nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, january 3, 2013)

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

CBS (14.895 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.7, #1) crushed its nearly all-repeat competition with new episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" (18.984 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 6.0, #1), "Two and a Half Men" (15.393 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.6, #2), "Person of Interest" (16.135 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.4, #3) and "Elementary" (11.363 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.5, #4).

FOX (2.915 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #2) claimed a distant second place with night two of "Mobbed" (2.740 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.0, #6) and a second "Mobbed" (3.090 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #5).

Next up was ABC (3.250 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T3) with encores of "Nashville" (3.189 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T12), "Scandal" (2.909 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T12) and another "Scandal" (3.653 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T7).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.523 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T3) offered up its own second run mix of "30 Rock" (2.465 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T9), "Up All Night" (1.962 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T9), "The Office" (2.152 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T7), "Parks & Recreation" (1.691 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T12) and "Rock Center With Brian Williams" (3.434 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T9).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.125 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #15) and "Beauty and the Beast" (0.868 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.3, #16) closed out the evening for The CW (0.996 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Diaries" delivered a 0.7 rating at 8:00/7:00c and "Beast" a 0.5 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
13.33% - Person of Interest (vs. 12/13/12)
11.11% - The Big Bang Theory (vs. 12/13/12)
9.52% - Two and a Half Men (vs. 12/13/12)
8.70% - Elementary (vs. 12/13/12)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+78.95% - Person of Interest (vs. Person of Interest (Repeat))
+76.92% - Two and a Half Men (vs. Rules of Engagement (Repeat))
+71.43% - The Big Bang Theory (vs. The Big Bang Theory (Repeat))
+31.58% - Elementary (vs. The Mentalist (Repeat))
+9.09% - Mobbed - 9:00 (vs. Bones (Repeat))
-16.67% - Mobbed - 8:00 (vs. Bones (Repeat))

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

TBA

Here are the highlights of the 17 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (1/5/12):

ABC (9.46 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.3, #1) was the network to beat on Thursday with the return of "Winter Wipeout" (8.54 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.8, #T3), "Grey's Anatomy" (12.04 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.5, #1) and "Private Practice" (7.82 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.8, #T3).

CBS (9.34 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.3, #2) then claimed the silver with its all-repeat lineup of "The Big Bang Theory" (11.61 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.5, #2), "Rules of Engagement" (8.69 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.6, #5), "Person of Interest" (8.71 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T6) and "The Mentalist" (9.16 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T6).

Next up was FOX (4.56 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T3) with encores of "Bones" (4.83 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #9) and another "Bones" (4.30 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T10).

Meanwhile, The CW (2.63 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T3) offered up fresh installments of "The Vampire Diaries" (3.20 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.4, #8) and "The Secret Circle" (2.06 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T14). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Diaries" posted a 2.3 rating while "Circle" delivered a 1.1 rating.

And finally, repeats of "Community" (2.64 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T14), "Parks & Recreation" (2.36 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T12), "The Office" (2.61 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T10), "Whitney" (2.25 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T12), another "The Office" (1.83 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T16) and "Up All Night" (1.86 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T16) on NBC (2.26 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.8, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+47.37% - Winter Wipeout (vs. 12/8/11)
+12.50% - Grey's Anatomy (vs. 11/10/11)
+7.69% - Private Practice (vs. 11/17/11)
0.00% - The Vampire Diaries (vs. 11/10/11)
0.00% - The Secret Circle (vs. 11/10/11)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
180.00% - The Vampire Diaries (vs. The Vampire Diaries (Repeat))
60.00% - The Secret Circle (vs. Nikita (Repeat))
7.14% - Grey's Anatomy
0.00% - Private Practice
-24.32% - Winter Wipeout

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; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.6/7; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.1/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.5/4.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.7/3; "Late Show," 0.7/3; "Nightline," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/4 in metered-market households) tied CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.3/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/2).

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