nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for monday, december 20, 2010)

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

NBC (6.68 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1) was the network to beat on Monday with the two-hour season finale of "The Sing-Off" (8.51 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.7, #1) followed by a sneak preview of "Perfect Couples" (3.80 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.4, #10) and a repeat of "The Office" (2.22 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.9, #13).

CBS (7.42 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T2) and FOX (5.34 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T2) then split the silver as the latter offered up the premiere of "Million Dollar Money Drop" (5.37 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T5) followed by a second hour of "Million Dollar Money Drop" (5.31 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T3).

The eye then served up its all-repeat lineup of "How I Met Your Mother" (6.58 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T3), "Rules of Engagement" (6.28 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T5), "Two and a Half Men" (9.20 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.4, #2), "Mike & Molly" (7.41 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T5) and "Hawaii Five-0" (7.52 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.6, #9).

Meanwhile, ABC (5.85 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) was out the hunt with the penultimate episode of "Skating With the Stars" (4.78 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #12) followed by a repeat of "Castle" (5.62 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #11) and a second repeat of "Castle" (7.15 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.7, #8).

And finally, repeats of "90210" (1.09 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.5, #14) and "Gossip Girl" (0.77 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #15) on The CW (0.93 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Skating With the Stars (25.00%), The Sing-Off (-18.20%).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.1/7) took top honors ahead of CBS's "Letterman" (2.7/6) and NBC's "Leno" (3.0/7). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.4/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.5/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.5/5) and "Daly" (0.9/3) on NBC.

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/21/09):

CBS (8.18 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.4, #1) took home top honors on Monday despite an all-repeat lineup of "How I Met Your Mother" (5.71 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T6), "Accidentally on Purpose" (5.43 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.7, #8), "Two and a Half Men" (10.74 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.1, #2), "The Big Bang Theory" (9.95 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.3, #1) and "CSI: Miami" (8.64 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.4, #T3).

The silver then went to NBC (6.78 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.1, #2) with part one of the "The Sing-Off" (7.12 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.2, #5) finale, part two of "The Sing-Off" (7.38 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.4, #T3) finale and a new "The Jay Leno Show" (5.84 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T9).

Next up was FOX (5.03 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with repeats of "House" (4.91 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T9) and "Lie to Me" (4.05 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.3, #11).

Meanwhile, ABC (4.48 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) offered up its mix of "I Want a Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown" (5.85 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T6), "Find My Family" (4.83 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.2, #12) and "Castle" (4.40 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #13).

And finally, repeats of "One Tree Hill" (0.91 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T14) and "Gossip Girl" (0.68 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T14) on The CW (0.80 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research