nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, december 29, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 17 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to a local NBA preemption, Fast Nationals for NBC are likely inflated from 8-930p.]

CBS (8.79 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.0, #1) was once again the king of repeats with its lineup of "The Big Bang Theory" (10.19 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.8, #1), "Rules of Engagement" (7.84 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.2, #2), "Person of Interest" (8.45 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T3) and "The Mentalist" (8.89 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T3).

FOX (4.83 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.1, #2) then claimed the silver with repeats of "Bones" (4.86 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8) and a second "Bones" (4.81 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T5).

Next up was ABC (3.38 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.9, #3) with encores of "Happy New Year, Charlie Brown" (4.20 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T5), "Grey's Anatomy" (2.79 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T12) and another "Grey's Anatomy" (3.16 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.15 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #4) offered up its mix of "Community" (2.24 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.6, #15), "Parks & Recreation" (1.97 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T12), "The Office" (2.80 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T5), "Whitney" (2.09 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T10), another "The Office" (1.91 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T10) and "Up All Night" (1.88 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T12).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (0.97 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T16) and "The Secret Circle" (0.83 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T16) on The CW (0.90 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Diaries" posted a 0.4 rating while "Circle" delivered a 0.4 rating.

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," 2.1/5 with an encore telecast; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.4/6 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.7/6; 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," 0.7/3 with an encore; "Late Show," 0.6/3 with an encore; "Nightline," 0.9/3; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/2 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.2/4 in metered-market households with an encore) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.1/3 with an encore). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49 with an encore) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2 with an encore).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 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 17 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/30/10):

CBS (9.09 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.8, #1) was the network to beat on an original-free Thursday with its mix of "The Big Bang Theory" (9.06 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.3, #1), "Bleep My Dad Says" (7.26 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.8, #2), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (9.19 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #5) and "The Mentalist" (9.93 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T3).

NBC (3.14 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #2) then snagged the silver with its lineup of "Community" (2.78 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.9, #13), "30 Rock" (2.97 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T11), "The Office" (3.87 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T3), "Outsourced" (3.22 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T6), another "Outsourced" (3.22 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T6) and another "The Office" (2.77 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T6).

Next up was FOX (4.87 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.1, #3) with repeats of "Bones" (5.21 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T6) and a second "Bones" (4.54 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T11).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.56 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.9, #4) offered up repeats of "Happy New Year Charlie Brown" (4.92 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T6), "Grey's Anatomy" (3.04 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T14) and "Private Practice" (2.74 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T14).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.19 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T16) and "Nikita" (1.34 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T16) on The CW (1.26 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the evening.

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (2.8/6) took top honors over NBC's "Leno" (2.4/5) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.7/6). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.3/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.5/4) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.2/4) and "Daly" (0.6/2) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research