nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, september 26, 2012)

Here are the highlights of the 16 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

FOX (9.45 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.3, #1) held onto the demo crown on Wednesday thanks to a new "The X Factor" (8.79 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 3.1, #T4) and a second hour of "The X Factor" (10.10 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.6, #2).

ABC (8.70 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.9, #2) then took home the silver with the season premiere of "The Middle" (8.75 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.7, #8), a second "The Middle" (9.20 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.9, #7), the return of "Modern Family" (14.21 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.5, #1), the debut of "The Neighbors" (9.28 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.3, #3) and the recap special, "Revenge: The First Chapter" (5.39 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T12).

Next up was CBS (10.80 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.8, #3) and its returning lineup of "Survivor: Philippines" (10.16 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.0, #6), "Criminal Minds" (11.59 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.1, #T4) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (10.66 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.5, #9).

Meanwhile, NBC (6.39 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.9, #4) was out of the hunt with the formal debuts of "Animal Practice" (5.19 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.4, #14) and "Guys With Kids" (4.78 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T12) followed by the season premiere of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (6.53 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 2.0, #11) plus a second "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (7.67 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.3, #10).

And finally, the penultimate week of "Oh Sit!" (0.93 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #15) and a repeat of "Supernatural" (0.72 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.3, #16) on The CW (0.83 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Oh Sit!" delivered a 0.4 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% - The X Factor - 8:00
0.00% - Oh Sit!
-3.23% - Survivor: Philippines
-10.00% - The X Factor - 9:00

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+66.67% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - 9:00 (vs. Harry's Law)
+60.00% - Guys With Kids (vs. Free Agents)
+15.00% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - 10:00
+3.85% - The Middle - 8:00
+3.12% - The Neighbors (vs. Happy Endings)
-1.79% - Modern Family
-3.23% - Survivor: Philippines
-12.12% - The Middle - 8:30 (vs. Suburgatory)
-13.89% - The X Factor - 8:00
-13.89% - Criminal Minds
-16.28% - The X Factor - 9:00
-16.67% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
-33.33% - Oh Sit! (vs. H8R)
-33.33% - Animal Practice (vs. Up All Night)
-40.74% - Revenge: The First Chapter

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," 2.8/8; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.4/6; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.9/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.5/5.

· 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," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/4.

· At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/5 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" (0.4/3).

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/4 in metered-market households and a 0.3/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 16 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (9/28/11):

FOX (11.51 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.9, #1) was still the demo king on Wednesday thanks to full hours of "The X Factor" (10.69 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.6, #T3) and another "The X Factor" (12.34 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.3, #2).

ABC (9.35 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.3, #T2) and CBS (11.58 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.3, #T2) split the silver as the latter offered up new episodes of "Survivor: South Pacific" (10.46 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.1, #7), "Criminal Minds" (12.62 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.6, #T3) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (11.64 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.0, #8).

The Alphabet then offered up its full fall lineup of "The Middle" (8.55 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.6, #10), "Suburgatory" (9.81 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 3.3, #5), "Modern Family" (13.24 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.6, #1), "Happy Endings" (7.38 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 3.2, #6) and "Revenge" (8.55 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.7, #9).

Next up was NBC (6.27 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4) with its mix of "Up All Night" (5.34 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 2.1, #11), "Free Agents" (3.11 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.0, #14), "Harry's Law" (7.44 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.2, #13) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (7.14 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.0, #12).

And finally, new episodes of "H8R" (1.43 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.6, #16) and "America's Next Top Model" (1.71 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.8, #15) on The CW (1.57 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #5) rounded out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "H8R" posted a 0.9 rating while "Top Model" delivered a 1.3 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+50.00% - H8R
+14.29% - America's Next Top Model
0.00% - Survivor
0.00% - Harry's Law
-3.23% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
-4.44% - The X Factor - 9:00
-5.08% - Modern Family
-7.14% - The Middle
-8.70% - Up All Night
-12.20% - The X Factor - 8:00
-12.20% - Criminal Minds
-13.04% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
-20.59% - Revenge
-23.08% - Free Agents

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+107.69% - Revenge (vs. The Whole Truth)
+57.14% - Suburgatory (vs. Better With You)
+38.71% - The X Factor - 9:00 (vs. Hell's Kitchen)
+31.25% - Up All Night (vs. Undercovers)
+28.57% - The X Factor - 8:00 (vs. Hell's Kitchen)
+24.44% - Modern Family
+20.00% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (vs. The Defenders)
+10.34% - Happy Endings (vs. Cougar Town)
+8.33% - The Middle
0.00% - Criminal Minds
-8.82% - Survivor
-11.11% - America's Next Top Model (vs. Hellcats)
-35.48% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (vs. Law & Order: Los Angeles)
-37.50% - Free Agents (vs. Undercovers)
-53.85% - H8R (vs. America's Next Top Model)
-55.56% - Harry's Law (vs. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)

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," 2.7/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.7/7; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.2/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.6/5.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.8/4; "Late Show," 0.7/3; "Nightline," 1.1/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

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" (1.3/5). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/2).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/4 in metered-market households and a 0.3/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research