nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for monday, january 9, 2012)

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

ABC (8.08 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1) edged out the competition on Monday with new episodes of "The Bachelor" (7.24 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.2, #T5) and "Castle" (9.75 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.3, #T2). The former marked its lowest original rating ever.

CBS (7.01 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.1, #2) then took home the silver with its all-repeat lineup of "How I Met Your Mother" (6.52 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.2, #T5), "2 Broke Girls" (7.22 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.4, #1), "Two and a Half Men" (8.33 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.3, #T2), "Mike & Molly" (7.80 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.3, #T2) and "Hawaii Five-0" (6.10 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T8).

Next up was NBC (4.91 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #3) with original installments of "Who's Still Standing?" (6.17 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T8), "Fear Factor" (5.47 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.2, #T5) and "Rock Center With Brian Williams" (3.10 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.8, #12).

Meanwhile, FOX (3.27 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #4) offered up repeats of "House" (3.26 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #11) and another "House" (3.28 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.2, #10).

And finally, repeats of "Gossip Girl" (0.74 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #14) and "Hart of Dixie" (0.85 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #13) on The CW (0.79 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Gossip Girl" delivered a 0.3 rating while "Dixie" posted a 0.5 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+15.00% - Castle (vs. 12/5/11)
+6.67% - Who's Still Standing?
-8.33% - The Bachelor
-8.33% - Fear Factor
-33.33% - Rock Center With Brian Williams

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+120.00% - Fear Factor (vs. The Cape (Repeat))
+100.00% - Who's Still Standing? (vs. Chuck (Repeat))
+4.55% - Castle
-20.00% - Rock Center With Brian Williams (vs. The Cape (Repeat))
-21.43% - The Bachelor

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," 2.6/6; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.3/6; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.1/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.5/4.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.8/3; "Late Show," 0.7/3; "Nightline," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3.4 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" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/3).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.7/3 with an encore in metered-market households and a 0.3/2 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 (1/10/11):

ABC (8.67 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1) was the top draw last night with week two of "The Bachelor" (8.41 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.8, #1) followed by a new "Castle" (9.20 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.2, #4).

CBS (7.69 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.0, #2) then took home the silver despite an all-repeat lineup of "How I Met Your Mother" (7.41 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.4, #T2), "Rules of Engagement" (6.71 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T5), "Two and a Half Men" (10.18 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.4, #T2), "Mike & Molly" (8.70 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T5) and "Hawaii Five-0" (6.57 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.5, #9).

Next up was FOX (5.46 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.6, #3) with the return of "Lie to Me" (5.50 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.7, #7) followed by a second "Lie to Me" (5.42 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.6, #8).

Meanwhile, NBC (3.40 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.9, #3) offered up encores of "Chuck" (3.03 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.8, #12), "The Cape" (3.69 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10) and another "The Cape" (3.49 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10).

And finally, repeats of "90210" (0.95 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T13) and "Gossip Girl" (0.78 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T13) on The CW (0.86 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): The Bachelor (-4.30%), Castle (-8.30%), Lie to Me (-27.30% vs. 11/29/10).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.6/7) took top honors over CBS's "Letterman" (2.7/6) and NBC's "Leno" (2.8/6). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.7/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.4/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.4/5) and "Daly" (0.8/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research