nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, january 20, 2011)

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

Night two of "American Idol" (22.63 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 7.8, #1) sparked FOX (16.79 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.7, #1) to victory on Thursday. Leading out of the broadcast was a new "Bones" (10.95 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.6, #4).

CBS (13.63 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.1, #2) then took home the silver with new episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" (13.58 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 4.2, #3), "Bleep My Dad Says" (10.29 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.7, #T8), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (14.29 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.1, #6) and "The Mentalist" (14.66 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.8, #7).

Next up was NBC (5.43 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.8, #3) with its new all-comedy lineup of "Community" (4.74 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 2.2, #11), "Perfect Couples" (4.16 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 2.1, #12), "The Office" (8.28 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 4.5, #2), "Parks & Recreation" (6.19 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 3.2, #5), "30 Rock" (5.28 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.7, #T8) and "Outsourced" (3.95 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.8, #13).

Meanwhile, ABC (5.42 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.7, #4) offered up a new "Wipeout" (8.25 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.6, #10) followed by repeats of "Grey's Anatomy" (4.71 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.6, #14) and "Private Practice" (3.30 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.0, #15).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.37 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.6, #16) and "Nikita" (1.31 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.5, #17) on The CW (1.34 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Bones (56.50% vs. 12/9/10), 30 Rock (22.70% vs. 12/9/10), The Office (18.40% vs. 12/9/10), Community (10.00%), The Big Bang Theory (-4.50% vs. 1/6/11), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (-6.10% vs. 1/6/11), The Mentalist (-6.70% vs. 1/6/11), Bleep My Dad Says (-6.90%), Wipeout (-27.80%), Outsourced (-28.00% vs. 12/2/10).

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 2.9/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 3.2/8; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.9/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/4

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 1.1/5; "Late Show," 0.9/4; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/5 in metered-market households) trailed CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.5/5). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.7/4 in 18-49) tied "Late Late Show" (0.5/3).

At 1:35 a.m., Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.7/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.4/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (1/21/10):

ABC (9.79 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.4, #1) was the adults 18-49 victor on Thursday thanks to new episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" (12.65 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.6, #1) and "Private Practice" (9.66 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.6, #3). Leading off the night was the premiere of "The Deep End" (7.07 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.8, #13).

The silver then went to FOX (9.41 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.1, #2) with fresh installments of "Bones" (11.93 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.5, #4) and "Fringe" (6.90 million viewers, #T9; adults 18-49: 2.6, #8).

Next up was CBS (11.97 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.8, #3) with repeats of "The Big Bang Theory" (6.90 million viewers, #T9; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T10), another "The Big Bang Theory" (7.48 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.4, #9) and new episodes of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (14.24 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.1, #T5) and "The Mentalist" (14.47 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.1, #T5).

Meanwhile, NBC (5.15 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.2, #4) offered up its mix of "Community" (4.73 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T10), "Parks & Recreation" (4.35 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 2.0, #12), "The Office" (7.29 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 3.7, #2), "30 Rock" (5.58 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 2.8, #7) and "The Jay Leno Show" (4.47 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.4, #15).

And finally, the return of "The Vampire Diaries" (3.69 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.6, #14) and "Supernatural" (2.79 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 1.3, #16) on The CW (3.24 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.4, #5) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research