nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, february 28, 2013)

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

FOX (12.467 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.8, #1) overshadowed its mostly repeat competition on Thursday with a new two-hour "American Idol" (12.467 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.8, #1).

CBS (8.918 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.0, #2) then claimed a distant second place with its all-repeat lineup of "The Big Bang Theory" (10.693 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.8, #2), "Two and a Half Men" (8.364 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.2, #3), "Person of Interest" (9.503 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #4) and "Elementary" (7.723 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.6, #5).

Next up was ABC (3.709 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T3) with a new "Zero Hour" (5.025 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T7) followed by encores of "Scandal" (3.342 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T9) and "Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Oscars" (2.761 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.8, #13).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.834 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T3) offered up an original "Community" (2.742 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.1, #6), repeats of "Parks & Recreation" (2.162 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T9) and "The Office" (2.259 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T7) plus a new "1600 Penn" (2.234 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T9) and a repeat of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (3.803 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T9).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.135 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.4, #14) and "Beauty and the Beast" (0.797 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.3, #15) closed out the night on The CW (0.966 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Diaries" delivered a 0.4 rating at 8:00/7:00c and "Beast" a 0.2 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
0.00% - Community
-2.56% - American Idol
-9.09% - Zero Hour
-10.00% - 1600 Penn

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
-21.43% - Community (vs. 30 Rock)
-23.08% - Zero Hour (vs. Winter Wipeout (Repeat))
-28.30% - American Idol
-43.75% - 1600 Penn (vs. Up All Night)

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," 2.4/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.3/6 with an encore; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.9/5.

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

* From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.2/4 in metered-market households and a 0.4/3 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

* From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/5 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" (0.4/3 in 18-49) tied "Late Late Show" (0.4/3).

* At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 in metered-market households and a 0.2/2 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 (3/1/12):

FOX (18.28 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.3, #1) dominated its mostly repeat competition on Thursday thanks to a special two-hour "American Idol" (18.28 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.3, #1).

CBS (9.47 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.1, #2) then took home the silver with a repeat of "The Big Bang Theory" (11.11 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.2, #2), the season finale of "Rob" (9.00 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.6, #3) and repeats of "Person of Interest" (9.48 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.8, #6) and "The Mentalist" (8.87 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T7).

Next up was NBC (4.75 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #3) with fresh installments of "30 Rock" (3.77 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.4, #10), "Parks & Recreation" (3.78 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T7), "The Office" (4.96 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.5, #4), "Up All Night" (3.48 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.6, #9) plus the debut of "Awake" (6.25 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.9, #5). Said launch numbers marked NBC's highest non-sports rating in this time period since May 19, 2011 and biggest overall audience since April 15, 2010.

Meanwhile, ABC (3.68 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #4) offered up its all-repeat lineup of "Winter Wipeout" (4.55 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.3, #11), "Grey's Anatomy" (3.44 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.1, #12) and "Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Academy Awards" (3.04 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.0, #13).

And finally, encores of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.11 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.4, #14) and "Supernatural" (0.95 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.3, #15) on The CW (1.03 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the evening. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Diaries" posted a 0.6 rating while "Supernatural" delivered a 0.4 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+20.45% - American Idol
0.00% - Parks & Recreation
-3.85% - The Office
-6.67% - 30 Rock
-11.11% - Up All Night
-13.33% - Rob

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+56.25% - The Office (vs. The Office (Repeat))
+46.15% - Awake (vs. The Office (Repeat)/The Office (Repeat))
+30.77% - Parks & Recreation (vs. The Office (Repeat))
+27.27% - 30 Rock (vs. The Office (Repeat))
+13.04% - Rob (vs. Rules of Engagement)
+6.67% - Up All Night (vs. The Office (Repeat))
-34.57% - American Idol

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," 2.8/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.4/6; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.0/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.5/5.

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; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.5/5 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" (0.3/2).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.9/4 in metered-market households and a 0.3/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research