• by Wayne Friedman , September 2, 2010

One of the last Wednesdays of the summer resulted in a virtual tie among Fox, CBS, and NBC in viewership. 

Nielsen final results show that Fox and its two hours of "MasterChef" gave the network a 2.0 rating/6.3 share among 18-49 viewers -- just edging CBS' 2.0/6.0 and NBC's 1.9/6.0.

Most of the broadcasters went with much more original programming than on typical summer nights.

CBS' "Big Brother" continued its winning ways -- the No. 1 show of the night with a 2.9/10 among 18-49 viewers, up a tad from the week before. NBC's "America's Got Talent" came in at second place with a 2.5/8, down to its lowest numbers of the season. It earned a 2.6/8 the week before.

NBC's "Minute to Win It" offered up a 1.8/5, in the 8 p.m. hour, flat with a week ago; ABC's full night of the "CMA Music Festival: "Countries Night to Rock Music Festival" came in with a 1.7/5 (down 15% versus last year's show.) Even the CW was in the hunt -- but with a still not-very-successful "Plain Jane," which tallied a thin 0.4/1.

ABC ended the evening with a 1.7/5.2 among 18-49 viewers, good for fourth place, followed by CW at 0.4/1.3.