nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, july 28, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 16 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

CBS (6.50 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.9, #1) was the network to beat on Thursday with its mix of "The Big Bang Theory" (7.07 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T2), "Rules of Engagement" (5.70 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T5), "Big Brother 13" (6.98 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1) and "The Mentalist" (6.12 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #8).

Second place then went to ABC (5.51 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #2) with its all-original lineup of "Wipeout" (6.63 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T2), "Expedition Impossible" (5.02 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T5) and "Rookie Blue" (4.88 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.3, #7).

Next up was FOX (4.38 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #3) with a new "So You Think You Can Dance" (5.29 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.7, #4) and a repeat of "Glee" (3.47 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.0, #9).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.55 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #4) was back to all repeats with its combination of "Community" (2.16 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.6, #14), "Parks & Recreation" (2.09 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.7, #13), "The Office" (2.34 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T10), "30 Rock" (2.05 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.8, #12) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (3.32 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T10).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.11 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.5, #15) and "Plain Jane" (0.79 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.3, #16) on The CW (0.95 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Expedition Impossible (23.1%), Rookie Blue (8.3%), So You Think You Can Dance (6.3%), Wipeout (5.6%), Big Brother 13 (4.0%).

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

In In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 2.5/6; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.4/6; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.8/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.3/4.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.8/4; "Late Show," 0.6/4; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.2/4 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.1/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.4/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

At 1:35 a.m., Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.7/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.2/2 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 (7/29/10):

ABC (5.97 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #1) edged out the competition on Thursday thanks to a repeat of "Wipeout" (6.40 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.0, #2) followed by new episodes of "Rookie Blue" (6.78 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.8, #4) and "Boston Med" (4.72 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T6).

Sharing the silver then was CBS (6.61 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T2) and FOX (4.81 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T2) as the latter offered up a repeat of "Glee" (3.84 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T6) and a new "So You Think You Can Dance" (5.77 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.9, #3).

The Eye served up a new "Big Brother 12" (6.44 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1) followed by repeats of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (5.98 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T6) and "The Mentalist" (7.42 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.4, #5).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.87 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) offered up repeats of "Community" (2.83 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T11), "30 Rock" (2.60 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T11), "The Office" (3.12 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T6), "Parks & Recreation" (2.63 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.1, #10) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (3.01 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T11).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.47 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.5, #14) and "Moonlight" (1.25 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #15) on The CW (1.36 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) closed out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research