nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for tuesday, november 29, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

CBS (12.11 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.8, #1) bested the competition on Tuesday with its mix of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" (12.67 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 4.0, #2), a repeat of "NCIS" (13.35 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.9, #5) and "The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show" (10.30 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.6, #1).

FOX (7.15 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.1, #2) then took home the silver with fresh installments of "Glee" (7.84 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.2, #4), "New Girl" (7.60 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 3.6, #3) and "Raising Hope" (5.33 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 2.4, #T6).

Next up was NBC (6.63 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.3, #3) with a new "The Biggest Loser 12" (7.07 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.4, #T6) and the fall finale of "Parenthood" (5.74 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.2, #9).

Meanwhile, ABC (7.49 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #4) offered up its combination of "Last Man Standing" (10.23 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.4, #T6), "Man Up!" (6.59 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.7, #11), a repeat of "The Middle" (4.83 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.4, #12), another repeat of "The Middle" (4.51 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.3, #13) and a new "Body of Proof" (9.40 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.8, #10).

And finally, a new "90210" (1.57 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.8, #14) led into the fall finale of "Ringer" (1.57 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.6, #15) on The CW (1.57 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #5). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "90210" delivered a 1.5 rating while "Dixie" posted a 0.8 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+33.33% - 90210
+20.00% - The Biggest Loser 12
+15.79% - Parenthood
+10.34% - Glee (vs. 11/15/11)
+9.09% - Raising Hope (vs. 11/15/11)
+2.86% - New Girl (vs. 11/15/11)
-10.53% - Man Up!
-11.11% - Last Man Standing
-14.29% - Ringer (vs. 11/15/11)
-14.29% - Body of Proof (vs. 11/15/11)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+71.43% - Raising Hope (vs. Running Wilde)
+33.33% - New Girl (vs. Raising Hope)
+14.29% - Last Man Standing (vs. Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Repeat))
+12.50% - Body of Proof (vs. Detroit 187)
0.00% - The Biggest Loser 12 (vs. Christmas in Rockefeller Center/The Biggest Loser)
-11.11% - 90210 (vs. One Tree Hill)
-24.14% - Parenthood (vs. The Biggest Loser)
-25.00% - Ringer (vs. Life Unexpected)
-28.89% - Glee
-29.17% - Man Up! (vs. Shrek the Halls (Repeat))

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," 3.0/8; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.4/6 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.6/8; 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," 1.0/4; "Late Show," 0.8/4 with an encore; "Nightline," 1.2/5; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.7/4.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/5 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" (0.5/3).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.9/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.4/3 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 (11/30/10):

CBS (12.04 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.4, #1) edged out the competition on Tuesday with its annual broadcast of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" (12.03 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.8, #2) followed by a repeat of "NCIS" (15.06 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.0, #4) and the 2010 edition of "The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show" (9.02 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.4, #3).

FOX (8.38 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.3, #2) then had to settle for the silver with new episodes of "Glee" (11.61 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.5, #1), "Raising Hope" (6.87 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.7, #6) and "Running Wilde" (3.43 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.4, #12).

Next up was NBC (9.28 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.6, #3) with its "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" (11.26 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T9) special followed by the relocated "The Biggest Loser" (8.30 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.9, #5).

Meanwhile, ABC (6.88 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.9, #4) saw repeats of "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (6.89 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.1, #8) and "Shrek the Halls" (7.36 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.4, #7) lead into the relocated "No Ordinary Family" (6.22 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T9) and a new "Detroit 187" (7.28 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.6, #11).

And finally, new episodes of "One Tree Hill" (1.83 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.9, #13) and "Life Unexpected" (1.53 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.8, #14) on The CW (1.68 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.8, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): The Biggest Loser (20.80%), Life Unexpected (14.30% vs. 11/16/10), Raising Hope (12.50%), Glee (12.50%), Running Wilde (7.70% vs. 11/9/10), No Ordinary Family (5.60%), One Tree Hill (0.00% vs. 11/16/10), Detroit 187 (-11.10% vs. 11/16/10).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.2/7) and NBC's "Leno" (3.2/8) took top honors over CBS's "Letterman" (2.2/5). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.5/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.1/4) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.4/5) and "Daly" (0.8/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research