nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for friday, september 30, 2011)

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

CBS (9.75 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.5, #1) edged out the competition on Friday with week two of "A Gifted Man" (8.14 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T5), "CSI: NY" (9.86 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T2) and "Blue Bloods" (11.16 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.8, #1).

NBC (5.09 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T2) and FOX (3.56 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T2) then shared the silver as the latter offered up new episodes of "Kitchen Nightmares" (3.98 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T2) and "Fringe" (3.14 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T5).

The Peacock then served up repeats of "Up All Night" (2.93 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #12) and "Whitney" (2.81 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.9, #11) followed by a two-hour "Dateline NBC" (6.21 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T2).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.94 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #4) likewise put up repeats of "Modern Family" (3.84 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T8), "Suburgatory" (3.44 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.0, #10), "Pan Am" (4.15 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T8) and a new "20/20" (4.04 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T5).

And finally, fresh installments of "Nikita" (1.78 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.6, #14) and "Supernatural" (1.77 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.7, #13) on The CW (1.78 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+20.00% - 20/20
0.00% - Kitchen Nightmares
0.00% - Nikita
-10.00% - Blue Bloods
-11.11% - CSI: NY
-12.50% - Supernatural
-14.29% - A Gifted Man
-20.00% - Dateline NBC
-20.00% - Fringe

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+100.00% - Kitchen Nightmares (vs. House (Repeat))
+71.43% - Fringe (vs. The Good Guys)
+39.13% - Dateline NBC (vs. Dateline NBC/Outlaw)
+20.00% - 20/20
0.00% - A Gifted Man (vs. Medium)
-5.88% - CSI: NY
-10.00% - Blue Bloods
-30.00% - Supernatural
-40.00% - 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," 2.8/7; 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," 0.8/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.6/5 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" (0.6/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/2).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 1.0/4 in metered-market households and a 0.5/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

[NOTE: Today's numbers are courtesy of TVMediaInsights.com due to delays from our usual sources.]

Here are the highlights of the 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (10/1/10):

CBS (8.84 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.6, #1) was once again the network to beat on Friday with week two of "Medium" (5.93 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #5), "CSI: NY" (9.67 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #2) and "Blue Bloods" (11.21 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.0, #1).

NBC (5.67 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.2, #2) then snagged second place with a two-hour "Dateline NBC" (6.16 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T3) and a new "Outlaw" (4.70 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6).

Next up was ABC (4.09 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #3) with encores of "Modern Family" (3.98 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6), "The Middle" (3.18 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T11), "No Ordinary Family" (4.14 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T3) and a new "20/20" (4.54 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6).

Meanwhile, The CW (2.36 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) offered up fresh installments of "Smallville" (2.36 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6) and "Supernatural" (2.35 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6).

And finally, FOX (2.54 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #5) was out of the hunt with a repeat of "House" (2.57 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T11) and a new "The Good Guys" (2.51 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.7, #13).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Blue Bloods (-9.10%), Outlaw (-9.10%), Medium (-14.30%), CSI: NY (-15.00%), Supernatural (-16.70%), Dateline NBC (-18.80%), The Good Guys (-22.20%), Smallville (-23.10%), 20/20 (-33.30%).

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (3.1/7) took top honors over ABC's "Nightline" (2.6/6) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.7/6). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.4/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.3/4) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.6/5) and "Daly" (1.0/4) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research