nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for tuesday, november 23, 2010)

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

ABC (18.43 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.1, #1) overshadowed the competition on Tuesday with the two-hour season finale of "Dancing With the Stars" (24.13 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.3, #1). Leading off the night was a new "No Ordinary Family" (7.03 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T9).

Compared with its 2009 fall swan song, "DWTS" was up 25.74% in viewers and 23.26% in adults 18-49.

CBS (14.56 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.1, #2) then had to settle for second place with new episodes of "NCIS" (18.80 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.9, #3), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (14.86 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.2, #4) and "The Good Wife" (10.02 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.1, #7).

Next up was FOX (7.67 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.0, #3) with fresh installments of "Glee" (10.38 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 4.0, #2), "Raising Hope" (5.64 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.4, #T5) and a repeat of "Raising Hope" (4.28 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T9).

Meanwhile, NBC (6.03 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.2, #4) offered up new episodes of "The Biggest Loser" (6.80 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.4, #T5) and "Parenthood" (4.50 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.9, #8).

And finally, repeats of "One Tree Hill" (0.92 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T11) and "Life Unexpected" (0.81 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T11) on The CW (0.87 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Dancing With the Stars (60.60%), No Ordinary Family (5.90%), Parenthood (5.60%), NCIS (0.00%), NCIS: Los Angeles (-3.00%), The Biggest Loser (-4.00%), The Good Wife (-4.50%), Raising Hope (-11.10%), Glee (-20.00%).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (4.9/11) took top honors over NBC's "Leno" (2.8/7) and CBS's "Letterman" (3.0/7). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (2.5/7) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.5/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.4/5) and "Daly" (0.8/3) on NBC.

Here are the highlights of the 10 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (11/24/09):

ABC (15.86 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.9, #1) was the network to beat on Tuesday with the fall finales of "V" (9.20 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.1, #5) and "Dancing With the Stars" (19.19 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 4.3, #T2).

CBS (16.65 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.8, #2) however took a competitive second place with its mix of "NCIS" (20.26 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.4, #1), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (17.18 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.3, #T2) and "The Good Wife" (12.50 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.8, #6).

Next up was NBC (7.59 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.9, #3) with new episodes of "The Biggest Loser" (8.91 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.5, #4) and "The Jay Leno Show" (4.94 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.9, #8).

Meanwhile, FOX (5.42 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.1, #4) offered up another two-hour "So You Think You Can Dance" (5.42 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.1, #7).

And finally, repeats of "90210" (1.20 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.5, #9) and "Melrose Place" (0.82 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.4, #10) on The CW (1.01 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) rounded out the night.

Source: Nielsen Media Research