nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for tuesday, september 4, 2012)

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

FOX (6.27 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1) was the top demo draw on Tuesday thanks to the penultimate weeks of "Hell's Kitchen" (6.05 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.5, #2) and "MasterChef" (6.48 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.7, #1).

NBC (7.51 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.9, #2) then was the most-watched network with a two-hour "America's Got Talent" (8.60 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.3, #3) followed by an "NBC News Special" (5.33 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4).

Next up was CBS (5.76 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.9, #3) with repeats of "NCIS" (7.87 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.2, #5), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (6.19 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #6) and its "CBS News Special" (3.22 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T11).

Meanwhile, ABC (2.69 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) served up second runs of "The Middle" (3.73 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.9, #7), "Last Man Standing" (2.95 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T8), "Happy Endings" (2.35 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T8), "Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23" (1.92 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T11) and an "ABC News Special" (2.59 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.7, #10).

And finally, encores of "Hart of Dixie" (0.82 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #13) and "The Next" (0.47 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.2, #14) on The CW (0.64 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the evening. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Dixie" delivered a 0.5 rating while "The Next" posted a 0.2 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
-3.57% - MasterChef
-4.17% - America's Got Talent
-16.67% - Hell's Kitchen (vs. 8/27/12)

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

+237.50% - MasterChef (vs. Raising Hope (Repeat)/Raising Hope (Repeat))
+212.50% - Hell's Kitchen (vs. Glee (Repeat))
+15.00% - America's Got Talent (vs. It's Worth What?/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," 2.4/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 1.5/4; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.4/6; 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," 0.4/2; "Nightline," 0.8/3; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

· At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.2/5 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" (0.4/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/4 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 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (9/6/11):

NBC (9.19 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.3, #1) was the network to beat on Tuesday with the penultimate weeks of "It's Worth What?" (4.71 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.1, #7) and "America's Got Talent" (11.43 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.9, #1).

CBS (8.44 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #2) then claimed the silver with its all-repeat lineup of "NCIS" (9.33 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (8.95 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.7, #3) and another "NCIS: Los Angeles" (7.04 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T5).

Next up was ABC (4.36 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with a repeat of "Wipeout" (5.99 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.9, #2) followed by the season finales of "Take the Money and Run" (3.85 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T5) and "Combat Hospital" (3.25 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.9, #8).

Meanwhile, FOX (2.38 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #4) didn't get mark spark from its repeat mix of "Glee" (2.53 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T9), "Raising Hope" (2.32 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T9) and another "Raising Hope" (2.15 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T9).

And finally, repeats of "90210" (1.03 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.4, #12) and "Shedding for the Wedding" (0.65 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #13) closed out the evening on The CW (0.84 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Take the Money and Run (0.0%), Combat Hospital (0.0%), America's Got Talent (-3.3%), It's Worth What? (-8.3%).

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," 3.1/8; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.5/6; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.7/7; 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," 0.9/4; "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" (1.5/5 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)

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.

Source: Nielsen Media Research