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nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, july 2, 2009)

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Here are the highlights of the 16 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

Note: Due to the loss of a key source, primetime and late-night household ratings will no longer be available. We will however now carry primetime total viewership numbers in their place.

FOX (5.88 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #1) retained the adults 18-49 crown on Thursday thanks to a repeat of "Bones" (4.61 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T4) and a new "So You Think You Can Dance" (7.15 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.3, #1).

The silver then went to CBS (8.05 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.5, #2) with its all-repeat mix of "CSI: Miami" (6.39 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T6), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (8.06 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #3) and "The Mentalist" (9.71 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.9, #2).

Next up was NBC (2.92 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #3) with its combination of "30 Rock" (3.03 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8), "The Office" (2.51 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8), another "The Office" (2.81 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T4), another "30 Rock" (2.64 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T6) and a new "The Listener" (3.28 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8).

Meanwhile, ABC (2.62 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) offered up a new "Samantha Who?" (3.51 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8), a second episode of "Samantha Who?" (3.29 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8) and repeats of "Grey's Anatomy" (2.22 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.7, #13) and "Private Practice" (2.26 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.6, #14).

And finally, repeats of "Smallville" (1.32 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.5, #15) and "Supernatural" (1.08 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.4, #16) rounded out the night on The CW (1.20 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5).

Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (7/3/08):

Note: Primetime household fast-national ratings and late-night metered-market ratings were not available for this date.

Fresh installments of "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" (adults 18-49: 1.3, #T6, half-hour: 8.33%) and "So You Think You Can Dance" (adults 18-49: 2.1, #1, half-hour: 10.00%) lifted FOX (adults 18-49: 1.7, #1) to victory on Thursday.

NBC (adults 18-49: 1.6, #2) then took a competitive second place with a two-hour "Last Comic Standing" (adults 18-49: 1.8, #2, half-hour: 26.67%) and a new "Fear Itself" (adults 18-49: 1.4, #T4, half-hour: -13.33%).

Next up was CBS (adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with repeats of "Million Dollar Password" (adults 18-49: 1.3, #T6, half-hour: 16.67%), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (adults 18-49: 1.5, #3, half-hour: 14.29%) and a new "Swingtown" (adults 18-49: 1.4, #T4, half-hour: 7.69%).

Meanwhile, ABC (adults 18-49: 0.9, #4) offered up its mix of "Ugly Betty" (adults 18-49: 0.7, #10, half-hour: 0.00%), "Grey's Anatomy" (adults 18-49: 0.9, #9, half-hour: 12.50%) and "Hopkins" (adults 18-49: 1.2, #8, half-hour: 9.09%).

And finally, repeats of "Smallville" (adults 18-49: 0.6, #11, half-hour: 0.00%) and "Supernatural" (adults 18-49: 0.5, #12, half-hour: 0.00%) on The CW (adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) rounded out the night.

Source: Nielsen Media Research

This data is reported with the understanding it will be removed within seven days of its original posting date. To read more about our ratings policy click here.




So what does all this crap mean? Here's a quick guide to understanding these numbers:
"Heroes" (households: 8.1/12, #4, half-hour: 7.69%; adults 18-49: 6.6, #1, half-hour: 4.69%)
8.1 = "Heroes's" household rating, which indicates 8.1% of all households in the U.S. watched this broadcast
12 = "Heroes's" household share, which indicates 12% of all households watching TV in the U.S. watched this broadcast
#4 = "Heroes's" household ranking for that night (T denotes a tie)
7.69% = Gain or loss of household audience between the first half-hour and the last half-hour
6.6 = "Heroes's" adults 18-49 rating, which indicates 6.6% of all adults 18-49 in the U.S. watched this broadcast
#1 = "Heroes's" adults 18-49 ranking for that night (T denotes a tie)
4.69% = Gain or loss of adults 18-49 audience between the first half-hour and the last half-hour
Some other stuff to keep in mind:
· Ratings are percentages NOT flat numbers. A 1.0 household rating equals 1% of all households in the U.S. A 1.0 adults 18-49 ratings equals 1% of all adults 18-49 in the U.S.
· For the 2007-08 season, there are an estimated 112,800,000 television households in the U.S. so 1% of that equals 1,128,000 households. Note that a household may contain more than one person.
· For the 2007-08 season, there are an estimated 131,050,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 49 in the U.S. so 1% of that equals 1,310,500 people.
· We currently do not have access to actual viewership numbers (i.e. 16.2 million people watched "Heroes") on a daily basis.
· Nielsen Media Research forbids us from displaying ratings in chart form (beyond the top 20 in the "Weekly" section) or maintaining regular archives beyond the current week. It sucks, we know.