nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, july 18, 2013)

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

CBS (5.952 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.7, #1) took home top honors on Thursday with its mix of "The Big Bang Theory" (7.107 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.7, #3), "Two and a Half Men" (6.088 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4), "Big Brother 15" (6.667 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.3, #1) and "Elementary" (4.593 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T7).

FOX (3.862 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.6, #2) then was a close second place with a repeat of "Hell's Kitchen" (3.016 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T5) and an original "Hell's Kitchen" (4.708 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.0, #2).

Next up was ABC (4.660 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.0, #3) and its lineup of "Wipeout" (4.169 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T7), "Motive" (4.614 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T11) and "Rookie Blue" (5.200 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T7).

Meanwhile, NBC (3.816 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.9, #4) offered up an encore of "The Winner Is" (3.653 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T11) plus originals from "The Winner Is" (3.892 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.9, #10) and "Hollywood Game Night" (3.902 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T5).

And finally on The CW (0.653 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5), rebroadcasts of "The Vampire Diaries" (0.755 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #13) and "Beauty and the Beast" (0.551 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.2, #14) closed out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Diaries" delivered a 0.3 rating at 8:00/7:00c and "Beast" a 0.1 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+22.22% - Wipeout
+15.00% - Big Brother 15
+10.00% - Rookie Blue
0.00% - Hell's Kitchen
0.00% - Motive
-7.69% - Hollywood Game Night
-10.00% - The Winner Is

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+90.48% - Hell's Kitchen (vs. New Girl (Repeat)/New Girl (Repeat))
+80.00% - The Winner Is (vs. Saving Hope)
+71.43% - Hollywood Game Night (vs. Rock Center With Brian Williams)
+22.22% - Wipeout (vs. Duets)
+4.55% - Big Brother 15
-21.43% - Rookie Blue
-50.00% - Motive (vs. Wipeout)

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," 2.6/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.1/6; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.7/5 with an encore.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.8/4; "Late Show," 0.5/2; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3 with an encore.

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.1/4 in metered-market households and a 0.3/2 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/4 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" (0.5/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.7/3 in metered-market households with an encore 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 (7/19/12):

CBS (6.53 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.8, #1) was Thursday's top draw in total viewers and demos thanks to its mix of "The Big Bang Theory" (8.89 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.4, #1), "Two and a Half Men" (7.41 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.1, #3), "Big Brother 14" (6.26 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.2, #2) and "Person of Interest" (5.18 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8).

ABC (4.84 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.3, #2) then took home the silver with the season finale of "Duets" (4.48 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.9, #10) followed by originals from "Wipeout" (5.04 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4) and "Rookie Blue" (4.99 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.4, #5).

Next up was FOX (2.73 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #3) with the penultimate week of "Take Me Out" (3.13 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.2, #6) alongside repeats of "New Girl" (2.41 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8) and a second "New Girl" (2.25 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.1, #7).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.73 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #4) was out of the hunt with repeats of "The Office" (2.01 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T12) and "Parks & Recreation" (1.62 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T12) followed by new episodes of "Saving Hope" (2.99 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.5, #14) and "Rock Center With Brian Williams" (3.39 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.7, #11).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (0.74 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.3, #15) and "The L.A. Complex" (0.53 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.2, #16) on The CW (0.64 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5) closed out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Diaries" delivered a 0.3 rating while "Complex" posted a 0.3 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+7.69% - Rookie Blue
0.00% - Take Me Out
0.00% - Saving Hope
-5.88% - Wipeout
-10.00% - Duets
-15.38% - Big Brother 14
-41.67% - Rock Center With Brian Williams

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+23.08% - Wipeout (vs. Expedition Impossible)
+16.67% - Rookie Blue
0.00% - Rock Center With Brian Williams (vs. Love Bites)
-12.00% - Big Brother 14
-25.00% - Take Me Out (vs. So You Think You Can Dance 8)
-41.18% - Saving Hope (vs. The Office (Repeat)/30 Rock (Repeat))
-50.00% - Duets (vs. Wipeout)

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," 2.5/6; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 1.9/5; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.1/7; 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," 0.7/3; "Late Show," 0.5/2; "Nightline," 1.0/5; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/4 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (0.9/3). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.7/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.3/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research