nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for monday, december 19, 2011)

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

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to local NFL preemptions, Fast Nationals for ABC are inflated on the night and for CBS from 8-930p.]

CBS (7.43 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #T1) claimed top honors on Monday with its all-repeat lineup of "How I Met Your Mother" (6.81 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.3, #4), "2 Broke Girls" (7.74 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.7, #1), "Two and a Half Men" (8.46 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.5, #2), "Mike & Molly" (7.79 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.2, #T5) and "Hawaii Five-0" (6.90 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.8, #8).

Sharing the demo crown however was FOX (7.18 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.2, #T1) with a new "Terra Nova" (7.24 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.1, #7) followed by the season finale of "Terra Nova" (7.12 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.2, #T5).

Next up was NBC (5.38 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.7, #3) with the launch of "Who's Still Standing?" (5.56 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #9) alongside new episodes of "Fear Factor" (6.28 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.4, #3) and "Rock Center With Brian Williams" (4.31 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.2, #12).

Meanwhile, ABC (4.54 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #4) offered up its mix of "Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special" (4.76 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #11), "A Chipmunk Christmas" (5.00 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.4, #10), "You Deserve It" (4.15 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.1, #13) and a repeat of "Castle" (4.60 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #14).

And finally, repeats of "Hart of Dixie" (1.36 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T15) and "Hart of Dixie" (1.05 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T15) on The CW (1.20 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out the evening. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Dixie" posted a 0.4 rating at 8:00/7:00c and a 0.4 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+22.22% - You Deserve It
+9.09% - Rock Center With Brian Williams
0.00% - Terra Nova
-31.43% - Fear Factor

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+10.53% - Terra Nova - 8:00 (vs. Million Dollar Money Drop)
+10.00% - Terra Nova - 9:00 (vs. Million Dollar Money Drop)
+4.35% - Rock Center With Brian Williams (vs. Perfect Couples/The Office (Repeat))
-8.33% - You Deserve It (vs. Castle (Repeat))
-11.11% - Fear Factor (vs. The Sing-Off)
-44.44% - Who's Still Standing? (vs. The Sing-Off)

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," 2.5/6; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.9/6; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.2/3 with an encore.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.9/4; "Late Show," 0.6/2; "Nightline," 0.9/3; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.4/2 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.6/5 in metered-market households with an encore) beat CBS's first-run "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.2/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/3 in 18-49 with an encore) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

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 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/20/10):

NBC (6.68 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1) was the network to beat on Monday with the two-hour season finale of "The Sing-Off" (8.51 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.7, #1) followed by a sneak preview of "Perfect Couples" (3.80 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.4, #10) and a repeat of "The Office" (2.22 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.9, #13).

CBS (7.42 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T2) and FOX (5.34 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T2) then split the silver as the latter offered up the premiere of "Million Dollar Money Drop" (5.37 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T5) followed by a second hour of "Million Dollar Money Drop" (5.31 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T3).

The eye then served up its all-repeat lineup of "How I Met Your Mother" (6.58 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T3), "Rules of Engagement" (6.28 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T5), "Two and a Half Men" (9.20 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.4, #2), "Mike & Molly" (7.41 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T5) and "Hawaii Five-0" (7.52 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.6, #9).

Meanwhile, ABC (5.85 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) was out the hunt with the penultimate episode of "Skating With the Stars" (4.78 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #12) followed by a repeat of "Castle" (5.62 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #11) and a second repeat of "Castle" (7.15 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.7, #8).

And finally, repeats of "90210" (1.09 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.5, #14) and "Gossip Girl" (0.77 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #15) on The CW (0.93 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Skating With the Stars (25.00%), The Sing-Off (-18.20%).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.1/7) took top honors ahead of CBS's "Letterman" (2.7/6) and NBC's "Leno" (3.0/7). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.4/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.5/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.5/5) and "Daly" (0.9/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research