nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for saturday, march 10, 2012)

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

ABC (3.80 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.9, #1) was the network to beat for the second week in a row on Saturday with an encore of "Winter Wipeout" (2.93 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T4) and a two-hour "20/20: My Extreme Affliction" (4.24 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #2).

CBS (3.94 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #2) then took home the silver with repeats of "NCIS: Los Angeles" (2.77 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T6) and "Criminal Minds" (3.97 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #3) followed by a new "48 Hours Mystery" (5.09 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.1, #1).

Next up was NBC (3.79 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3) with week two of "Q'Viva! The Chosen" (1.83 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T6).

And finally, repeats of "Harry's Law" (4.40 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T6) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (3.52 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T4) bookended a new "The Firm" (3.46 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T6) on FOX (1.83 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3) to close out the night.

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

"Saturday Night Live" (4.3/11 in metered-market households) with host Jonah Hill and musical guest The Shins, dominated its time period with the highest rating of the night in metered-market households, ahead of all Saturday primetime telecasts on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Saturday Night Live" averaged a 2.6 rating, 12 share in adults 18-49 to rank #1 among the night's telecasts ahead of all Saturday primetime programs on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.

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

Here are the highlights of the 11 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (3/12/11):

Mainstays "Cops" (4.82 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T1) and "America's Most Wanted" (4.94 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T1) lifted FOX (4.88 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #1) to the top spot among adults 18-49 on Saturday.

CBS (4.89 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T2) was the most-watched network with repeats of "NCIS" (4.06 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.8, #8) and "NCIS: Los Angeles" (5.55 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T4) followed by a new "48 Hours Mystery" (5.04 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T4).

Next up was NBC (4.31 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T2) with its all-encore lineup of "Harry's Law" (4.24 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T9), "Law & Order: Los Angeles" (3.81 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T9) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (4.89 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #3).

And finally, ABC (2.90 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T2) closed out the evening with its mix of "Wipeout" (3.09 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T4), "Rascal Flatts: Nothing Like This Presented by JCPenney" (2.53 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.6, #11) and "Secret Millionaire" (3.07 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T4).

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

"Saturday Night Live" (4.8/12 in metered-market households), hosted by Zach Galifianakis with musical guest Jessie J, dominated its time period. "SNL" was the #1 telecast of the night in metered-market households ahead of all primetime programs on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox. Versus the same night last year, "SNL" is up 7 percent in metered-market households (4.8 vs. 4.5).

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Saturday Night Live" averaged a 2.9 rating, 13 share in adults 18-49, making it the #1 telecast of the night, outscoring all primetime programs on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.

Source: Nielsen Media Research