nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for friday, march 4, 2011)

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

NBC (6.55 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #1) claimed to honors on Friday with a new "Who Do You Think You Are?" (6.13 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T5) and a resurgent "Dateline NBC" (6.77 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.8, #1).

CBS (8.56 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.4, #2) then had to settle for second place with a new "The Defenders" (8.58 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #2) followed by repeats of "CSI: NY" (8.67 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T3) and "Blue Bloods" (8.44 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T3).

Next up was ABC (3.85 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #3) with fresh installments of "Supernanny" (3.33 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.9, #10), "Primetime: What Would You Do?" (3.47 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.1, #7) and "20/20" (4.75 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T5).

Meanwhile, The CW (2.23 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) offered up new episodes of "Smallville" (2.24 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8) and "Supernatural" (2.22 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8).

And finally, coverage of "The 42nd Annual NAACP Image Awards" (2.34 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.6, #11) on FOX (2.34 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Dateline NBC (28.60%), The Defenders (25.00%), Who Do You Think You Are? (0.00%), Smallville (0.00%), Supernatural (0.00%), Supernanny (-10.00%), Primetime: What Would You Do? (-15.40%), 20/20 (-20.00%).

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

Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 3.1/8; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.5/6 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.7/6; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.3/4 with an encore.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 1.1/5; "Late Show," 0.6/2 with an encore; "Nightline," 0.8/3; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.7/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.3/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.8/5 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/2).

At 1:35 a.m., Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.9/4 in metered-market households and a 0.5/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (3/5/10):

CBS (7.79 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T1) and NBC (7.06 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T1) split top honors on Friday as the latter offered up the premiere of "Who Do You Think You Are?" (6.85 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T5) and a two-hour "Dateline NBC" (7.17 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T2).

The Eye then offered up new episodes of "Ghost Whisperer" (7.39 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T2), "Medium" (7.88 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.9, #1) and "NUMB3RS" (8.10 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T2).

Next up was ABC (5.79 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with new episodes of "Supernanny" (4.36 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #9), "20/20" (6.28 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.5, #7) and another "20/20" (6.73 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T5).

Meanwhile, FOX (3.58 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #4) offered up repeats of "House" (3.67 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.0, #10) and "Kitchen Nightmares" (3.49 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.4, #8).

And finally, repeats of "Smallville" (1.29 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T11) and another "Smallville" (1.49 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T11) on The CW (1.39 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research