nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, august 7, 2013)

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

NBC (6.790 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.7, #1) was still the network to beat on Wednesday with its mix of an "America's Got Talent" (6.335 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4) recap followed by originals from "America's Got Talent" (10.032 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.5, #11) and "Camp" (4.004 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.2, #5).

FOX (4.119 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.6, #2) then was a competitive second place with a repeat of "MasterChef" (2.783 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #8) and a new "MasterChef" (5.454 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.2, #2).

Next up was CBS (5.628 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with a new "Big Brother 15" (6.103 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.1, #3) followed by repats of "Criminal Minds" (4.800 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T6) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (5.981 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T6).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.176 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #4) offered up repeats of "The Middle" (3.710 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T9), "Last Man Standing" (3.324 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.8, #12), "Modern Family" (2.894 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T9), "The Neighbors" (2.312 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.7, #13) and a new "The Lookout" (3.409 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T9).

And finally, second runs of "Arrow" (1.289 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.4, #14) and "Supernatural" (0.928 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.3, #15) closed out the evening for The CW (1.109 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Arrow" delivered a 0.3 rating at 8:00/7:00c and "Supernatural" a 0.2 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+8.70% - America's Got Talent
+5.00% - Big Brother 15
0.00% - MasterChef
0.00% - Camp
0.00% - The Lookout

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+214.29% - MasterChef (vs. So You Think You Can Dance (Repeat))
+16.67% - Big Brother 15
+12.50% - The Lookout (vs. Final Witness)
-72.83% - America's Got Talent (vs. 2012 Summer Olympics)
-86.96% - Camp (vs. 2012 Summer Olympics)

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," 1.9/5 with an encore; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.8/5.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.7/4; "Late Show," 0.5/2 with an encore; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3.

· 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" (1.3/5 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" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 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 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (8/8/12):

NBC (28.75 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 9.2, #1) was again the network to beat on Wednesday with its primetime coverage of the "2012 Summer Olympics" (28.75 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 9.2, #1) followed by the premiere of "Go On" (18.50 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 6.4, #2).

[UPDATED!- 10:46 AM] Said numbers for "Go On" - with the six minutes of Olympics coverage removed from the half-hour - have been adjusted to a 5.6 rating in adults 18-49 and 16.1 million viewers overall.

CBS (4.38 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.2, #2) then claimed the silver with its mix of "Big Brother 14" (5.31 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.8, #3), "Criminal Minds" (3.94 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.9, #6) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (3.91 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T7).

Next up was ABC (2.79 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.9, #3) with repeats of "The Middle" (3.06 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T7), "Suburgatory" (2.47 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T10), "Modern Family" (2.90 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T4), another "Modern Family" (2.75 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T4) plus the season finale of "Final Witness" (2.79 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T7).

Meanwhile, FOX (1.89 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) offered up a rebroadcast of "So You Think You Can Dance" (1.89 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T10).

And finally, repeats of "Supernatural" (1.04 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.4, #12) and a second "Supernatural" (0.75 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #13) on The CW (0.90 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Supernatural" delivered a 0.4 rating at 8:00/7:00c and a 0.5 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Final Witness
-5.26% - Big Brother 14

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
-33.33% - Big Brother 14
-38.46% - Final Witness (vs. Primetime Nightline)

Source: Nielsen Media Research