nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for monday, october 24, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to the nature of live sports, Fast Nationals for FOX are unreliable and should not be used. World Series Game 5 aired from 8:02-11:40p. Due to local NFL preemption, Fast Nationals for CBS are inflated.]

CBS (11.93 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.2, #1) held off the competition on Monday with fresh installments of "How I Met Your Mother" (9.90 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 4.3, #4), "2 Broke Girls" (11.47 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 4.6, #2), "Two and a Half Men" (15.49 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 5.6, #1), "Mike & Molly" (12.70 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 4.4, #3) and "Hawaii Five-0" (11.02 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 3.3, #6).

FOX (13.02 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.8, #2) then had to settle for second place despite its coverage of the "World Series, Game 5" (13.02 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.8, #5).

Next up was ABC (15.03 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.9, #3) with new episodes of "Dancing With the Stars" (16.99 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.1, #7) and "Castle" (11.11 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.5, #8).

Meanwhile, NBC (3.61 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #4) was out of the hunt with a new "The Sing-Off" (4.16 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #9) and a repeat of "Prime Suspect" (2.50 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.7, #11).

And finally, new episodes of "Gossip Girl" (1.37 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.6, #12) and "Hart of Dixie" (1.97 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #10) on The CW (1.67 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #5) rounded out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Gossip Girl" delivered a 1.4 rating while "Dixie" posted a 1.5 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+14.29% - Hart of Dixie
+12.82% - Mike & Molly
+7.69% - Two and a Half Men
+6.98% - 2 Broke Girls
+6.45% - Hawaii Five-0
+4.88% - How I Met Your Mother
0.00% - Gossip Girl
-3.13% - Dancing With the Stars
-3.85% - Castle
-6.25% - The Sing-Off

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+58.62% - 2 Broke Girls (vs. Rules of Engagement)
+34.38% - How I Met Your Mother
+30.23% - Two and a Half Men
+22.22% - Mike & Molly
+17.86% - Hawaii Five-0
-16.67% - Castle
-20.00% - Hart of Dixie (vs. Gossip Girl)
-23.08% - The Sing-Off (vs. Chuck/The Event)
-26.19% - Dancing With the Stars
-40.00% - Gossip Girl (vs. 90210)

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," 2.3/6; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.7/7; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.4/8; 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," 0.7/3; "Late Show," 0.9/4; "Nightline," 1.1/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/4 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" (0.6/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/3).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.7/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.4/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (10/25/10):

"Dancing With the Stars" (20.13 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.2, #2) sparked ABC (17.34 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.8, #1) to an easy win on Monday. Leading out of the two-hour broadcast was a new "Castle" (11.78 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.0, #5).

A silver medal then went to CBS (10.20 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.3, #2) with fresh installments of "How I Met Your Mother" (8.38 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.2, #4), "Rules of Engagement" (8.27 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.9, #6), "Two and a Half Men" (13.66 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 4.3, #1), "Mike & Molly" (10.85 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.6, #3) and "Hawaii Five-0" (10.03 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.8, #7).

Next up was NBC (5.41 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.7, #3) with new episodes of "Chuck" (5.39 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.9, #9), "The Event" (5.93 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.0, #8) and "Chase" (4.91 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.3, #12).

Meanwhile, FOX (4.13 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4) offered up a repeat of "House" (3.99 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.4, #11) followed by a new "Lie to Me" (4.27 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.5, #10).

And finally, new episodes of "90210" (2.04 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T13) and "Gossip Girl" (1.88 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T13) on The CW (1.36 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): 90210 (11.10% vs. 10/11/10), Gossip Girl (11.10% vs. 10/11/10), Castle (11.10%), Mike & Molly (5.90%), Dancing With the Stars (5.00%), Two and a Half Men (0.00%), How I Met Your Mother (0.00%), Rules of Engagement (0.00%), Chuck (0.00%), Hawaii Five-0 (-3.40%), The Event (-9.10%), Chase (-18.80%), Lie to Me (-25.00%).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.4/8) took top honors ahead of CBS's "Letterman" (2.5/6) and NBC's "Leno" (2.8/7). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.7/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.3/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.4/5) and "Daly" (0.8/4) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research