nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for tuesday, december 28, 2010)

Here are the highlights of the 11 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

A special Tuesday edition of "Sunday Night Football" (21.83 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 7.5, #1) towered over the competition as NBC (21.54 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 7.3, #1) took home top honors last night. Leading off the evening was a half-hour "Sunday Night Football Pre-Game" (20.11 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 6.4, #2).

CBS (9.78 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #2) then was a distant second place with a repeat of "NCIS" (10.59 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.0, #3) followed by "The 33rd Annual Kennedy Center Honors" (9.38 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4).

Next up was FOX (4.04 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #3) with second runs of "Glee" (4.00 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.4, #5) and another "Glee" (4.08 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.3, #6).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.61 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) offered up its own all-repeat lineup of "Rudolph's Shiny New Year" (3.99 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.2, #7), "No Ordinary Family" (3.37 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.9, #8) and "Detroit 187" (3.46 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.8, #9).

And finally, repeats of "One Tree Hill" (0.93 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.4, #10) and "Life Unexpected" (0.70 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.3, #11) on The CW (0.81 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out the night.

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/29/09):

CBS (10.69 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.9, #1) was the network to beat on Tuesday thanks to a repeat of "NCIS" (12.89 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.4, #1) and its annual "The Kennedy Center Honors" (9.60 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #3).

Second place then went to ABC (4.98 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T2) with its mix of "Rudolph's Shiny New Year" (4.20 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #5), "Scrubs" (2.89 million viewers, #T8; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6), "Better Off Ted" (2.69 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6) and a special "20/20" (7.94 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.3, #2).

Sharing the silver was FOX (3.59 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T2) with the feature "Benchwarmers" (3.59 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.92 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.9, #4) offered up its all-repeat lineup of "Parks & Recreation" (3.25 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T9), another "Parks & Recreation" (2.81 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T9), yet another "Parks & Recreation" (2.89 million viewers, #T8; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T9), even more "Parks & Recreation" (2.61 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T9) and "The Jay Leno Show" (2.97 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6).

And finally, repeats of "90210" (1.13 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.4, #13) and "Melrose Place" (0.72 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #14) on The CW (0.93 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research