nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for saturday, august 3, 2013)

Here are the highlights of the 10 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

CBS (4.089 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #1) was the network to beat on Saturday despite its all-repeat lineup of "The Mentalist" (3.211 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7), "48 Hours" (4.240 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #2) and another "48 Hours" (4.817 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #1).

NBC (1.900 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2) then claimed the silver with its mix of "American Ninja Warrior" (2.105 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4), "WrestleMania 29: The World Television Premiere" (1.918 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.6, #3) and "Do No Harm" (1.677 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T7).

Next up was FOX (1.295 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T2) and its primetime coverage of "Guinness International Champions Cup Semifinal" (1.295 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4).

And finally, ABC (2.209 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4) offered up the penultimate "Zero Hour" (1.843 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T9) followed by the series finale of "Zero Hour" (1.919 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T9) and a repeat of "20/20 Saturday" (2.866 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4).

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

· An encore telecast of "Saturday Night Live," with host Anne Hathaway and musical guest Rihanna, averaged a 2.5/7 in metered-market households. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Saturday Night Live" averaged a 1.2 rating, 6 share in adults 18-49. "SNL" posted 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 seven ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (8/4/12):

NBC (26.08 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 7.8, #1) once again towered over the competition on Saturday with its coverage of the "2012 Summer Olympics" (26.09 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 7.8, #1).

FOX (2.14 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #2) then offered up its presentation of "UFC on FOX #4" (2.14 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.1, #2). Said numbers were on par with its last UFC special (2.25 million viewers; adults 18-49: 1.0 on 5/5/12).

Next up was CBS (2.89 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T3) with new episodes of "NYC 22" (2.49 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T6), a second "NYC 22" (2.84 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T6) and a repeat of "48 Hours Mystery" (3.36 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3).

And finally, encores of the feature "Norbit" (1.98 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3) and "Castle" (2.22 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) on ABC (2.06 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T3) closed out the night.

Source: Nielsen Media Research