nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for monday, august 8, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

FOX (6.01 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.5, #1) was the demo king on Monday thanks to fresh installments of "Hell's Kitchen" (6.51 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.7, #1) and "Masterchef" (5.52 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.3, #2).

ABC (6.87 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #2) then was the most-watched network with its full-night premiere of "Bachelor Pad" (6.87 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #3).

Next up was CBS (4.60 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.2, #3) with repeats of "How I Met Your Mother" (4.00 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T7), another "How I Met Your Mother" (4.13 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T5), "Two and a Half Men" (5.44 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4), "Mike & Molly" (4.89 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T5) and "Hawaii Five-0" (4.57 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.0, #9).

Meanwhile, NBC (4.42 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) offered up encores of "America's Got Talent" (4.71 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T7) and "Harry's Law" (3.84 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.6, #10).

And finally, The CW (0.59 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) did the same with repeats of "Gossip Girl" (0.75 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.3, #11) and "One Tree Hill" (0.43 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.2, #12).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Hell's Kitchen (12.5%), Masterchef (0.0%).

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," 2.7/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 1.9/5 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.8/6; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.2/4.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.8/4; "Late Show," 0.5/2 with an encore; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

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" (1.0/3 with an encore). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2 with an encore).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.7/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.3/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (8/9/10):

ABC (5.75 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.1, #1) was the network to beat on Monday thanks to its launch of "Bachelor Pad" (6.35 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.2, #3) and the return of "Dating in the Dark" (4.54 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.9, #4).

CBS (6.62 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.9, #2) then claimed the silver with its all-repeat lineup of "How I Met Your Mother" (5.05 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T5), "Rules of Engagement" (5.34 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T5), "The Big Bang Theory" (8.39 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.7, #1), "Two and a Half Men" (8.58 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.4, #2) and "CSI: Miami" (6.17 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T7).

Next up was FOX (4.05 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #3) with its annual "Teen Choice 2010" (4.05 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T7) coverage.

Meanwhile, NBC (4.22 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #4) stumbled with a repeat of "America's Got Talent" (4.87 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.4, #11) followed by a new "Last Comic Standing" (3.93 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T7) and the season finale of "Last Comic Standing" (3.87 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T7).

And finally, repeats of "90210" (0.90 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.4, #12) and "Gossip Girl" (0.68 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #13) on The CW (0.79 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the evening.

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (2.9/7) took top honors over ABC's "Nightline" (2.7/6) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.3/6). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.2/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.3/4) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.3/4) and "Daly" (0.7/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research