nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, september 23, 2010)

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

CBS (14.37 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.7, #1) took over the Thursday throne last night thanks to the season premieres of "The Big Bang Theory" (13.95 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 4.8, #2), "Bleep My Dad Says" (12.48 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.9, #4), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (14.57 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.4, #6) and "The Mentalist" (15.33 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.3, #T7).

"Bang" and "Bleep" both grew - the former, rather significantly - from the comparable episode of "Survivor" a year ago (see below).

Second place then went to ABC (9.43 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.4, #2) with the launch of "My Generation" (5.22 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T13) followed by new episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" (14.04 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 5.3, #1) and "Private Practice" (9.02 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 3.3, #T7).

"Generation" debuted down a troubling 61.0% from the launch of "FlashForward" last season (see below).

Next up was NBC (5.73 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.6, #3) with its openers to "Community" (5.01 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 2.2, #11), "30 Rock" (5.85 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.6, #10), "The Office" (8.39 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 4.3, #3) and "Outsourced" (7.44 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 3.5, #5) followed by a new "The Apprentice" (3.85 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.4, #15).

"Outsourced" was off a modest -5.4% from "Community's" 9/17/09 launch despite "The Office" being up 7.5% from that same date.

Next up was FOX (7.81 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.4, #4) with the season premieres of "Bones" (9.79 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.7, #9) and "Fringe" (5.83 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 2.1, #12).

And finally, new episodes of "The Vampire Diaries" (3.57 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T13) and "Nikita" (3.22 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 1.1, #16) on The CW (3.39 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.3, #5) rounded out the evening.

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.2/8) took top honors over NBC's "Leno" (2.9/8) and CBS's "Letterman" (3.1/8). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.6/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.5/6) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.4/5) and "Daly" (0.8/4) on NBC.

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (9/24/09):

ABC (15.33 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.8, #1) surged to the top spot on Thursday thanks to the launch of "FlashForward" (12.42 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 4.1, #T3) followed by the return of "Grey's Anatomy" (17.06 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 6.6, #2) and a second hour of "Grey's Anatomy" (16.52 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 6.7, #1).

The silver then went to CBS (13.97 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.7, #2) with a new "Survivor: Samoa" (11.87 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.7, #6) alongside the season premieres of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (15.72 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.1, #T3) and "The Mentalist" (14.33 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.4, #7).

Next up was FOX (7.33 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.5, #3) with week two of "Bones" (8.81 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.7, #9) and "Fringe" (5.85 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.2, #10).

Falling to fourth then was NBC (5.26 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.2, #4) with its second week combination of "SNL Weekend Update Thursday" (4.66 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T11), "Parks & Recreation" (4.22 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T11), "The Office" (7.33 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 3.8, #5), "Community" (5.36 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.8, #8) and "The Jay Leno Show" (4.99 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.7, #14).

And finally, week three of "The Vampire Diaries" (3.81 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T11) and "Supernatural" (2.62 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.2, #15) on The CW (3.21 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.4, #5) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research