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nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, may 1, 2008)

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

New episodes of "Ugly Betty" (households: 5.6/10, #6, half-hour: 7.41%; adults 18-49: 2.4, #12, half-hour: 18.18%), "Grey's Anatomy" (households: 10.2/16, #2, half-hour: 4.00%; adults 18-49: 6.0, #1, half-hour: 8.77%) and "Lost" (households: 7.0/12, #5, half-hour: -10.81%; adults 18-49: 4.9, #33, half-hour: -6.00%) lifted ABC (households: 7.6/12, #2; adults 18-49: 4.4, #1) to the adults 18-49 crown on Thursday.

CBS (households: 9.1/15, #1; adults 18-49: 4.1, #2) then had to settle for second place with its mix of "Survivor: Micronesia - Fans vs. Favorites" (households: 7.8/13, #4, half-hour: 6.67%; adults 18-49: 4.0, #4, half-hour: 10.53%), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (households: 11.0/18, #1, half-hour: 5.61%; adults 18-49: 5.0, #2, half-hour: 6.25%) and "Without a Trace" (households: 8.7/15, #3, half-hour: -4.49%; adults 18-49: 3.4, #6, half-hour: -8.57%).

Next up was NBC (households: 4.4/7, #4; adults 18-49: 3.0, #3) with fresh installments of "My Name Is Earl" (households: 4.4/8, #11, half-hour: N/A; adults 18-49: 2.8, #9, half-hour: N/A), "Scrubs" (households: 3.8/6, #12, half-hour: N/A; adults 18-49: 2.9, #8, half-hour: N/A), "The Office" (households: 4.7/7, #T9, half-hour: N/A; adults 18-49: 3.9, #5, half-hour: N/A), "30 Rock" (households: 3.4/5, #13, half-hour: N/A; adults 18-49: 2.6, #10, half-hour: N/A) and "ER" (households: 5.1/9, #8, half-hour: 12.50%; adults 18-49: 3.1, #7, half-hour: 10.34%).

Meanwhile, FOX (households: 5.0/8, #3; adults 18-49: 2.3, #4) offered up new episodes of "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" (households: 5.4/9, #7, half-hour: 16.00%; adults 18-49: 2.2, #13, half-hour: 20.00%) and "Don't Forget the Lyrics!" (households: 4.7/8, #T9, half-hour: 11.36%; adults 18-49: 2.5, #11, half-hour: 17.39%).

And finally, new episodes of "Smallville" (households: 2.3/4, #14, half-hour: 9.09%; adults 18-49: 1.5, #14, half-hour: 14.29%) and "Supernatural" (households: 1.7/3, #15, half-hour: -5.88%; adults 18-49: 1.0, #15, half-hour: -18.18%) on The CW (households: 2.0/3, #5; adults 18-49: 1.3, #5) closed out the night.

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (3.9/10) took top honors over ABC's "Nightline" (3.2/8) and CBS's "Letterman" (3.5/9). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.7/6) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.8/6) on CBS and "Conan" (1.8/6) and "Daly" (1.3/5) on NBC.

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (5/3/07):

As expected, ABC (households: 11.2/18, #1; adults 18-49: 7.2, #1) destroyed the competition on Thursday thanks to new episodes of "Ugly Betty" (households: 7.1/12, #6; adults 18-49: 3.6, #6), the first hour of "Grey's Anatomy" (households: 13.3/22, #2; adults 18-49: 9.1, #1) and the second hour of "Grey's Anatomy" (households: 13.4/21, #1; adults 18-49: 8.9, #2).

CBS (households: 9.4/15, #2; adults 18-49: 4.4, #2) then took a distant second place with fresh installments of "Survivor: Fiji" (households: 8.3/14, #T4; adults 18-49: 4.5, #4) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (households: 11.6/18, #3; adults 18-49: 5.5, #3) as well as the season finale of "Shark" (households: 8.3/14, #T4; adults 18-49: 3.2, #T8).

Next up was NBC (households: 4.5/7, #3; adults 18-49: 3.1, #3) with its combination of the following half-hours - "My Name Is Earl" (households: 4.8/8, #9; adults 18-49: 3.2, #T8), "My Name Is Earl/The Office" (households: 4.5/7, #10; adults 18-49: 3.7, #5), "The Office/Scrubs" (households: 3.7/6, #11; adults 18-49: 3.0, #T10), "Scrubs/ER" (households: 3.3/5, #12; adults 18-49: 2.5, #12) - and the full hour of "ER" (households: 5.3/9, #7; adults 18-49: 3.3, #7) at 10:00/9:00c.

Meanwhile, FOX (households: 4.0/7, #4; adults 18-49: 2.4, #4) served up a new "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" (households: 5.2/9, #8; adults 18-49: 3.0, #T10) and the season finale of "Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy" (households: 2.9/5, #13; adults 18-49: 1.8, #13).

And finally, new episodes of "Smallville" (households: 2.2/4, #14; adults 18-49: 1.5, #14) and "Supernatural" (households: 1.8/3, #15; adults 18-49: 1.4, #15) closed out the night for The CW (households: 2.0/3, #5; adults 18-49: 1.4, #5).

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (4.2/10) and ABC's "Nightline" (4.2/10) split top honors, followed by CBS's "Letterman" (3.5/9). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (2.1/7) on ABC, "Ferguson" (1.8/6) on CBS and "Conan" (1.9/7) and "Daly" (1.1/5) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research

This data is reported with the understanding it will be removed within seven days of its original posting date. To read more about our ratings policy click here.




So what does all this crap mean? Here's a quick guide to understanding these numbers:
"Heroes" (households: 8.1/12, #4, half-hour: 7.69%; adults 18-49: 6.6, #1, half-hour: 4.69%)
8.1 = "Heroes's" household rating, which indicates 8.1% of all households in the U.S. watched this broadcast
12 = "Heroes's" household share, which indicates 12% of all households watching TV in the U.S. watched this broadcast
#4 = "Heroes's" household ranking for that night (T denotes a tie)
7.69% = Gain or loss of household audience between the first half-hour and the last half-hour
6.6 = "Heroes's" adults 18-49 rating, which indicates 6.6% of all adults 18-49 in the U.S. watched this broadcast
#1 = "Heroes's" adults 18-49 ranking for that night (T denotes a tie)
4.69% = Gain or loss of adults 18-49 audience between the first half-hour and the last half-hour
Some other stuff to keep in mind:
· Ratings are percentages NOT flat numbers. A 1.0 household rating equals 1% of all households in the U.S. A 1.0 adults 18-49 ratings equals 1% of all adults 18-49 in the U.S.
· For the 2007-08 season, there are an estimated 112,800,000 television households in the U.S. so 1% of that equals 1,128,000 households. Note that a household may contain more than one person.
· For the 2007-08 season, there are an estimated 131,050,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 49 in the U.S. so 1% of that equals 1,310,500 people.
· We currently do not have access to actual viewership numbers (i.e. 16.2 million people watched "Heroes") on a daily basis.
· Nielsen Media Research forbids us from displaying ratings in chart form (beyond the top 20 in the "Weekly" section) or maintaining regular archives beyond the current week. It sucks, we know.