nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for friday, november 23, 2012)

Here are the highlights of the 16 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

ABC (5.82 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.4, #1) lead the pack on Black Friday thanks to its mix of "Last Man Standing" (6.71 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T4), "Malibu Country" (6.43 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T4), a repeat of "Shark Tank" (5.10 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.3, #6) and "20/20" (5.78 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.5, #3).

CBS (4.39 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #2) then took home the silver with its holiday mix of "Frosty the Snowman" (6.88 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.0, #1), "Frosty Returns" (5.78 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #2), "hoops&yoyo Ruin Christmas" (4.01 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T7), "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!" (3.63 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T10) and "Person to Person" (3.02 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.7, #13).

Next up was NBC (4.81 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.0, #3) with a primetime encore of the "National Dog Show Presented by Purina" (4.85 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T7) and a new "Dateline NBC" (4.72 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T7).

Meanwhile, FOX (2.01 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) offered up encores of "Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown" (1.78 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T14), "The Simpsons" (2.30 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T10) and a second "The Simpsons" (2.18 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T10).

And finally, repeats of "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" (1.69 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T14) and "The Happy Elf" (1.53 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T14) on The CW (1.61 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) closed out the holiday evening. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Grandma" delivered a 0.3 rating at 8:00/7:00c and "Happy" a 0.5 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+7.69% - Malibu Country
+7.14% - 20/20
0.00% - Last Man Standing
-16.67% - Dateline NBC

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+27.27% - Malibu Country (vs. Shrek the Third)
+27.27% - Last Man Standing (vs. Shrek the Third)
+25.00% - 20/20
0.00% - Dateline NBC (vs. National Treasure: Book of Secrets)
0.00% - It's a SpongeBob Christmas! (vs. CSI: NY (Repeat))
-30.00% - Person to Person (vs. Blue Bloods (Repeat))

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," 2.5/6 with an encore telecast; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 1.7/4 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.9/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/4 with an encore.

* In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.8/3 with an encore; "Late Show," 0.4/2 with an encore; "Nightline," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/2 with an encore.

* At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/4 in metered-market households with an encore) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (0.9/3 with an encore). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49 with an encore) beat "Late Late Show" (0.2/1 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 10 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (11/25/11):

FOX (4.15 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #1) was the network to beat on Black Friday with its presentation of "Iron Man" (4.15 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.3, #1).

The silver among adults 18-49 then went to ABC (4.54 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.1, #2) with the feature "Shrek the Third" (4.32 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #3) and a new "20/20" (4.97 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.2, #2).

Next up was CBS (5.34 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T3) with its original specials "Hoops & Yoyo Ruin Christmas" (3.66 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.8, #8) and "The Elf on a Shelf: An Elf's Story" (4.25 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T4) followed by repeats of "CSI: NY" (5.54 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.9, #7) and "Blue Bloods" (6.53 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T4).

Meanwhile, NBC (3.98 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T3) offered up its annual airing of "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" (3.98 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T4).

And finally, The CW (1.46 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the evening with its holiday encores of "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" (1.76 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.5, #9) and "Olive, The Other Reindeer" (1.22 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.3, #10).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
-14.29% - 20/20

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+9.09% - 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," 2.2/5 with an encore telecast; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.2/5 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.7/6; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.3/4 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," 0.5/2 with an encore; "Nightline," 0.8/3; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/2 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.1/3 in metered-market households with an encore) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.0/3 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 0.7/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.3/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research