Primetime Ratings: Following ‘Talent' Finale, Leno Stays Strong

Boosts ratings from Tuesday night, 'Got Talent' wins the night

By David Tanklefsky -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/17/2009 12:38:36 PM

The Jay Leno show continued to post strong ratings in its first week, although the other broadcasters are yet to bring out new episodes of their drama shows. Wednesday night, it again easily won the 10 p.m. time slot with a 3.4/10 rating, up from Tuesday's 3.3/9. The show, buoyed by NBC's America's Got Talent finale as a lead in, garnered 13.1 million viewers, 2.4 million more than the Tuesday night audience but still lower than the 18.4 million that watched the premiere episode.

The first hour of America's Got Talent on NBC came in at 2.8/9 with 13.5 million viewers. Fox was next at 2.4/7 for So You Think You Can Dance. ABC's Wipeout was third with a 2.1/7. The CW's America's Next Top Model earned a 1.4/4-the same number it premiered at last week-ahead of CBS' 1.2/4 for reruns of The New Adventures of Old Christine (1.1/4) and Gary Unmarried (1.2/4).

The second hour of the Talent finale was the night's top-rated and most-watched, with a 4.1/11 and 17.5 million total viewers. Fox earned a 3.1/8 with Glee, off the pace from last week's 3.5/9. A Criminal Minds rerun on CBS was third at 1.8/5. Crash Course on ABC delivered a 1.4/4. The CW was fifth at 0.7/2 with an underwhelming series premiere of The Beautiful Life.

At 10, Leno finished first, followed by CBS at 1.9/5 with a rerun of CSI: NY, which had 7.5 million viewers to Leno's 13.1 million. ABC's Primetime: Family Secrets was third at 1.4/4.

On the night NBC delivered a 3.5/10 with 14.7 million viewers. Fox was second at 2.7/8. ABC came in at 1.7/5, followed by CBS at 1.6/5. The CW finished fifth with a 1.0/3.