nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, december 16, 2010)

Here are the highlights of the 17 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

CBS (10.43 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.4, #1) was the network to beat with the only originals on the night - "The Big Bang Theory" (13.51 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.1, #1) and "Bleep My Dad Says" (10.47 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.0, #2) - followed by repeats of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (9.22 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T3) and "The Mentalist" (10.07 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.8, #5).

Second place then was split between ABC (4.48 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T2) and NBC (3.42 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T2) as the former served up repeats of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (6.39 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T3), "Grey's Anatomy" (3.95 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T11) and "Private Practice" (3.09 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.0, #15).

Next up was the Peacock with its all-repeat lineup of "Community" (3.19 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T11), "30 Rock" (3.46 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.4, #9), "The Office" (4.35 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.7, #6), "Outsourced" (3.64 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T7), another "The Office" (3.00 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.3, #10) and yet another "The Office" (2.89 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T11).

Meanwhile, FOX (5.16 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) served second runs of "Bones" (5.41 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T11) and another "Bones" (4.91 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T7).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.96 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.8, #16) and another "The Vampire Diaries" (1.57 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.6, #17) on The CW (1.77 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Bleep My Dad Says (11.10%), The Big Bang Theory (7.90%).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.0/7) and CBS's "Letterman" (3.0/7) took top honors over NBC's "Leno" (2.7/7). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.4/4) 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 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/17/09):

CBS (14.57 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.6, #1) claimed the top spot on Thursday thanks to new episodes of "Survivor: Samoa" (12.45 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.9, #1), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (15.54 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.5, #T2) and "The Mentalist" (15.72 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.5, #T2).

The silver then went to NBC (6.90 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.6, #2) with its two-hour "SNL: A Very Gilly Christmas" (7.76 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.1, #4) and a new "The Jay Leno Show" (5.20 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.7, #6).

Next up was FOX (5.40 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #3) with repeats of "Bones" (6.87 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.8, #5) and "Fringe" (3.93 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #8).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.69 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) was out of the hunt with its all-repeat mix of "Grey's Anatomy" (3.89 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T10), another "Grey's Anatomy" (4.06 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.3, #7) and "Private Practice" (3.11 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.0, #9).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.88 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #12) and another "The Vampire Diaries" (1.87 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T10) on The CW (1.87 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.8, #5) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research