nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for friday, december 9, 2011)

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

CBS (6.41 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T1) was Friday's most-watched network with holiday encores of "Frosty the Snowman" (7.30 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.9, #1), "Frosty Returns" (6.45 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.7, #2), "Yes, Virginia" (5.51 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T6), "The Elf on the Shelf: An Elf�s Story" (5.36 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T6) and "Blue Bloods" (6.91 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T9).

Sharing the demo crown was NBC (4.94 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T1) with new episodes of "Chuck" (3.68 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T11), "Grimm" (5.41 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T3) and "Dateline NBC" (5.73 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T3).

Next up was ABC (4.97 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.3, #3) with new episodes of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (4.77 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T9), "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (5.39 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.5, #5) and "20/20" (4.75 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.3, #8).

Meanwhile, FOX (2.19 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) offered up repeats of "Kitchen Nightmares" (2.78 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T11) and "Fringe" (1.58 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T13).

And finally, repeats of "Nikita" (1.32 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #15) and "Supernatural" (0.99 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T13) on The CW (1.15 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+15.38% - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - 9:00
+11.11% - Chuck (vs. 11/18/11)
6.67% - Dateline NBC
0.00% - Grimm (vs. 11/18/11)
0.00% - 20/20
0.00% - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - 8:00

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+14.29% - Dateline NBC
+14.29% - Grimm (vs. Dateline NBC)
0.00% - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - 9:00 (vs. Primetime: What Would You Do?)
-8.33% - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - 8:00 (vs. Supernanny)
-13.33% - 20/20
-16.67% - Chuck (vs. Minute to Win It (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," 3.3/8; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.2/5; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.9/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/4 with an encore.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 1.1/5; "Late Show," 0.5/2; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.9/6 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.1/3). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.7/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 1.2/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.5/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

[NOTE: Today's numbers are courtesy of TVMediaInsights.com due to delays from our usual sources.]

Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/10/10):

ABC (5.08 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #1) was the network to beat among adults 18-49 on Friday with its mix of "Supernanny" (4.58 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T5), "Primetime: What Would You Do?" (4.89 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T1) and "20/20" (5.78 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T1).

A competitive second place then went to NBC (5.67 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.3, #2) with a repeat of "Minute to Win It" (4.71 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T5) followed by a two-hour "Dateline NBC" (6.14 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3).

Next up was CBS (7.36 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.2, #3) with its all-repeat lineup of "The Mentalist" (6.72 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8), "CSI: NY" (7.98 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) and "Blue Bloods" (7.38 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.1, #7).

Meanwhile, The CW (2.40 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) offered up fresh installments of "Smallville" (2.57 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8) and "Supernatural" (2.24 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8).

And finally, a repeat of "The Good Guys" (1.89 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.6, #12) led into the season finale of "The Good Guys" (2.32 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.7, #11) on FOX (2.11 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Dateline NBC (100.00%), Supernanny (9.10%), Primetime: What Would You Do? (7.10%), Supernatural (0.00%), The Good Guys (0.00%), Smallville (-9.10%), 20/20 (-21.10%).

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (3.3/8) took top honors over CBS's "Letterman" (2.8/7) and ABC's "Nightline" (3.1/7). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.5/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.4/4) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.7/5) and "Daly" (1.1/4) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research