nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for saturday, april 27, 2013)

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

FOX (5.601 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.4, #1) was the network to beat on Saturday with a full night of "NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing from Richmond" (5.601 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.4, #1).

CBS (3.401 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #2) then claimed a distant second place with its mix of "Mayweather" (1.734 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T8), "Criminal Minds" (3.588 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T4) and "48 Hours" (4.882 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.9, #2).

Next up was ABC (2.264 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3) with a new "Bet on Your Baby" (2.547 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T4) and the feature "Over the Hedge" (2.123 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T4).

And finally, NBC (2.108 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3) closed out the evening with a new "Smash" (1.888 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T8) followed by encores of "The Voice" (2.121 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T4) and "Saturday Night Live" (2.316 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.8, #3).

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

* An encore telecast of "Saturday Night Live," with host and musical guest Justin Timberlake, averaged a 3.4/9 in metered-market households, delivering the #1 non-sports rating of the night, ahead of all Saturday primetime entertainment telecasts on ABC, CBS and NBC. This is "SNL's" highest rating in metered-market households for an encore since March 16 (3.7 for a telecast hosted by Jennifer Lawrence with musical guest The Lumineers). Versus the same night last year, "SNL" is up 6 percent in metered-market households (3.4 vs. 3.2).

* In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, last night's "Saturday Night Live" rebroadcast averaged a 1.6 rating, 8 share in adults 18-49. "SNL" delivered the top rating of the night among ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox in the Local People Meters, out-rating all primetime programming on those networks.

Here are the highlights of the eight ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (4/28/12):

ABC (6.03 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T1) and FOX (5.14 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T1) split the demo crown on Saturday as the latter offered up its primtime coverage of "NASCAR: Sprint Cup Racing from Richmond" (5.14 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T1).

The Alphabet, which was the most-watched network, then served up the feature "The Blind Side" (6.03 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T1).

Meanwhile, CBS (4.87 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #3) offered up repeats of "NCIS" (4.90 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5) and "The Mentalist" (4.68 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5) plus a new "48 Hours Mystery" (5.03 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.9, #3).

And finally, NBC (2.14 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) was once again out of the hunt with new episodes of "Escape Routes" (1.31 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.3, #8) and "The Firm" (2.01 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T5) plus a repeat of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (3.10 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4).

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

An encore telecast of "Saturday Night Live," with host Channing Tatum and musical guest Bon Iver (3.2/8 in metered-market households), dominated its time period.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Saturday Night Live" averaged a 1.7 rating, 8 share in adults 18-49. "SNL" was the night's #1 program in the Local People Meters, ahead of all primetime telecasts on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.

Source: Nielsen Media Research