LAW & ORDER: SVU Up Week-to-Week in Adults 18-49

At 8 p.m. ET, "Dateline NBC" (1.4/5 in 18-49, 6.2 million viewers overall) matched the show's top Wednesday 18-49 rating of the season, last achieved with the show's Wednesday season debut April 3. It's also a season high for a Wednesday "Dateline" in adults 25-54 (1.9 rating) and total viewers (6.186 million) and the third time in a row the Wednesday "Dateline" has improved on its prior total-viewer result. From its first half-hour to its second, "Dateline" grew in 18-49 rating by 15 percent (to a 1.5 from a 1.3) and 13 percent in total viewers (6.6 million vs. 5.8 million).

At 9 p.m. ET, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1.6/6 in adults 18-49, 6.7 million viewers overall) grew week to week by 7 percent in 18-49 rating (to a 1.6 from a 1.5) and 3 percent in total viewers (6.680 million vs. 6.478 million), despite competition last night from the season finales of ABC's "Modern Family" and CBS's "Criminal Minds. Note that "Law & Order: SVU" adds significant viewership through time-shifting, with its prior telecast growing by 40 percent going from these next-day "live plus same day" ratings in 18-49 (1.52) to "live plus three day" results (2.13).

At 10 p.m. ET, "Chicago Fire" (1.7/5 in adults 18-49, 6.2 million viewers overall) built on its "SVU" lead-in despite facing the second hour of CBS's special two-hour "Criminal Minds" season finale, as well as ABC's "Nashville" season finale. Note that "Chicago Fire" is a heavily time-shifted series, with its prior telecast growing by 41 percent going from these next-day "live plus same day" ratings in 18-49 (1.96) to "live plus three day" results (2.77).

"Chicago Fire" once again built from half-hour to half-hour in adults 18-49 (to a 1.8 rating from a 1.7) and total viewers (6.3 million vs. 6.0 million), despite the 10 p.m hour.

In Late-Night Metered Markets Wednesday night:

In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 2.7/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.4/6; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 2.0/5.

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

From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET Wednesday night, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.4/4 in metered-market households and a 0.5/3 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.2/4). 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.

NOTE: All ratings are "live plus same day" from Nielsen Media Research unless otherwise indicated.