nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for saturday, november 6, 2010)

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

FOX (4.61 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #1) lead the 18-49 race on Saturday with the return of "Cops" (4.49 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T2) and "America's Most Wanted" (4.73 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.5, #1).

A silver medal then went to CBS (5.97 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.2, #2) with repeats of "NCIS" (6.31 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T4) and "The Defenders" (5.24 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6) followed by a new "48 Hours Mystery" (6.36 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T2).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.63 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #3) offered up its "Saturday Night College Football" (3.63 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6) coverage.

And finally, the penultimate "Outlaw" (3.53 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #9) led into repeats of "Law & Order: Los Angeles" (4.41 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.7, #8) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (5.46 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T4) on NBC (4.47 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4).

Here are the highlights of the eight ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (11/7/09):

Mainstays "Cops" (4.99 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T1) and "America's Most Wanted" (5.49 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T1) once again put FOX (5.24 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.7, #1) in front on Saturday.

Second place then went to ABC (5.05 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #2) with its "Saturday Night College Football" (5.05 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4) coverage.

Next up was CBS (3.94 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with a repeat of "NCIS: Los Angeles" (4.24 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.8, #7) followed by the new two-hour special "Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers" (3.79 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T1).

And finally, repeats of "Mercy" (2.33 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #8), "Law & Order" (5.15 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #6) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (6.22 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.4, #5) on NBC (4.53 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research