At 8 p.m. ET, “Mercy” averaged a 1.5/4 in adults 18-49 and 5.9 million viewers overall in a competitive time period that included the Wednesday season premiere of Fox’s “American Idol.”
At 9 p.m. ET, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” averaged a 2.0/5 in adults 18-49 and 7.7 million viewers overall, in a time period that included competition from Fox’s “American Idol,” CBS’s “Criminal Minds” and ABC’s “Modern Family” and “Cougar Town.”
From its first half-hour to its second, “Law & Order: SVU” increased its 18-49 rating by 35 percent (to a 2.3 from a 1.7) and its overall viewership by 29 percent or 1.9 million persons (8.7 million vs. 6.7).
Last night’s “Law & Order: SVU” is up 18 percent in 18-49 versus NBC’s 1.7 average in this slot for the traditional 2008-09 season. In total viewers, “SVU” is up 31 percent versus NBC’s 5.854 million average in the hour during the traditional ’08-09 season.
From 10-11 p.m. ET, “The Jay Leno Show” averaged a 1.6 rating, 4 share in adults 18-49; a 1.8/5 in adults 25-54 and 5.4 million viewers overall. Last night’s time-period competition included CBS’s “CSI: NY” and ABC’s “Ugly Betty.” In the time period, “Jay Leno” tied for #2 among the major networks in adult 18-49 (with “Ugly Betty”) and was #2 outright in all key adult-male categories. It’s the second night in a row “Leno” has tied or topped a competing original drama on ABC in 18-49, after “Leno” out-rated ABC’s “The Forgotten” Tuesday night.
“The Jay Leno Show” scored its highest Wednesday 18-49 rating in four weeks and matched its highest Wednesday rating in 13 weeks (since October 14). It’s also a four-week Wednesday high for “Leno” in total viewers.
Comparisons to Jay Leno’s 2008-09 average at 11:35 p.m. ET on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” are: in adults 18-49, 1.6 vs. 1.4; adults 25-54, 1.8 vs. 1.8; and total viewers, 5.4 million vs. 5.1 million. Comparisons with NBC’s Monday-through-Friday 10-11 p.m. ET non-sports averages over the 52 weeks prior to Jay’s debut are: in adults 18-49, 1.6 vs. 2.2; in adults 25-54, 1.8 vs. 2.7; and in total viewers, 5.4 million vs. 6.9 million.
In Late-Night Local People Meters Wednesday night:
Conan O’Brien (1.8/7 in 18-49 in local people meters) out-delivered CBS’s LATE SHOW (1.0/4) in Nielsen’s 25 local markets with People Meters.
At 12:35 a.m., Jimmy Fallon (0.9/5 in 18-49 in local people meters) topped CBS’s LATE LATE SHOW (0.6/4).
NOTE: All national ratings are “live plus same day” from Nielsen Media Research unless otherwise indicated. Metered-market household ratings are “live only.”
(source: data and information provided by NBC)
