nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, september 1, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to significant local NFL pre-season pre-emptions, Fast Nationals for FOX, ABC, CBS and NBC are inflated.]

CBS (8.62 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.7, #1) overshadowed the competition on Thursday with its mix of "The Big Bang Theory" (8.91 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.6, #3), another "The Big Bang Theory" (8.98 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.8, #2), "Big Brother 13" (9.68 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.4, #1) and "The Mentalist" (7.23 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.9, #4).

Second place then went to ABC (5.93 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T2) with repeats of "Wipeout" (6.55 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T5) and "Rookie Blue" (5.92 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T12) followed by a new "Rookie Blue" (5.85 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T8).

Sharing the silver was NBC (4.84 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T2) with encores of "Community" (4.57 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T12), "Parks & Recreation" (4.49 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T8), "The Office" (5.02 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T5), "30 Rock" (4.65 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.7, #7) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (5.15 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T8).

Meanwhile, FOX (5.26 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #4) offered up repeats of "Bones" (5.00 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #14) and another "Bones" (5.52 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.5, #11).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.07 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T15) and "Plain Jane" (1.14 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T15) on The CW (1.10 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Rookie Blue (23.1%), Big Brother 13 (6.3%), Wipeout (-5.3%).

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," 2.4/6; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.0/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.3/4 with an encore.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 1.0/5; "Late Show," 0.7/3; "Nightline," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.3/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.5/3).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.9/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.3/3 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 (9/8/10):

CBS (9.64 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.7, #1) snagged top honors on Thursday thanks to a new "Big Brother 12" (10.62 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.4, #1) followed by repeats of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (9.82 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.7, #2) and "The Mentalist" (8.50 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.1, #3).

Second place then went to NBC (5.18 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.8, #2) with its all-repeat lineup of "Community" (4.71 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T11), "30 Rock" (4.72 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T9), "The Office" (5.46 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.0, #4), another "Community" (4.82 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.9, #5) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (5.69 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T6).

Next up was ABC (6.31 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #3) with a repeat of "Wipeout" (6.77 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T6) alongside fresh installments of "Rookie Blue" (7.00 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T6) and "Nightlineprime: Secrets of Your Mind - Why We Do What We Do" (5.16 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.3, #13).

Meanwhile, FOX (4.68 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4) offered up repeats of "Bones" (5.34 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T9) and "Fringe" (4.02 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T11).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (2.10 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.7, #14) and, in honor of 9/02/10, "90210" (1.47 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.6, #15) on The CW (1.79 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5) rounded out the evening.

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.1/7) took top honors over NBC's "Leno" (2.9/7) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.5/6). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.3/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.3/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.4/5) and "Daly" (0.8/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research