nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for monday, november 1, 2010)

Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

ABC (17.02 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.6, #T1) and CBS (10.59 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.6, #T1) split top adults 18-49 honors on Monday, each beating "World Series, Game 5" (11.96 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.4, #T5) coverage on FOX (11.96 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.4, #3).

The Alphabet offered up new episodes of "Dancing With the Stars" (19.63 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.0, #2) and "Castle" (11.80 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.8, #8).

The Eye then served up its mix of "How I Met Your Mother" (9.00 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 3.7, #3), "Rules of Engagement" (8.84 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 3.4, #T5), "Two and a Half Men" (13.62 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 4.7, #1), "Mike & Molly" (10.89 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.6, #4) and "Hawaii Five-0" (10.59 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.0, #7).

Meanwhile, NBC (5.40 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.0, #4) offered up a new "Chuck" (5.46 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.0, #10) followed by the two-hour "The Women of SNL" (5.37 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.1, #9) special.

And finally, new episodes of "90210" (2.05 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T11) and "Gossip Girl" (1.98 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T11) on The CW (2.02 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Rules of Engagement (17.20%), How I Met Your Mother (15.60%), Two and a Half Men (9.30%), Hawaii Five-0 (7.10%), Chuck (5.30%), Mike & Molly (0.00%), 90210 (0.00%), Gossip Girl (0.00%), Dancing With the Stars (-4.80%), Castle (-6.70%).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.5/8) took top honors ahead of CBS's "Letterman" (2.6/6) and NBC's "Leno" (2.9/7). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.7/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.2/4) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.4/5) and "Daly" (0.9/4) on NBC.

Here are the highlights of the 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (11/2/09):

Coverage of the "World Series, Game 5" (15.53 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 4.8, #1) lifted FOX (15.53 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.8, #1) to another easy win last night.

Usually dominant CBS (11.47 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.9, #2) then had to settle for second place with its mix of "How I Met Your Mother" (9.05 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 3.5, #5), "Accidentally on Purpose" (8.54 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 3.2, #7), "Two and a Half Men" (13.60 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.4, #3), "The Big Bang Theory" (12.66 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 4.6, #2) and "CSI: Miami" (12.47 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.7, #4).

Next up was ABC (14.03 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.0, #3) with fresh installments of "Dancing With the Stars" (16.20 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.3, #6) and "Castle" (9.68 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.4, #9).

Meanwhile, NBC (5.56 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.0, #4) offered up new episodes of "Heroes" (6.18 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.6, #8), "Trauma" (6.23 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.1, #10) and "The Jay Leno Show" (4.26 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #11).

And finally, new episodes of "One Tree Hill" (2.39 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.1, #12) and "Gossip Girl" (1.92 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.0, #13) on The CW (2.16 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #5) rounded out the night.

Source: Nielsen Media Research