or


nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for tuesday, february 2, 2010)

PLEASE DO NOT COPY OR REPRODUCE THIS INFORMATION TO OTHER WEB SITES, FORUMS, NEWSGROUPS, ETC.

Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

FOX (16.85 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 6.4, #1) remained the network to beat on Tuesday thanks to a new "American Idol" (24.44 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 8.9, #1) and a special "Kitchen Nightmares" (9.27 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 3.9, #6).

Second place then went to ABC (11.37 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 5.1, #2) with the return of "Lost" (12.43 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 5.7, #2) followed by a second hour of "Lost" (11.75 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 5.5, #3). Leading off the night was the recap special "Lost: The Final Chapter" (9.93 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 4.1, #5).

Next up was CBS (16.06 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.5, #3) with its usual mix of "NCIS" (19.11 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 4.3, #4), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (16.36 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.6, #8) and "The Good Wife" (12.72 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.6, #9).

Meanwhile, NBC (7.94 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.0, #4) offered up a "The Biggest Loser" (4.98 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.6, #10) as well as a new two-hour "The Biggest Loser" (9.42 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 3.7, #7).

And finally, repeats of "90210" (0.87 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.3, #11) and "Melrose Place" (0.66 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.2, #12) on The CW (0.77 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the evening.

Here are the highlights of the 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (2/3/09):

New episodes of "American Idol" (households: 14.8/23, #1, half-hour: 7.75%; adults 18-49: 9.9, #1, half-hour: 11.83%) and "Fringe" (households: 7.7/12, #5, half-hour: -18.82%; adults 18-49: 5.1, #2, half-hour: -17.86%) kept FOX (households: 11.2/17, #1; adults 18-49: 7.5, #1) in front on Tuesday.

Next up was NBC (households: 6.6/10, #3; adults 18-49: 3.9, #2) with its mainstays "The Biggest Loser: Couples" (households: 6.5/10, #7, half-hour: 39.29%; adults 18-49: 4.0, #3, half-hour: 64.52%) and "Law & Order: SVU" (households: 6.8/12, #6, half-hour: 6.06%; adults 18-49: 3.7, #4, half-hour: 0.00%).

CBS (households: 8.7/13, #2; adults 18-49: 2.9, #3) then claimed the bronze with its mix of "NCIS" (households: 8.9/14, #3, half-hour: 4.60%; adults 18-49: 2.9, #6, half-hour: 11.11%), "The Mentalist" (households: 9.4/14, #2, half-hour: -3.16%; adults 18-49: 3.1, #5, half-hour: 0.00%) and "Without a Trace" (households: 7.8/13, #4, half-hour: 1.30%; adults 18-49: 2.6, #7, half-hour: 0.00%).

Meanwhile, ABC (households: 3.5/5, #4; adults 18-49: 2.0, #4) offered up new episodes of "Homeland Security USA" (households: 3.6/5, #9, half-hour: 0.00%; adults 18-49: 1.6, #11, half-hour: 21.43%), "Scrubs" (households: 3.1/5, #10, half-hour: 0.00%; adults 18-49: 2.1, #10, half-hour: 0.00%), another "Scrubs" (households: 2.8/4, #11, half-hour: 0.00%; adults 18-49: 2.2, #9, half-hour: 0.00%) and "Primetime: What Would You Do?" (households: 3.8/6, #8, half-hour: -5.13%; adults 18-49: 2.3, #8, half-hour: -8.33%).

And finally, new episodes of "90210" (households: 1.7/2, #12, half-hour: 6.25%; adults 18-49: 1.3, #12, half-hour: 8.33%) and "Privileged" (households: 1.2/2, #13, half-hour: 0.00%; adults 18-49: 0.8, #13, half-hour: 0.00%) on The CW (households: 1.4/2, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #5) closed out the night.

In the late-night metered markets, NBC's "Leno" (4.1/10) remained on top, followed by "Nightline" (3.1/7) on ABC and "Letterman" (3.7/9) on CBS. Rounding out the night then were CBS's "Ferguson" (1.9/7), ABC's "Kimmel" (1.5/5) and "Conan" (1.7/6) 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:
"Grey's Anatomy" (15.36 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 6.0, #1)
15.36 = "Grey's" total viewers, which indicates 15.36 million viewers in the U.S. watched this broadcast
#2 = "Grey's" total viewers ranking for that night (T denotes a tie)
6.0 = "Grey's" adults 18-49 rating, which indicates 6.0% of all adults 18-49 in the U.S. watched this broadcast
#1 = "Grey's" adults 18-49 ranking for that night (T denotes a tie)
Some other stuff to keep in mind:
· For the 2009-10 season, there are an estimated 292,000,000 people (age 2 and above) in the U.S.
· For the 2009-10 season, there are an estimated 132,000,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 49 in the U.S. so 1% of that equals 1,320,000 people.
· Nielsen Media Research forbids us from displaying ratings in chart form or maintaining regular archives beyond the current week. It sucks, we know.