nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, september 5, 2013)

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

NBC (23.190 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 9.2, #1) devoured the competition on Thursday with its coverage of "NFL Kickoff 2013" (15.049 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 5.6, #4), "Sunday Night Football Pre-Kick" (20.712 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 8.1, #3), "Sunday Night Football Pre-Kick/Sunday Night Football" (26.173 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 10.2, #2) and "Sunday Night Football" (25.736 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 10.5, #1).

Said prime average - despite a half-hour plus rain delay - was actually up from last year's Wednesday opener (20.57 million viewers; adults 18-49: 8.2 on 9/5/12).

CBS (5.891 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #2) then claimed a distant second place with its mix of "The Big Bang Theory" (7.263 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.5, #6), "Two and a Half Men" (6.258 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.3, #7), "Big Brother 15" (7.066 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.4, #5) and "Elementary" (3.847 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.8, #10).

Next up was ABC (3.759 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #3) with a special two-hour "Wipeout" (3.532 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.1, #8) followed by a new "Rookie Blue" (4.214 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.0, #9).

Meanwhile, FOX (1.606 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) offered up its departing Thursday lineup of "Glee" (1.787 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.6, #11), "New Girl" (1.411 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T12) and "The Mindy Project" (1.438 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T12).

And finally, encores of "The Vampire Diaries" (0.772 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #14) and "America's Next Top Model" (0.583 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.2, #15) on The CW (0.677 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5) closed out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Diaries" delivered a 0.3 rating at 8:00/7:00c and "Top Model" a 0.3 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
-7.69% - Big Brother 15
-15.38% - Wipeout
-33.33% - Rookie Blue

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+400.00% - Sunday Night Football (vs. NBC News Special)
+385.71% - Sunday Night Football Pre-Kick/Sunday Night Football (vs. NBC News Special)
+350.00% - Sunday Night Football Pre-Kick (vs. America's Got Talent)
+211.11% - NFL Kickoff 2013 (vs. America's Got Talent)
+9.09% - Big Brother 15 (vs. Big Brother 14)
0.00% - Rookie Blue (vs. ABC News Special)
-12.00% - Wipeout (vs. Wipeout/Rookie Blue)

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," 2.6/11 (delayed by NFL overrun); CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.0/5; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.6/4.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 1.2/10 (delayed by NFL overrun); "Late Show," 0.4/2; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.4/2.

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 0.9/3 in metered-market households and a 0.2/1 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" results are unavailable due to a delay for an NFL overrun. CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" averaged a 0.9/3 in metered-market households and a 0.2/2 in the 25 markets with Local People Meters.

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" results are unavailable due to a delay for an NFL overrun.

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (9/6/12):

NBC (7.22 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.0, #1) took home top honors with a special Thursday edition of "America's Got Talent" (7.60 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.8, #4) followed by its two-hour "NBC News Special" (7.03 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.1, #2).

Second place then went to CBS (5.30 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #2) with its mix of "The Big Bang Theory" (7.28 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.0, #3), "Two and a Half Men" (6.28 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.7, #5), "Big Brother 14" (6.09 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1) and "CBS News Special" (3.03 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.9, #9).

Next up was ABC (4.33 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #3) with a new "Wipeout" (4.48 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.3, #6), the season finale of "Rookie Blue" (4.83 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.2, #7) and an "ABC News Special" (3.67 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.0, #8).

Meanwhile, FOX (1.82 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) was out of the hunt with repeats of "Raising Hope" (2.00 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T10), "New Girl" (1.73 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T10) and "Glee" (1.78 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.6, #12).

And finally, a repeat of "The Vampire Diaries" (0.79 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T13) alongside a new "The Next" (0.63 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T13) closed out the evening on The CW (0.71 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "The Vampire Diaries" delivered a 0.4 rating while "The Next" posted a 0.3 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
-4.35% - Big Brother 14 -18.75% - Wipeout -20.00% - Rookie Blue -28.00% - America's Got Talent -40.00% - The Next

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+50.00% - The Next (vs. Plain Jane (Repeat)) +20.00% - Rookie Blue (vs. Rookie Blue) 0.00% - Wipeout (vs. Wipeout (Repeat)) -8.33% - Big Brother 14 -78.31% - America's Got Talent (vs. NFL Kickoff Party '11/Sunday Night Football)

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," 1.5/4; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.4/6; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.2/4.

·In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.8/4; "Late Show," 0.4/2; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

·At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (0.8/3). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.2/1).

·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