nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, january 24, 2013)

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

FOX (11.214 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.9, #1) was the network to beat on Thursday with a new "American Idol" (15.533 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.1, #1) and the return of "Glee" (6.896 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.7, #4).

CBS (9.261 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T2) then snagged the silver with repeats of "The Big Bang Theory" (11.495 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.1, #2), "Two and a Half Men" (8.567 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.3, #5), "Person of Interest" (10.002 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #7) and "Elementary" (7.750 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.5, #10).

Sharing second place in adults 18-49 was ABC (6.661 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T2) with the series finale of "Last Resort" (5.394 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.2, #14) plus a new "Grey's Anatomy" (8.875 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.0, #3) and a repeat of "Scandal" (5.713 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.8, #8).

Meanwhile, NBC (3.781 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) offered up originals from "30 Rock" (3.838 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.4, #11), "Parks & Recreation" (3.888 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.7, #9), "The Office" (4.187 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.0, #6), "1600 Penn" (3.320 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T12) and "Rock Center With Brian Williams" (3.727 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.8, #15).

And finally, new episodes of "The Vampire Diaries" (2.737 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T12) and "Beauty and the Beast" (1.815 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.7, #16) on The CW (2.276 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #5) closed out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Diaries" delivered a 2.0 rating at 8:00/7:00c and "Beast" a 0.9 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+35.00% - Glee (vs. 12/13/12)
+20.00% - Last Resort
+16.67% - Beauty and the Beast (vs. 12/13/12)
+8.33% - 1600 Penn
+7.69% - 30 Rock
+3.45% - Grey's Anatomy
-4.76% - The Office
-7.14% - The Vampire Diaries
-8.93% - American Idol
-10.53% - Parks & Recreation
-33.33% - Rock Center With Brian Williams

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+160.00% - The Vampire Diaries (vs. The Covenant)
+130.77% - Grey's Anatomy (vs. Grey's Anatomy (Repeat))
+40.00% - Beauty and the Beast (vs. The Covenant)
+5.26% - The Office (vs. 30 Rock)
0.00% - Parks & Recreation
-5.56% - American Idol
-6.90% - Glee (vs. The Finder)
-7.14% - 1600 Penn (vs. Up All Night)
-12.50% - 30 Rock
-20.00% - Rock Center With Brian Williams (vs. The Firm)
-20.00% - Last Resort (vs. Winter Wipeout (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," 2.6/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.2/6 with an encore; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 2.9/8.

* In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.8/4; "Late Show," 0.6/3 with an encore; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.2/6.

* From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.9/6 in metered-market households and a 0.8/5 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

* From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/4 in metered-market households with an encore telecast) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.1/4 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 0.3/3 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 (1/26/12):

FOX (12.75 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.1, #1) held onto the top spot on Thursday with new episodes of "American Idol" (16.99 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.4, #T1) and "The Finder" (8.51 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.9, #4), which hit a series high.

CBS (11.27 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.8, #2) then claimed the silver with fresh installments of "The Big Bang Theory" (15.96 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 5.4, #T1) and "Rob" (11.58 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.5, #3) followed by repeats of "Person of Interest" (10.48 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.1, #5) and "The Mentalist" (9.56 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T6).

Next up was NBC (3.65 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with its mix of "30 Rock" (3.84 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.6, #9), "Parks & Recreation" (3.48 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.7, #8), a second "30 Rock" (4.00 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T6), "Up All Night" (3.03 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.4, #11) and "The Firm" (3.77 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #13).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.88 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.2, #4) offered up encores of "Winter Wipeout" (4.86 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.5, #10), "Grey's Anatomy" (3.99 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.3, #12) and "Private Practice" (2.79 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.9, #14).

And finally, the feature "The Covenant" (1.31 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.5, #15) on The CW (1.31 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) closed out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), the film delivered a 0.5 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+31.82% - The Finder
+11.11% - The Firm
+3.85% - The Big Bang Theory
0.00% - 30 Rock - 8:00
-2.78% - Rob
-3.57% - American Idol
-15.00% - Parks & Recreation

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+125.00% - The Big Bang Theory (vs. The Big Bang Theory (Repeat))
+52.17% - Rob (vs. Bleep My Dad Says)
0.00% - Parks & Recreation (vs. Perfect Couples)
-25.64% - The Finder (vs. Bones)
-27.27% - 30 Rock - 8:00 (vs. Community)
-28.95% - American Idol
-52.50% - 30 Rock - 9:00 (vs. The Office)
-53.49% - The Firm (vs. 30 Rock/Outsourced)

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," 2.4/6 with an encore telecast; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.4/6 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.0/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/4.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.8/4 with an encore; "Late Show," 0.7/3 with an encore; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.2/4 in metered-market households with an encore) tied CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.2/4 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" (0.4/2 with an encore).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 with an encore in metered-market households and a 0.4/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters

Source: Nielsen Media Research