nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, january 9, 2013)

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

ABC (7.611 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1) was the network to beat on Wednesday with the return of new episodes from "The Middle" (8.445 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.4, #4), "The Neighbors" (6.632 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T7), "Modern Family" (11.961 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.7, #1), "Suburgatory" (6.987 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.7, #2) and "Nashville" (5.821 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T7).

CBS (9.010 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.4, #2) then was a competitive second place with a new "I Get That a Lot" (7.754 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T7) plus its coverage of "The 39th Annual People's Choice Awards" (9.638 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.6, #3).

Next up was NBC (6.791 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #3) and its lineup of "Whitney" (4.176 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.4, #10), "Guys With Kids" (3.984 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T11), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (8.331 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.1, #6) and "Chicago Fire" (7.962 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.2, #5).

Meanwhile, FOX (3.369 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) was out of the hunt with its two-hour special "Stars in Danger: The High Dive" (3.369 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T11).

And finally, repeats of "Arrow" (1.698 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.5, #13) and "Supernatural" (1.017 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.4, #14) closed out the night over on The CW (1.358 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Arrow" 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):
+25.00% - The Neighbors (vs. 12/12/12)
+22.73% - Suburgatory (vs. 12/5/12)
+11.90% - Modern Family (vs. 12/12/12)
+9.09% - The Middle (vs. 12/12/12)
+5.26% - Nashville (vs. 12/5/12)
0.00% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
-8.33% - Chicago Fire
-22.22% - Whitney
-23.53% - Guys With Kids

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+50.00% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (vs. Harry's Law)
+18.18% - Stars in Danger: The High Dive (vs. Mobbed/Mobbed)
+10.00% - Chicago Fire (vs. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)
+4.00% - The 39th Annual People's Choice Awards
0.00% - I Get That a LotCriminal Minds (Repeat)
-7.84% - Modern Family
-12.90% - Suburgatory (vs. Happy Endings)
-16.67% - Nashville (vs. Revenge)
-20.00% - The Middle
-31.03% - The Neighbors (vs. Suburgatory)
-33.33% - Whitney
-43.48% - Guys With Kids (vs. Are You There, Chelsea?)

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," 2.9/8; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.4/6; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 2.4/6.

* Versus Tuesday night, "Tonight" was up 21% (2.9/8 vs. 2.4/6), "Late Show" was down 11% (2.4/6 vs. 2.7/7) and "Kimmel" was down 14% (2.4/6 vs. 2.8/8). And note that when nationals came in on Tuesday, "Tonight" improved its position significantly versus both Kimmel and "Late Show" in total viewers, out-delivering them with 3.3 million persons versus 3.1 million for Kimmel and 2.9 million for "Late Show."

* In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 Wednesday results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.9/4; "Late Show," 0.7/3; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.9/4.

* Versus Tuesday night in the Local People Meters, "Tonight" was up 13% (0.9/4 vs. 0.8/4), "Late Show" was up 17% (0.7/3 vs. 0.6/3) and Kimmel was down 10% (0.9/4 vs. 1.0/5). And note that on Tuesday, "Tonight" grew from a 0.8 in 18-49 in the local markets to a 0.9 nationally and "Kimmel" declined from a 1.0 to a 0.7 going from these local-market averages to national numbers.

* From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET Wednesday night, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.5/5 in metered-market households and a 0.5/3 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

* From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, "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) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/3).

* At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 1.0/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.4/3 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 (1/11/12):

ABC (8.83 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.2, #1) remained the top demo draw on Wednesday with new episodes of "The Middle" (9.59 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.0, #3), "Suburgatory" (8.96 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.9, #4), "Modern Family" (12.33 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.1, #1), "Happy Endings" (7.07 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 3.1, #2) and "Revenge" (7.51 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.4, #6).

CBS (8.88 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.3, #2) however was the most-watched network with a repeat of "Criminal Minds" (8.87 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T9) and its presentation of "The 38th Annual People's Choice Awards" (8.88 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.5, #5).

Next up was NBC (7.75 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #3) with the Wednesday debut of "Whitney" (6.06 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 2.1, #8) followed by the premiere of "Are You There, Chelsea?" (6.43 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.3, #7) and new episodes of "Harry's Law" (8.65 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.4, #11) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (8.36 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T9). Said demo numbers marked the Peacock's highest Wednesday average of the season.

Next up was FOX (3.04 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #4) with an encore of "Mobbed" (2.73 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T13) followed by an original "Mobbed" (3.34 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.3, #12).

And finally, the return of "One Tree Hill" (1.75 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T13) and an encore of "One Tree Hill" (0.82 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.3, #15) on The CW (1.29 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5) closed out the evening. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Hill" posted a 1.8 rating at 8:00/7:00c and a 0.5 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+16.67% - Harry's Law (vs. 12/7/11)
+10.53% - Whitney (vs. 12/8/11)
+8.33% - Mobbed
+5.26% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (vs. 12/7/11)
0.00% - The Middle
0.00% - Suburgatory
-4.00% - Revenge
-6.06% - Happy Endings
-8.93% - Modern Family

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+85.71% - Mobbed (vs. FOX News Special/Kitchen Nightmares)
+43.75% - Are You There, Chelsea? (vs. Minute to Win It (Repeat)/NBC News Special)
+41.67% - Modern Family (vs. ABC News Special/Modern Family)
+31.25% - Whitney (vs. Minute to Win It (Repeat))
+28.57% - One Tree Hill (vs. Nikita (Repeat))
+16.00% - Suburgatory (vs. The Middle/ABC News Special)
+9.09% - Revenge (vs. Off the Map)
0.00% - Harry's Law (vs. NBC News Special/Minute to Win It)
-3.23% - The Middle
-16.22% - Happy Endings (vs. Modern Family (S))
-20.00% - 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," 3.2/8; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.6/7; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.5/8; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.7/5.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 1,0/4; "Late Show," 0.7/3; "Nightline," 1.1/5; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.7/6 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" (0.6/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 1.0/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.4/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research