nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for monday, april 11, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

ABC (17.85 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.9, #1) held onto the top spot on Monday thanks to new episodes of "Dancing With the Stars" (20.46 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.3, #1) and "Castle" (12.65 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.1, #3).

FOX (7.46 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.5, #2) then claimed the silver with the return of "House" (8.95 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.2, #2) and "The Chicago Code" (5.98 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.8, #9).

Next up was CBS (7.63 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.3, #3) with fresh installments of "How I Met Your Mother" (6.80 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.7, #4), "Mad Love" (5.45 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.9, #8), "Mike & Molly" (7.92 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.5, #5), a repeat of "Two and a Half Men" (7.33 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.0, #7) and a new "Hawaii Five-0" (9.13 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.4, #6) - all of which were first-run series lows, save for "Mother" which was a season low.

Meanwhile, NBC (5.32 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #4) offered up a new "Chuck" (4.05 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #11) followed by the two-hour relaunch of "Law & Order: LA" (5.96 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #10) - both of which hit series lows.

And finally, repeats of "90210" (0.78 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T12) and "Gossip Girl" (0.59 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T12) on The CW (0.69 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the night.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Castle (6.90%), The Chicago Code (-5.30% vs. 3/21/11), House (-5.90% vs. 3/21/11), Dancing With the Stars (-6.50%), How I Met Your Mother (-6.90% vs. 3/21/11), Mad Love (-9.50% vs. 3/28/11), Chuck (-13.30% vs. 3/21/11), Mike & Molly (-16.70% vs. 3/21/11), Hawaii Five-0 (-17.20% vs. 3/21/11), Law & Order: LA (-31.80% vs. 12/1/10).

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," 2.6/7; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.9/9; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.5/5.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.9/4; "Late Show," 0.7/3; "Nightline," 1.4/6; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/5 in metered-market households with an encore) tied CBS's first-run "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.3/5). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/3 in 18-49 with an encore) topped "Late Late Show" (0.5/3).

At 1:35 a.m., Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/4 with an encore in metered-market households and a 0.4/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (4/12/10):

ABC (17.90 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.2, #1) was the network to beat on Monday thanks to new episodes of "Dancing With the Stars" (20.27 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.7, #2) and "Castle" (13.16 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.2, #T5).

CBS (10.42 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.6, #2) then had to settle for second place despite new episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" (6.88 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.8, #T7), "Rules of Engagement" (7.38 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.8, #T7), "Two and a Half Men" (13.46 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 4.6, #3), "The Big Bang Theory" (13.12 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 5.0, #1) and "CSI: Miami" (10.84 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.2, #T5).

Next up was FOX (9.44 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.3, #3) with the return of "House" (10.54 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 4.0, #4) followed by a new "24" (8.33 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.6, #9).

Meanwhile, repeats of "Chuck" (2.74 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T13) and "Law & Order" (4.07 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.2, #11) bookended a new "Trauma" (4.36 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.3, #10) on NBC (3.72 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #4).

And finally, the season finale of "Life Unexpected" (1.84 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T13) lead into a new "Gossip Girl" (1.83 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.0, #12) on The CW (1.84 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.9, #5).

Source: Nielsen Media Research