was ABC (4.36 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #3) with repeats of "The Middle" (4.31 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.1, #11), another "The Middle" (4.10 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #9), "Modern Family" (4.70 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T3), another "Modern Family" (4.40 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T3) and a new "Primetime Nightline" (4.33 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T5).

Meanwhile, FOX (3.24 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) offered up week two of "Buried Treasure" (3.26 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T12) alongside an encore of week one of "Buried Treasure" (3.22 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T12).

And finally, repeats of "America's Next Top Model" (1.18 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.4, #14) and another "America's Next Top Model" (0.91 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.3, #15) on The CW (1.04 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the night.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Primetime Nightline (15.4%), Big Brother 13 (14.3%), Minute to Win It (-6.7%), America's Got Talent (-10.7%).

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," 2.6/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.2/6; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.9/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.2/4 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," 0.6/3; "Nightline," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.4/2 with an encore.

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" (1.1/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/2).

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