nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for friday, september 24, 2010)

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

CBS (9.74 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.9, #1) was the network to beat on the first Friday of the 2010-11 season thanks to the season premieres of "Medium" (6.12 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #5), "CSI: NY" (10.28 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.0, #2) and "Blue Bloods" (12.81 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1).

That 2.2 adults 18-49 rating for "Blue Bloods" was up 22.2% from the season premiere of "NUMB3RS" a year ago (1.8).

The silver then went to NBC (6.47 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #2) with a two-hour "Dateline NBC" (7.21 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.6, #3) followed by week two of "Outlaw" (4.99 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.1, #9).

Next up was The CW (2.85 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.3, #3) with the season premieres of "Smallville" (2.90 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.3, #6) and "Supernatural" (2.79 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T7).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.99 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #4) offered up encores of "Modern Family" (4.17 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T7), "Better With You" (3.07 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T10), "The Whole Truth" (2.91 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.7, #12) and a new "20/20" (5.43 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4).

And finally, a repeat of "Human Target" (3.11 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.6, #13) lead into the return of "The Good Guys" (2.90 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T10) on FOX (3.01 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #5).

"The Good Guys's" 0.9 adults 18-49 fell short of the season two opener to "Dollhouse" (1.0) by 10.0%.

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (2.8/7) shared top honors with ABC's "Nightline" (2.8/6) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.8/7). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.4/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.5/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.5/5) and "Daly" (0.9/4) on NBC.

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (9/25/09):

CBS (8.41 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.0, #1) snagged the top spot on Friday thanks to the season premieres of "Ghost Whisperer" (8.58 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.2, #2), "Medium" (8.78 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.1, #3) and "NUMB3RS" (7.92 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.8, #4).

Second place then went to ABC (5.30 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.7, #2) with repeats of "FlashForward" (4.55 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T5), "Modern Family" (4.28 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T5), "Cougar Town" (4.18 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T5) and a new "20/20" (7.11 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.3, #1).

Next up was NBC (5.93 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with the return of "Law & Order" (6.29 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.3, #10) followed by new episodes of "Dateline NBC" (5.82 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T5) and "The Jay Leno Show" (5.68 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T5).

Meanwhile, FOX (2.69 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) offered up the premiere of "Brothers" (2.82 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T11), a second episodes of "Brothers" (2.81 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T11) and the season opener to "Dollhouse" (2.57 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T11).

And finally, the season premiere of "Smallville" (2.50 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T11) lead into a repeat of "America's Next Top Model" (1.17 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.5, #15) on The CW (1.83 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.8, #5).

Source: Nielsen Media Research