nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, october 6, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 16 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

FOX (11.21 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.8, #1) was once again the demo king on Thursday with a new "The X Factor" (10.59 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.5, #3) and second hour of "The X Factor" (11.82 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.1, #2).

CBS (11.69 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.9, #2) then was the most-watched network with fresh installments of "The Big Bang Theory" (13.63 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.4, #1), "How to Be a Gentleman" (7.82 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.5, #T7), "Person of Interest" (11.46 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.5, #T7) and "The Mentalist" (12.89 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.7, #6).

Next up was ABC (6.88 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.1, #3) with its lineup of "Charlie's Angels" (5.93 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T14), "Grey's Anatomy" (8.50 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.0, #5) and "Private Practice" (6.21 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.2, #10).

Meanwhile, NBC (4.66 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.0, #4) was out of the hunt with new episodes of "Community" (3.37 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T12), "Parks & Recreation" (4.13 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.9, #11), "The Office" (5.71 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 3.1, #4), "Whitney" (4.88 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.3, #9) and "Prime Suspect" (4.93 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T12).

And finally, new episodes of "The Vampire Diaries" (2.55 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T14) and "The Secret Circle" (1.96 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.8, #16) closed out the evening on The CW (2.26 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #5). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Diaries" posted a 1.9 rating while "Circle" delivered a 1.3 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+8.00% - The Mentalist
0.00% - Prime Suspect
-2.38% - The X Factor - 9:00
-2.78% - The X Factor - 8:00
-7.41% - How to Be a Gentleman
-7.41% - Person of Interest
-7.69% - The Vampire Diaries
-8.00% - Whitney
-8.33% - The Big Bang Theory
-8.82% - The Office
-9.52% - Parks & Recreation
-11.11% - The Secret Circle
-14.29% - Grey's Anatomy
-16.67% - Community
-20.00% - Charlie's Angels
-21.43% - Private Practice

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+105.00% - The X Factor - 9:00 (vs. Fringe)
+34.62% - The X Factor - 8:00 (vs. Bones)
+15.38% - Prime Suspect (vs. The Apprentice)
+10.00% - The Big Bang Theory
+9.09% - Charlie's Angels (vs. Grey's Anatomy (Repeat))
-7.41% - Person of Interest (vs. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation)
-8.00% - Whitney (vs. Outsourced)
-8.82% - The Office
-9.52% - Parks & Recreation (vs. 30 Rock)
-10.00% - The Mentalist
-10.71% - How to Be a Gentleman (vs. Bleep My Dad Says)
-11.76% - Community
-24.14% - Private Practice
-25.00% - The Vampire Diaries
-27.27% - The Secret Circle (vs. Nikita)
-33.33% - Grey's Anatomy

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," 2.7/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.9/7; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.3/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.5/5.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.8/4; "Late Show," 0.7/3; "Nightline," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/5 in metered-market households) tied CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.4/5). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/3).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 in metered-market households and a 0.3/2 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 (10/7/10):

CBS (12.57 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.0, #1) was the network to beat on Thursday thanks to new episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" (12.49 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.0, #2), "Bleep My Dad Says" (9.78 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.8, #6), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (12.29 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.7, #7) and "The Mentalist" (14.29 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.0, #4).

A silver medal then went to ABC (8.24 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.9, #2) with a repeat of "Grey's Anatomy" (4.19 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T15) followed by new episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" (12.49 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 4.5, #1) and "Private Practice" (8.04 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.9, #5).

Next up was FOX (7.18 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.3, #3) with fresh installments of "Bones" (9.13 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.6, #8) and "Fringe" (5.22 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.0, #11).

Meanwhile, NBC (4.81 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.1, #4) served up its mix of "Community" (4.29 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.7, #12), "30 Rock" (4.91 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 2.1, #10), "The Office" (6.89 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 3.4, #3), "Outsourced" (5.23 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.5, #9) and "The Apprentice" (3.76 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.3, #14).

And finally, new episodes of "The Vampire Diaries" (3.46 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.6, #13) and "Nikita" (2.95 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T15) on The CW (3.21 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.4, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): The Vampire Diaries (6.70%), Fringe (5.30%), Bones (4.00%), Grey's Anatomy (2.30%), The Mentalist (0.00%), Private Practice (0.00%), The Big Bang Theory (-7.00%), The Apprentice (-7.10%), The Office (-8.10%), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (-10.00%), Community (-10.50%), Outsourced (-10.70%), Bleep My Dad Says (-12.50%), Nikita (-15.40%), 30 Rock (-19.20%).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.2/8) took top honors over NBC's "Leno" (2.6/7) and CBS's "Letterman" (3.1/8). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.5/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.5/6) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.3/5) and "Daly" (0.7/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research