nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, april 3, 2013)

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

FOX (11.484 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.0, #1) was the top draw on Wednesday with another two-hour edition of "American Idol" (11.484 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.0, #2).

CBS (9.860 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.4, #2) then claimed the silver with new episodes of "Survivor: Caramoan - Fans vs. Favorites" (9.139 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.4, #5), "Criminal Minds" (10.678 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.8, #4) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (9.764 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.1, #6).

Next up was ABC (7.181 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.3, #3) and its new lineup of "The Middle" (7.165 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.0, #7), the relocated "Suburgatory" (5.791 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.8, #8), "Modern Family" (10.593 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.1, #1), the premiere of "How to Live with Your Parents (for the Rest of Your Life)" (8.357 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.9, #3) and "Nashville" (5.591 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.7, #9).

Meanwhile, NBC (6.126 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4) offered up its mix of "Dateline NBC" (5.883 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.4, #12), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (6.238 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T10) and "Chicago Fire" (6.259 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T10).

And finally, original installments of "Arrow" (2.837 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.9, #13) and "Supernatural" (1.979 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.8, #14) on The CW (2.408 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.8, #5) closed out the evening. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Arrow" delivered a 0.7 rating at 8:00/7:00c and "Supernatural" a 0.7 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+28.13% - Modern Family
+13.33% - Nashville
+12.50% - Arrow
+11.11% - The Middle
0.00% - Survivor: Caramoan - Fans vs. Favorites
-3.23% - American Idol
-5.26% - Suburgatory
-5.88% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
-6.67% - Criminal Minds (vs. 3/20/13)
-8.70% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (vs. 3/20/13)
-11.11% - Chicago Fire
-20.00% - Supernatural

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+127.78% - Modern Family (vs. Modern Family (Repeat))
+100.00% - The Middle (vs. The Middle (Repeat))
+100.00% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (vs. Bent/Bent)
+100.00% - Chicago Fire (vs. Rock Center With Brian Williams)
+81.25% - How to Live with Your Parents (for the Rest of Your Life) (vs. Happy Endings)
+70.00% - Nashville (vs. Missing (Repeat))
+50.00% - Suburgatory (vs. Suburgatory (Repeat))
+28.57% - Arrow (vs. One Tree Hill)
0.00% - Supernatural (vs. One Tree Hill)
-6.67% - Criminal Minds
-6.67% - Dateline NBC (vs. Betty White's Off Their Rockers/Best Friends Forever)
-11.11% - Survivor: Caramoan - Fans vs. Favorites
-27.59% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
-36.17% - American Idol

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," 2.9/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.5/7; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.9/5.

· 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," 0.6/3; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.7/3.

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET Wednesday night, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.2/4 in metered-market households and a 0.4/2 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" (1.2/4 with an encore). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/2 with an encore).

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

· It was the top Wednesday "Tonight Show" in nine weeks (since January 30, 2.9) and top Wednesday "Late Night" in three weeks (since March 13, 1.5). Both shows matched their highest Wednesday metered-market household ratings in 13 weeks (since January 2, 3.1 for "Tonight" and 1.6 for "Late Night").

· Versus the prior Wednesday, Jay was up 12 percent in metered-market households (2.9 vs. 2.6) and up 29 percent in 18-49 rating in the Local People Meters (0.9 vs. 0.7). Jimmy was up versus the prior Wednesday by 7 percent in households (1.5 vs. 1.4) and 20 percent in 18-49 (0.6 vs. 0.5).

Here are the highlights of the 16 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (4/4/12):

FOX (16.66 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.7, #1) once again was the network to beat on Wednesday with a two-hour "American Idol" (16.66 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.7, #1).

CBS (11.09 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.8, #2) then claimed a distant silver with its original mix of "Survivor: One World" (10.11 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.7, #4) - its series low for a regular telecast, "Criminal Minds" (11.23 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.0, #2) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (11.92 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.9, #3).

Next up was ABC (3.85 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #3) with repeats of "The Middle" (3.75 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10), "Suburgatory" (3.63 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T8) and "Modern Family" (4.90 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T5) followed by a new "Happy Endings" (3.70 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.6, #7) - a season low - and an encore of "Missing" (3.55 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10).

Meanwhile, NBC (3.58 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) offered up the debuts of "Betty White's Off Their Rockers" (7.21 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T5) and "Best Friends Forever" (3.89 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T8) plus a new "Bent" (2.44 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.9, #12), the season finale of "Bent" (2.03 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T15) - its series low - and an original "Rock Center With Brian Williams" (2.97 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T13).

And finally, the opening hour of the "One Tree Hill" (1.37 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T15) finale and the second hour of the "One Tree Hill" (1.42 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T13) finale closed out the evening on The CW (1.40 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.8, #5). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Hill" delivered a 1.3 rating at 8:00/7:00c and a 1.5 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+16.67% - One Tree Hill - 8:00
+16.00% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (vs. 3/21/12)
0.00% - Bent - 9:00
0.00% - Rock Center With Brian Williams
-3.57% - Survivor: One World
-6.00% - American Idol
-6.25% - Criminal Minds (vs. 3/21/12)
-12.50% - Bent - 9:30
-15.79% - Happy Endings
-30.77% - Betty White's Off Their Rockers (vs. 1/16/12)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+100.00% - One Tree Hill - 9:00 (vs. Shedding for the Wedding)
+80.00% - Betty White's Off Their Rockers (vs. Minute to Win It)
+38.10% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (vs. Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior)
+20.00% - Best Friends Forever (vs. Minute to Win It)
0.00% - Bent - 9:00 (vs. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Repeat))
0.00% - Happy Endings (vs. Mr. Sunshine)
-12.90% - Survivor: One World
-16.67% - Criminal Minds
-22.22% - One Tree Hill - 8:00 (vs. America's Next Top Model)
-22.22% - Bent - 9:30 (vs. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Repeat))
-24.19% - American Idol (vs. American Idol/Breaking In)
-65.22% - Rock Center With Brian Williams (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," 2.5/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.5/6; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.0/7; 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," 0.7/4; "Late Show," 0.7/3; "Nightline," 0.8/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/5 in metered-market household) 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 18-4) 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 0.4/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters

Source: Nielsen Media Research