nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, october 13, 2011)

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

FOX (10.83 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.6, #1) claimed top honors on Thursday thanks to a new "The X Factor" (10.54 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.4, #T4) followed by a second hour of "The X Factor" (11.11 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.9, #2).

CBS (12.24 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.1, #2) then remained the most-watched network with a new "The Big Bang Theory" (13.26 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.4, #1), a repeat of "The Big Bang Theory" (11.99 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.7, #3) and fresh installments of "Person of Interest" (11.86 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.7, #7) and "The Mentalist" (12.25 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.5, #8).

Next up was ABC (7.45 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.4, #3) with week four of "Charlie's Angels" (5.96 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T14) alongside new episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" (9.69 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 3.4, #T4) and "Private Practice" (6.71 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.4, #9).

Meanwhile, NBC (4.51 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.9, #4) was out of the hunt with its mix of "Community" (3.82 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.7, #12), "Parks & Recreation" (4.00 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 2.1, #10), "The Office" (6.05 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 3.2, #6), "Whitney" (4.21 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.0, #11) and "Prime Suspect" (4.50 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T14).

And finally, new episodes of "The Vampire Diaries" (2.81 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.4, #13) and "The Secret Circle" (1.84 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.8, #16) on The CW (2.33 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.1, #5) closed out the evening. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Diaries" posted a 1.9 rating while "Circle" delivered a 1.4 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+16.67% - The Vampire Diaries
+13.33% - Community
+13.33% - Grey's Anatomy
+10.53% - Parks & Recreation
+9.09% - Private Practice
+8.33% - Charlie's Angels
+8.00% - Person of Interest
+3.23% - The Office
0.00% - The Big Bang Theory
0.00% - The Secret Circle
-2.86% - The X Factor - 8:00
-4.88% - The X Factor - 9:00
-7.41% - The Mentalist
-13.04% - Whitney
-13.33% - Prime Suspect

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+105.26% - The X Factor - 9:00 (vs. Fringe)
+55.56% - The Vampire Diaries (vs. The Vampire Diaries (Repeat))
+33.33% - The Secret Circle (vs. Nikita (Repeat))
+30.77% - The X Factor - 8:00 (vs. Bones)
+18.18% - Charlie's Angels (vs. Grey's Anatomy (Repeat))
+7.32% - The Big Bang Theory
0.00% - Prime Suspect (vs. The Apprentice)
-12.90% - Person of Interest (vs. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation)
-13.51% - The Office
-20.00% - Whitney (vs. Outsourced)
-20.00% - Private Practice
-22.73% - Community
-24.24% - The Mentalist
-24.44% - Grey's Anatomy
-30.00% - Parks & Recreation (vs. 30 Rock)

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," 2.8/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.9/7; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.2/8; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/4.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.9/4; "Late Show," 0.8/4; "Nightline," 1.1/5; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3.

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" (1.3/5). 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 1.0/4 in metered-market households and a 0.4/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters

Here are the highlights of the 16 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (10/14/10):

CBS (13.53 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.3, #1) maintained top honors on Thursday thanks to week four of "The Big Bang Theory" (12.47 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.1, #2), "Bleep My Dad Says" (10.14 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.1, #T5), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (14.26 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.1, #T5) and "The Mentalist" (15.02 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.3, #4).

ABC (8.14 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.9, #2) then once again had to settle for second place with a repeat of "Grey's Anatomy" (4.17 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.1, #14) followed by new episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" (11.97 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 4.5, #1) and "Private Practice" (8.26 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 3.0, #T7).

Next up was NBC (5.27 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.4, #3) with fresh installments of "Community" (4.80 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.2, #11), "30 Rock" (6.67 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 3.0, #T7), "The Office" (7.31 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 3.7, #3), "Outsourced" (5.42 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.5, #10) and "The Apprentice" (3.72 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.3, #13).

Said adults 18-49 numbers for the Peacock mark "Community's" highest since 3/4/10 and "30 Rock's" since 12/10/09.

Meanwhile, FOX (7.38 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.3, #4) offered up new episodes of "Bones" (9.48 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.6, #9) and "Fringe" (5.27 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.9, #12), both of which return with new episodes in November.

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (2.01 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.9, #15) and "Nikita" (1.71 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.6, #16) on The CW (1.86 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): 30 Rock (42.90%), Community (29.40%), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (14.80%), Bleep My Dad Says (10.70%), The Mentalist (10.00%), The Office (8.80%), Private Practice (3.40%), The Big Bang Theory (2.50%), Grey's Anatomy (0.00%), Bones (0.00%), Outsourced (0.00%), The Apprentice (0.00%), Fringe (-5.00%).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.3/8) took top honors over NBC's "Leno" (2.7/7) and CBS's "Letterman" (3.0/8). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.6/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.5/6) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.3/5) and "Daly" (0.8/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research