nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for monday, november 22, 2010)

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

CBS (11.43 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.5, #1) escaped with the adults 18-49 crown on Monday thanks to new episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" (8.98 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 3.5, #5), "Rules of Engagement" (8.13 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.9, #8), "Two and a Half Men" (14.31 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.5, #2), "Mike & Molly" (12.99 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 4.0, #4) and "Hawaii Five-0" (12.09 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.2, #7).

Second place then fell to ABC (15.13 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.4, #2) with a one-hour "Dancing With the Stars" (23.28 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.7, #1), a half-hour"Dancing With the Stars Overrun/Skating With the Stars" (19.45 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 4.4, #3) and the concluding 90 minutes of "Skating With the Stars" (8.27 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.2, #9).

Next up was FOX (7.48 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.6, #3) with new episodes of "House" (9.24 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.4, #6) and "Lie to Me" (5.72 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.8, #10).

Meanwhile, NBC (5.10 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4) was out of the hunt with its mix of "Chuck" (4.80 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T11), "The Event" (5.18 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T11) and "Chase" (5.33 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.4, #13).

And finally, repeats of "90210" (0.89 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T14) and "Gossip Girl" (0.84 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T14) on The CW (0.86 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Dancing With the Stars (17.50%), Chase (16.70%), Hawaii Five-0 (14.30%), Mike & Molly (5.30%), The Event (0.00%), How I Met Your Mother (0.00%), Rules of Engagement (0.00%), Two and a Half Men (0.00%), Chuck (-5.60%), Lie to Me (-10.00%), House (-15.00%).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.2/8) took top honors ahead of CBS's "Letterman" (3.0/7) and NBC's "Leno" (2.8/7). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.7/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.4/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.3/4) and "Daly" (0.8/3) on NBC.

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (11/23/09):

CBS (11.86 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 4.0, #1) held onto the adults 18-49 crown on Monday thanks to new episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" (8.79 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 3.7, #T5), "Accidentally on Purpose" (7.90 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 3.2, #7), "Two and a Half Men" (13.91 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.7, #2), "The Big Bang Theory" (14.22 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 5.2, #1) and "CSI: Miami" (13.18 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.7, #T5).

Second place then went to FOX (9.58 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.6, #2) with fresh installments of "House" (11.88 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 4.5, #3) and "Lie to Me" (7.27 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 2.7, #T9).

Next up was ABC (15.88 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.4, #3) with a new "Dancing With the Stars" (20.49 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.1, #4), the premiere of "Find My Family" (12.90 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.9, #8) and a new "Castle" (10.46 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.7, #T9).

Meanwhile, NBC (5.01 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.8, #4) was once again out of the hunt with its mix of "Heroes" (7.27 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.3, #11), "Trauma" (5.32 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.6, #12) and "The Jay Leno Show" (4.54 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.4, #13).

And finally, repeats of "One Tree Hill" (1.33 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T14) and "Gossip Girl" (1.22 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T14) on The CW (1.28 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research