nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for friday, december 16, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

NBC (4.81 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.2, #1) pulled off a rare Friday win thanks to a new "Chuck" (3.22 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T8), the fall finale of "Grimm" (5.16 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.5, #1) and a new "Dateline NBC" (6.06 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T2).

ABC (4.55 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #2) then took home the silver with its mix of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (4.76 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T4), another "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (5.17 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T2) and "20/20" (3.71 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T8).

Next up was FOX (3.19 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #3) with its mix of "Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown" (3.02 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T8), "Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas" (3.77 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T4) and "The Simpsons" (2.95 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6) encores.

Meanwhile, CBS (6.07 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.9, #4) offered up repeats of "A Gifted Man" (5.17 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.8, #12), "CSI: NY" (6.40 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T8) and "Blue Bloods" (6.66 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6).

And finally, repeats of "Nikita" (1.35 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T13) and "Supernatural" (1.16 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T13) on The CW (1.25 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) rounded out the night.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+9.09% - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - 8:00
-6.25% - Grimm
-10.00% - Chuck
-13.33% - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - 9:00
-18.75% - Dateline NBC
-30.77% - 20/20

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+20.00% - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - 8:00 (vs. Supernanny)
+7.14% - Grimm (vs. Dateline NBC)
0.00% - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - 9:00 (vs. Primetime: What Would You Do?)
-7.14% - Dateline NBC
-10.00% - Chuck (vs. Minute to Win It)
-10.00% - 20/20

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," 2.4/6; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.1/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.5/4 with an encore.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 1.0/4; "Late Show," 0.5/2; "Nightline," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.8/5 in metered-market households with an encore) beat CBS's first-run "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 with an encore) topped "Late Late Show" (0.2/1).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 1.0/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.3/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

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

Here are the highlights of the 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/17/10):

NBC (5.63 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.3, #1) squeezed out a victory on Friday thanks to a repeat of "Minute to Win It" (4.02 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6) and a new two-hour edition of "Dateline NBC" (6.43 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T2).

A competitive silver then went to CBS (4.96 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.2, #2) with its mix of "Yes, Virginia" (4.84 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.2, #5), "Frosty the Snowman" (5.60 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #1), "Frosty Returns" (5.17 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T2), "I Get That a Lot" (3.38 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6) and "Blue Bloods" (5.39 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6).

Next up was ABC (4.12 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #3) with fresh installments of "Supernanny" (4.00 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6), "Primetime: What Would You Do?" (4.38 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) and "20/20" (3.98 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6).

And finally, a repeat of the feature "Are We There Yet?" (3.04 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.9, #11) on FOX (3.04 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.9, #4) and repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.57 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T12) and another "The Vampire Diaries" (1.42 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T12) on The CW (1.50 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Primetime: What Would You Do? (-13.30%), Supernanny (-16.70%), 20/20 (-33.30%).

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (3.1/7) and CBS's "Letterman" (3.1/7) took top honors over ABC's "Nightline" (2.8/6). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.3/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.6/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.7/5) and "Daly" (1.0/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research