nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, october 7, 2010)

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

CBS (12.57 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.0, #1) was the network to beat on Thursday thanks to new episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" (12.49 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.0, #2), "Bleep My Dad Says" (9.78 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.8, #6), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (12.29 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.7, #7) and "The Mentalist" (14.29 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.0, #4).

A silver medal then went to ABC (8.24 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.9, #2) with a repeat of "Grey's Anatomy" (4.19 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T15) followed by new episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" (12.49 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 4.5, #1) and "Private Practice" (8.04 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.9, #5).

Next up was FOX (7.18 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.3, #3) with fresh installments of "Bones" (9.13 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.6, #8) and "Fringe" (5.22 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.0, #11).

Meanwhile, NBC (4.81 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.1, #4) served up its mix of "Community" (4.29 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.7, #12), "30 Rock" (4.91 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 2.1, #10), "The Office" (6.89 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 3.4, #3), "Outsourced" (5.23 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.5, #9) and "The Apprentice" (3.76 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.3, #14).

And finally, new episodes of "The Vampire Diaries" (3.46 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.6, #13) and "Nikita" (2.95 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T15) on The CW (3.21 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.4, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): The Vampire Diaries (6.70%), Fringe (5.30%), Bones (4.00%), Grey's Anatomy (2.30%), The Mentalist (0.00%), Private Practice (0.00%), The Big Bang Theory (-7.00%), The Apprentice (-7.10%), The Office (-8.10%), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (-10.00%), Community (-10.50%), Outsourced (-10.70%), Bleep My Dad Says (-12.50%), Nikita (-15.40%), 30 Rock (-19.20%).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.2/8) took top honors over NBC's "Leno" (2.6/7) and CBS's "Letterman" (3.1/8). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.5/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.5/6) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.3/5) and "Daly" (0.7/3) on NBC.

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (10/8/09):

ABC (10.79 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 4.0, #1) cruised to the top spot on Thursday thanks to new episodes of "FlashForward" (9.05 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 3.0, #7), "Grey's Anatomy" (13.79 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 5.3, #1) and "Private Practice" (9.54 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.7, #3).

Second place then went to CBS (13.51 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.3, #2) with its mix of "Survivor: Samoa" (11.72 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.4, #T4), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (14.63 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.4, #T4) and "The Mentalist" (14.17 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.2, #6).

Meanwhile, NBC (6.33 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.8, #3) offered up new episodes of "Community" (5.11 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.0, #11), "Parks & Recreation" (4.97 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 2.2, #9), a one-hour "The Office" (9.10 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 4.5, #2) and "The Jay Leno Show" (4.85 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T12).

Next up was FOX (7.97 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.5, #4) with fresh installments of "Bones" (9.92 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.8, #8) and "Fringe" (6.10 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.1, #10).

And finally, new episodes of "The Vampire Diaries" (3.52 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T12) and "Supernatural" (2.47 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.1, #14) on The CW (3.00 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.4, #5) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research