nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, november 3, 2011)

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

FOX (10.65 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.4, #1) was the network to beat on Thursday thanks to a new "The X Factor" (11.28 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.6, #3) and the return of "Bones" (10.02 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.3, #5). Said numbers marked the veteran drama's best in the demo since Season 4 (9/3/08).

CBS (12.94 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.3, #2) then was a competitive second place with new episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" (15.49 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.1, #1), "Rules of Engagement" (11.90 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.7, #2), "Person of Interest" (11.66 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.7, #8) and "The Mentalist" (13.46 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.9, #7).

Next up was ABC (7.13 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.4, #3) with fresh installments of "Charlie's Angels" (5.38 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T14), "Grey's Anatomy" (9.26 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 3.5, #4) and "Private Practice" (6.76 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.6, #9).

NBC (4.52 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.9, #4) then offered up its mix of "Community" (3.87 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.7, #12), "Parks & Recreation" (3.94 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 2.0, #11), "The Office" (6.05 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 3.1, #6), "Whitney" (4.33 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.1, #10) and "Prime Suspect" (4.47 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T14).

And finally, new episodes of "The Vampire Diaries" (3.34 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.5, #13) and "The Secret Circle" (2.27 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.9, #16) on The CW (2.80 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.2, #5) rounded out the evening. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Diaries" posted a 2.0 rating while "Circle" delivered a 1.3 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+21.43% - Community
+16.00% - The Mentalist
+13.33% - The Big Bang Theory
+11.11% - Parks & Recreation
+10.71% - The Office
+8.82% - Rules of Engagement
+8.33% - Private Practice
+7.14% - The Vampire Diaries
+5.88% - The X Factor (vs. 10/13/11)
+3.85% - Person of Interest
0.00% - Whitney
0.00% - Charlie's Angels (vs. 10/20/11)
0.00% - Prime Suspect
-5.41% - Grey's Anatomy
-10.00% - The Secret Circle

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+83.33% - Bones (vs. Fringe)
+44.00% - The X Factor (vs. Bones)
+10.87% - The Big Bang Theory
+8.82% - Rules of Engagement (vs. Bleep My Dad Says)
0.00% - The Mentalist
0.00% - Charlie's Angels (vs. Grey's Anatomy (Repeat))
0.00% - The Secret Circle (vs. Nikita)
-6.25% - The Vampire Diaries
-10.53% - Community
-14.29% - Prime Suspect (vs. The Apprentice)
-16.22% - The Office
-16.67% - Parks & Recreation (vs. 30 Rock)
-18.18% - Person of Interest (vs. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation)
-18.60% - Grey's Anatomy
-22.22% - Whitney (vs. Outsourced)
-33.33% - Private Practice

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," 2.9/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 3.1/8; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.1/8; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.6/5.

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" (1.4/5 in metered-market households) trailed CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.5/5). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) tied "Late Late Show" (0.5/3).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.9/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.3/2 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 (11/4/10):

CBS (13.52 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.4, #1) held onto top honors on Thursday with new episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" (13.88 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 4.6, #1), "Bleep My Dad Says" (10.94 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.4, #5), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (13.87 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.3, #6) and "The Mentalist" (14.27 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.9, #7).

ABC (8.75 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.1, #2) then took home a competitive second place with a repeat of "Grey's Anatomy" (4.39 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.2, #15) followed by new episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" (11.67 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 4.3, #2) and "Private Practice" (10.20 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.9, #3).

Next up was NBC (5.21 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.3, #3) and its combination of "Community" (4.57 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.9, #11), "30 Rock" (5.29 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.4, #10), "The Office" (7.61 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 3.7, #4), "Outsourced" (5.77 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.7, #8) and "The Apprentice" (4.02 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.4, #14).

Meanwhile, FOX (7.03 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.2, #4) offered up the return of "Bones" (9.10 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.5, #9) and "Fringe" (4.97 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.8, #12).

And finally, The CW (3.01 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.2, #5) served up new episodes of "The Vampire Diaries" (3.62 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.6, #13) and "Nikita" (2.45 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.9, #16).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Private Practice (44.40%), Grey's Anatomy (13.20%), The Big Bang Theory (12.20%), Bleep My Dad Says (9.70%), 30 Rock (9.10% vs. 10/21/10), Outsourced (0.00%), The Apprentice (0.00%), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (0.00%), Bones (-3.80% vs. 10/14/10), The Office (-5.10%), Fringe (-5.30% vs. 10/14/10), The Vampire Diaries (-5.90%), The Mentalist (-9.40%), Nikita (-10.00%), Community (-20.80%).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.5/8) and CBS's "Letterman" (3.6/9) took top honors over NBC's "Leno" (3.0/7). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.6/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.7/6) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.4/5) and "Daly" (0.8/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research