nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, september 5, 2012)

Here are the highlights of the 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to the nature of live sports, Fast Nationals for NBC are approximate.]

NBC (20.57 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 8.2, #1) overshadowed the competition on Wednesday with its coverage of "NFL Kickoff 2012" (14.33 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 5.5, #2) and the return of "Sunday Night Football" (21.81 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 8.7, #1).

FOX (4.14 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T2) and CBS (5.06 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T2) split the silver as the former offered up the Tuesday-bound "So You Think You Can Dance" (4.14 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.4, #4).

The Eye then offered up its mix of "Big Brother 14" (6.09 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.1, #3), "Criminal Minds" (5.16 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #6) and a "CBS News Special" (3.94 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T9).

Next up was ABC (3.61 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) with repeats of "The Middle" (4.55 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.1, #7), "Suburgatory" (3.28 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T9), "Modern Family" (3.78 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.3, #5), another "Suburgatory" (2.97 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #8) and an "ABC News Special" (3.54 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T9).

And finally, The CW (0.96 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the evening with a new "Oh Sit!" (1.14 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.4, #12) and a repeat of "Supernatural" (0.78 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #13). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Oh Sit!" delivered a 0.5 rating at 8:00/7:00c and "Supernatural" a 0.3 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Oh Sit!
-8.70% - Big Brother 14
-12.50% - So You Think You Can Dance

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+330.69% - Sunday Night Football (vs. Minute to Win It/America's Got Talent/Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Repeat))
+323.08% - NFL Kickoff 2012 (vs. Minute to Win It)
+12.00% - So You Think You Can Dance (vs. Buried Treasure/Buried Treasure (Repeat))
-20.00% - Oh Sit! (vs. America's Next Top Model (Repeat))
-25.00% - 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," 2.8/9; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 1.6/5; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.2/6; 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," 1.2/7; "Late Show," 0.4/2; "Nightline," 0.7/3; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.3/2.

· At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.6/7 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" (0.7/5 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.2/2).

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (9/7/11):

NBC (7.90 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T1) was the network to beat on Wednesday with its mix of "Minute to Win It" (5.62 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T9), "America's Got Talent" (11.81 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.8, #T1) and a repeat of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (6.28 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #6).

Sharing top honors was CBS (6.46 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T1) with its combination of "Big Brother 13" (7.70 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.8, #T1), "Criminal Minds" (6.29 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.7, #5) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (5.38 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.1, #13).

Next up was ABC (4.48 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #3) with encores of "The Middle" (4.28 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T11), another "The Middle" (4.77 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.5, #7), "Modern Family" (4.88 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.9, #3), another "Modern Family" (4.44 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.8, #4) and the penultimate week of "Primetime Nightline" (4.25 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.4, #8).

Meanwhile, "Buried Treasure" (4.19 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T9) posted a series high for FOX (3.94 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #4) followed by an encore of last week's "Buried Treasure" (3.69 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T11).

And finally, repeats of "America's Next Top Model" (1.34 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T14) and another "America's Next Top Model" (1.26 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T14) on The CW (1.30 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Buried Treasure (30.0%), America's Got Talent (12.0%), Primetime Nightline (-6.7%), Minute to Win It (-7.1%), Big Brother 13 (-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," 2.8/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.3/6; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.0/7; 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," 0.8/4; "Late Show," 0.6/3; "Nightline," 1.1/5; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3.

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" (1.2/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

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

Source: Nielsen Media Research