nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for saturday, september 15, 2012)

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

ABC (4.85 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.5, #1) was still the network to beat on Saturday with its coverage of "College Football: Notre Dame at Michigan State" (4.85 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.5, #1).

Sharing the silver then were NBC (3.55 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T2) and FOX (2.79 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T2) as the latter offered up its coverage of "College Football: USC at Stanford" (2.79 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.0, #3).

The Peacock then served up encores of Monday's two-hour "The Voice" (3.36 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.9, #4) and Tuesday's one-hour "The Voice" (3.95 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #2).

And finally, repeats of "NCIS" (4.23 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #6), "Hawaii Five-0" (3.87 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #7) and "48 Hours Mystery" (4.41 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #5) on CBS (4.17 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) closed out the night.

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

· The 38th season premiere of "Saturday Night Live," with host Seth MacFarlane and musical guest Frank Ocean (4.8/12 in metered-market households), dominated its time period. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Saturday Night Live" averaged a 2.8 rating, 12 share in adults 18-49. Versus the year-ago premiere, which ran one week later at the end of primetime's premiere week, the September 15 "SNL" is up 4 percent in the Local People Meters (2.8 vs. 2.7) and is within 6 percent of the year-ago rating in metered-market households (4.8/12 vs. 5.1/13).

· "Saturday Night Live" was the #1 telecast of the night on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox both in 18-49 rating in the Local People Meters and in metered-market household rating, outscoring all primetime programs on those networks.

[NOTE: Today's numbers are courtesy of TVMediaInsights.com due to delays from our usual sources.]

Here are the highlights of the 11 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (9/17/11):

ABC (8.56 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.0, #1) got a boost from "Saturday Night College Football" (8.56 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.0, #1) on Saturday.

FOX (2.51 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.9, #2) then took home a distant second place with week two of the new season of "Cops" (3.40 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T2) alongside repeats of "American Dad" (1.59 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #4) and "The Cleveland Show" (1.68 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T5).

Next up was CBS (3.55 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #3) with a full hour of "Rules of Engagement" (2.49 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T5) alongside a repeat of "Criminal Minds" (3.56 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T5) and a special new "48 Hours Mystery" (4.61 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T2).

And finally, repeats of "Who Do You Think You Are?" (2.10 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #10), "Up All Night" (2.32 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.6, #9), "Free Agents" (1.76 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #11) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (3.30 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T5) on NBC (2.48 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #4) closed out the evening.

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

An encore telecast of "Saturday Night Live" (3.3/8 in metered-market households), hosted by Justin Timberlake with musical guest Lady Gaga, dominated its time period. "SNL" was up 3 percent versus its year-ago rating in metered-market households 3.3 vs. 3.2).

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Saturday Night Live" averaged a 1.7 rating, 8 share in adults 18-49, making it the #1 non-sports telecast of the night ahead of all primetime entertainment programs on CBS, NBC or Fox. "SNL" equaled its highest 18-49 rating in the Local People Meters of the past seven weeks.

Source: Nielsen Media Research