nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for friday, august 12, 2011)

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

Coverage of the "NFL Preseason: Tampa Bay at Kansas City" (4.78 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.6, #1) put FOX (4.78 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #1) in front on Friday.

CBS (6.84 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.3, #2) then had to settle for second place with the penultimate week of "Flashpoint" (7.38 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.5, #2) followed by repeats of "CSI: NY" (6.86 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.3, #3) and "Blue Bloods" (6.29 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T5).

Next up was NBC (4.67 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T3) with new episodes of "Friends With Benefits" (2.44 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.6, #9), another "Friends With Benefits" (2.19 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.7, #8) and "Dateline NBC" (5.84 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #4).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.99 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T3) offered up a repeat of "Shark Tank" (3.95 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T5) and the two-hour debut of "Karaoke Battle USA" (4.01 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.0, #7).

And finally, repeats of "Nikita" (1.16 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T10) and "Supernatural" (1.17 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T10) on The CW (1.16 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Flashpoint (36.4%), Friends With Benefits - 8:30 (16.7%), Dateline NBC (0.0%), Friends With Benefits - 8:00 (-14.3%).

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," 2.1/5 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.6/6; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.1/3 with an encore.

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," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.4/2 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.5/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (0.8/3 with an encore delayed by golf coverage). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.2/1 with an encore delayed by golf coverage).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.9/3 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 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (8/13/10):

ABC (4.59 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #1) was the network to beat on Friday thanks to the season finale of "Wife Swap" (3.76 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.3, #3) followed by repeats of "Primetime: What Would You Do?" (4.50 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.5, #2) and "20/20" (5.52 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #1).

The silver then went to NBC (4.55 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T2) and FOX (3.45 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T2) as the latter offered up the feature "Night at the Museum" (3.45 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.1, #6).

As for NBC, the Peacock offered up a repeat of "Who Do You Think You Are?" (3.73 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T8) and a two-hour "Dateline NBC" (4.96 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T4).

Next up was CBS (5.20 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) with repeats of "Medium" (4.13 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T8) and "CSI: NY" (4.94 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #7) alongside a new "Flashpoint" (6.53 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T4).

And finally, repeats of "Smallville" (1.34 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.5, #10) and "Supernatural" (1.16 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.4, #11) on The CW (1.25 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the evening.

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (2.7/7) took top honors over ABC's "Nightline" (2.8/6) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.0/5). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.5/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (0.8/3) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.4/4) and "Daly" (0.9/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research