nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for monday, august 29, 2011)

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

FOX (5.00 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.3, #1) was the demo king on Monday thanks to a repeat of "Hell's Kitchen" (3.82 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.7, #3) and an original "Hell's Kitchen" (6.18 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.9, #1), which matched its season high.

ABC (5.63 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.6, #2) then took home the silver with a new "Bachelor Pad" (6.40 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.0, #2) followed by a repeat of "Castle" (4.09 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.9, #11).

Next up was NBC (5.30 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T3) with an encore of "America's Got Talent" (5.13 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T8) alongside a special "Dateline NBC" (5.65 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T6).

Meanwhile, CBS (4.92 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T3) offered up repeats of "How I Met Your Mother" (4.27 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T6), another "How I Met Your Mother" (4.28 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T4), "Two and a Half Men" (5.36 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T4), "Mike & Molly" (5.07 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T8) and "Hawaii Five-0" (5.28 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.1, #10).

And finally on The CW (0.71 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5), repeats of "Gossip Girl" (0.82 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T12) and "One Tree Hill" (0.59 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T12) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Hell's Kitchen (7.4%), Bachelor Pad (-4.8%).

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

Note: Currently available metered-market averages exclude numerous major markets, including New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington and are therefore subject to significant revision.

In Nielsen's 56 metered markets (with several major markets currently excluded), household results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 2.9/8; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.1/5; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.8/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.1/4 with an encore.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters (with several major markets currently excluded), adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.9/4; "Late Show," 0.6/3; "Nightline," 0.8/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/4 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.0/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 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 0.3/2 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 (8/30/10):

CBS (6.85 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.0, #1) claimed top honors on Monday despite an all-repeat mix of "How I Met Your Mother" (5.23 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T6), "Rules of Engagement" (5.74 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.9, #4), "Two and a Half Men" (9.03 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.6, #2), "The Big Bang Theory" (8.81 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.8, #1) and "CSI: Miami" (6.15 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T6).

The silver then went to ABC (5.41 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.8, #2) with new episodes of "Bachelor Pad" (6.15 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.0, #3) and "Dating in the Dark" (3.92 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.5, #8).

Next up was FOX (4.55 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #3) with a repeat of "House" (3.89 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T9) followed by a new "Lie to Me" (5.21 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.7, #5).

Meanwhile, NBC (5.24 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) offered up a repeat of "America's Got Talent" (5.16 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T9) and a new "Dateline NBC" (5.40 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T9).

And finally, repeats of "90210" (1.06 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T12) and "Gossip Girl" (0.94 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T12) on The CW (1.00 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #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" (2.5/6). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.2/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.2/4) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.3/5) and "Daly" (0.8/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research