nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for friday, september 23, 2011)

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

CBS (10.61 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.7, #1) took home top honors on a competitive premiere Friday thanks to the premiere of "A Gifted Man" (9.31 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #6) and the return of "CSI: NY" (10.67 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.8, #3) and "Blue Bloods" (11.85 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T1).

NBC (5.78 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T2) and FOX (3.69 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T2) then shared the silver as the latter offered up the season openers to "Kitchen Nightmares" (3.84 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4) and "Fringe" (3.53 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #5).

The Peacock then offered up repeats of "Up All Night" (3.16 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T12) and "Whitney" (3.10 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.9, #11) alongside a two-hour "Dateline NBC" (7.11 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T1).

Next up was ABC (3.78 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) with repeats of "Modern Family" (3.98 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8), another "Modern Family" (3.82 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.1, #7), "Revenge" (4.13 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8) and a new "20/20" (3.33 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8).

And finally, the return of "Nikita" (1.88 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.6, #14) and "Supernatural" (1.95 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T12) on The CW (1.92 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #5) rounded out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Nikita" posted a 0.7 rating while "Supernatural" delivered a 0.8 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+33.33% - Dateline NBC
-16.67% - 20/20

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+166.67% - Kitchen Nightmares (vs. Human Target (Repeat))
+66.67% - Fringe (vs. The Good Guys)
+48.15% - Dateline NBC (vs. Dateline NBC/Outlaw)
0.00% - A Gifted Man (vs. Medium)
-9.09% - Blue Bloods
-10.00% - CSI: NY
-33.33% - Supernatural
-33.33% - 20/20
-53.85% - Nikita (vs. Smallville)

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," 3.0/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.4/6; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.9/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/4 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," 0.6/3; "Nightline," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.7/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.2/4). 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 1.0/4 in metered-market households and a 0.5/4 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 (9/24/10):

CBS (9.74 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.9, #1) was the network to beat on the first Friday of the 2010-11 season thanks to the season premieres of "Medium" (6.12 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #5), "CSI: NY" (10.28 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.0, #2) and "Blue Bloods" (12.81 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1).

That 2.2 adults 18-49 rating for "Blue Bloods" was up 22.2% from the season premiere of "NUMB3RS" a year ago (1.8).

The silver then went to NBC (6.47 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #2) with a two-hour "Dateline NBC" (7.21 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.6, #3) followed by week two of "Outlaw" (4.99 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.1, #9).

Next up was The CW (2.85 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.3, #3) with the season premieres of "Smallville" (2.90 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.3, #6) and "Supernatural" (2.79 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T7).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.99 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #4) offered up encores of "Modern Family" (4.17 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T7), "Better With You" (3.07 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T10), "The Whole Truth" (2.91 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.7, #12) and a new "20/20" (5.43 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4).

And finally, a repeat of "Human Target" (3.11 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.6, #13) lead into the return of "The Good Guys" (2.90 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T10) on FOX (3.01 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #5).

"The Good Guys's" 0.9 adults 18-49 fell short of the season two opener to "Dollhouse" (1.0) by 10.0%.

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

Source: Nielsen Media Research