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nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, february 3, 2010)

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

FOX (14.29 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.0, #1) was the network to beat on Wednesday thanks to new episodes of "Human Target" (7.72 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.4, #T8) and "American Idol" (20.83 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 7.7, #1).

The silver then went to CBS (13.37 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.4, #2) with its annual "Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials 2010" (11.18 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.9, #T5) special followed by new episodes of "Criminal Minds" (14.78 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.8, #3) and "CSI: NY" (14.16 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.4, #4).

Next up was ABC (6.25 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.5, #3) with new episodes of "The Middle" (7.31 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.7, #7), "Modern Family" (9.07 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.9, #2), "Cougar Town" (6.19 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.9, #T5) and "Ugly Betty" (4.06 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.5, #11). A repeat of "Modern Family" (6.84 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.4, #T8) kicked off the night.

Meanwhile, NBC (4.85 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #4) offered up its mix of "Mercy" (6.25 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.6, #10), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (4.14 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.9, #13) and "The Jay Leno Show" (4.16 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.2, #12).

And finally, repeats of "Life Unexpected" (1.36 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.6, #14) and "Gossip Girl" (0.50 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.2, #15) on The CW (0.93 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) rounded out the evening.

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (2/4/09):

New episodes of "American Idol" (households: 15.0/24, #1, half-hour: 18.25%; adults 18-49: 9.9, #1, half-hour: 25.00%) and "Lie to Me" (households: 7.8/12, #2, half-hour: -10.98%; adults 18-49: 4.7, #T2, half-hour: -12.00%) powered FOX (households: 11.4/18, #1; adults 18-49: 7.3, #1) to victory on Wednesday.

ABC (households: 4.4/7, #4; adults 18-49: 2.8, #2) then took home the silver with a repeat of "Lost" (households: 3.1/5, #11, half-hour: -6.25%; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T9, half-hour: 12.50%) followed by new episodes of "Lost" (households: 6.4/10, #3, half-hour: 1.59%; adults 18-49: 4.7, #T2, half-hour: 4.35%) and "Life on Mars" (households: 3.7/7, #9, half-hour: -15.00%; adults 18-49: 2.2, #5, half-hour: -20.83%).

Next up was CBS (households: 5.2/8, #2; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T3) with repeats of "Criminal Minds" (households: 5.7/9, #5, half-hour: 3.57%; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T9, half-hour: 0.00%) and "CSI: NY" (households: 5.2/9, #6, half-hour: 1.96%; adults 18-49: 1.9, #7, half-hour: 5.56%) bookending the "Katie Couric: 'All Access' Grammy Special" (households: 4.7/7, #7, half-hour: -6.25%; adults 18-49: 2.1, #6, half-hour: 5.00%).

Meanwhile, NBC (households: 4.5/7, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T3) offered up a new "Knight Rider" (households: 3.3/5, #10, half-hour: -3.03%; adults 18-49: 1.4, #11, half-hour: 0.00%), the return of "Life" (households: 4.3/7, #8, half-hour: 4.76%; adults 18-49: 1.8, #8, half-hour: 5.88%) and a new "Law & Order" (households: 5.8/10, #4, half-hour: 10.91%; adults 18-49: 2.4, #4, half-hour: 18.18%).

And finally, repeats of "Privileged" (households: 0.7/1, #13, half-hour: -14.29%; adults 18-49: 0.4, #13, half-hour: -25.00%) and "90210" (households: 0.8/1, #12, half-hour: 0.00%; adults 18-49: 0.5, #12, half-hour: 25.00%) on The CW (households: 0.7/1, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the night.

In the late-night metered markets, NBC's "Leno" (4.0/10) took top honors over CBS's "Letterman" (2.7/7) and ABC's "Nightline" (3.0/7). Rounding out the night then were CBS's "Ferguson" (1.4/5), ABC's "Kimmel" (1.4/5) and "Conan" (1.8/6) 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.