NBC's LAW & ORDER SVU Captures Highest 18-49 Rating Since January

At 9 p.m. ET, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1.7/5 in adults 18-49, 6.5 million viewers overall) captured its highest 18-49 rating since January 30 and its biggest overall audience since January 9. "SVU" is up week to week by 6 percent in 18-49 rating (to a 1.7 from a 1.6, also up 13 percent versus last week's 1.5 in these prelim fast-affiliate ratings), and up week to week by 18 percent in total viewers (6.530 million vs. 5.512 million). Last night's "Law & Order: SVU" grew from half-hour to half-hour by 13 percent in 18-49 rating (to a 1.8 from a 1.6) and 15 percent in total viewers (7.0 million vs. 6.1 million). Versus its lead-in, "SVU" was up 55 percent in 18-49 rating and 111 percent in total viewers.

Keep in mind that last season, "Law & Order: SVU" originals added an average of 47 percent to these next-day "live plus same day" ratings in 18-49 when Nielsen reported "live plus seven day" results.

At 10 p.m. ET, "Chicago Fire" (1.8/5 in adults 18-49, 6.9 million viewers overall) earned week-to-week gains of 6 percent in 18-49 rating (1.8 vs. 1.7) and 8 percent in total viewers (6.901 million vs. 6.392 million). In total viewers, it's the top "Chicago Fire" since January 30.

In the time period, "Chicago Fire" ranked #1 among ABC, CBS and NBC in adults 18-49 versus ABC's original "Nashville" and CBS's Encore "CSI." "Chicago Fire" is also #1 among those networks in adults, men and women 25-54 and other key demos.

In the 10:30 lead-in to local news, "Chicago Fire" delivered a 26 percent margin of victory among ABC, CBS and NBC in the key news demo of adults 25-54 (with a 2.4 rating vs. a 1.9 for ABC's #2 "Nashville").

From 8-8:30 p.m. ET, "Whitney" averaged a 1.0/3 in 18-49 and 3.1 million viewers overall, matching its 18-49 rating of the prior week.

From 8:30-9 p.m. ET, a second telecast of "Whitney" (1.1/3 in 18-49, 3.1 million viewers overall) matched NBC's highest 18-49 rating in this time period since February 6. Versus last week's Encore in this slot, "Whitney" was up 38 percent in 18-49 rating (to a 1.1 from a 0.8) and 23 percent in total viewers (3.090 million vs. 2.516 million).

In Late-Night Metered Markets Wednesday night:

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," 2.4/6; 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," 0.7/3; "Late Show," 0.6/3; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.7/4.

From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET Wednesday night, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.2/4 in metered-market households and a 0.4/3 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" (0.4/2).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/4 in metered-market households 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.

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