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[09/16/11 - 08:57 AM]
Thursday's Broadcast Ratings: "Secret Circle," "Vampire Diaries" Perfect Match for The CW
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, september 15, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

CBS (8.06 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T1) was the most-watched network on Thursday with repeats of "The Big Bang Theory" (8.14 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.2, #T2), another "The Big Bang Theory" (8.70 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1) and a two-hour "The Mentalist" (7.87 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4).

ABC (5.55 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T1) then shared the demo crown with the two-hour season finale of "Wipeout" "Wipeout" (6.72 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.2, #T2) alongside a repeat of "Grey's Anatomy" (3.21 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T8).

Next up was The CW (2.99 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) which claimed a rare bronze with the return of "The Vampire Diaries" (2.99 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T5) and the series premiere of "The Secret Circle" (2.99 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.3, #7). "Circle" posted the largest original audience in its time period since "Nikita" on 9/23/10.

Next up was FOX (3.79 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) with encores of "Bones" (3.70 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.9, #12) and another "Bones" (3.87 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T8).

And finally, NBC (2.70 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.9, #5) closed out the evening with its all-repeat lineup of "Community" (2.17 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.6, #14), "Up All Night" (2.59 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #11), "The Office" (3.13 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T5), "Free Agents" (2.39 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T8) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (2.96 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #13).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Wipeout (22.2% vs. 9/1/11).

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," 3.1/8; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.1/5 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.7/7; 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," 1.0/5; "Late Show," 0.6/3 with an encore; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.4/3.

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" (1.1/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.7/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/4 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 (9/16/10):

CBS (7.94 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1) was the network to beat on Thursday thanks to its mix of "The Big Bang Theory" (7.41 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T4), a second "The Big Bang Theory" (8.22 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.4, #3), a third "The Big Bang Theory" (8.27 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.6, #T1), a fourth "The Big Bang Theory" (8.36 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.6, #T1) and "The Mentalist" (7.70 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.7, #7).

ABC (5.75 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.8, #2) then claimed the silver with its combination of "Wipeout" (6.49 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T4), "Grey's Anatomy" (4.94 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.6, #8) and a second hour of "Grey's Anatomy" (5.82 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.9, #6).

Next up was NBC (4.29 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with repeats of "The Office" (3.56 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.1, #12) and another "The Office" (3.48 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #11) followed by the two-hour return of "The Apprentice" (4.67 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #9).

The show's season premiere marked the franchise's lowest audience - premiere or otherwise - in over four years (data prior not readily available).

Meanwhile, The CW (3.20 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) offered up week two of "The Vampire Diaries" (3.04 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.4, #10) and "Nikita" (3.36 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #15).

And finally, FOX (2.45 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #5) was out of the hunt with repeats of "Fringe" (2.35 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T13) and a second "Fringe" (2.54 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T13).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.0/7) took top honors over NBC's "Leno" (2.7/7) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.5/6). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.5/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.3/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.3/5) and "Daly" (0.7/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





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