nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for friday, october 8, 2010)

Here are the highlights of the 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

CBS (9.02 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.6, #1) was the network to beat on Friday thanks to week three of "Medium" (6.10 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #5), "CSI: NY" (9.87 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.9, #1) and "Blue Bloods" (11.09 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T2).

NBC (5.76 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #2) then took home the silver with a two-hour "Dateline NBC" (6.53 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4) and a new "Outlaw" (4.23 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6).

Next up was ABC (3.97 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.2, #3) with repeats of "Modern Family" (3.89 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6), "The Middle" (3.03 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T10) and "No Ordinary Family" (3.04 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T10) followed by a new "20/20" (5.43 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T2).

Meanwhile, The CW (2.33 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) offered up new episodes of "Smallville" (2.37 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6) and "Supernatural" (2.28 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T6).

And finally, FOX (2.52 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.9, #5) was out of the hunt with a repeat of "House" (2.67 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T10) and a new "The Good Guys" (2.37 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #13).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): 20/20 (80.00%), Dateline NBC (23.10%), The Good Guys (14.30%), CSI: NY (11.80%), Medium (0.00%), Outlaw (0.00%), Smallville (0.00%), Supernatural (0.00%), Blue Bloods (-10.00%).

In late-night metered market ratings, CBS's "Letterman" (2.7/7) took top honors over ABC's "Nightline" (2.6/6) and NBC's "Leno" (2.6/6). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.3/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.3/4) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.3/4) and "Daly" (1.0/4) on NBC.

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (10/9/09):

CBS (8.01 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.9, #1) remained at the top spot on Friday thanks to new episodes of "Ghost Whisperer" (8.60 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.1, #1), "Medium" (8.25 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.9, #2) and "NUMB3RS" (7.13 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #3).

The silver then went to NBC (6.54 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #2) with its mix of "Law & Order" (7.23 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T4), "Dateline NBC" (7.02 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T4) and "The Jay Leno Show" (5.33 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.3, #7).

Next up was ABC (4.01 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #3) with repeats of "FlashForward" (3.11 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T12), "Modern Family" (2.95 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T10) and "The Middle" (2.76 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T10) followed by a new "20/20" (6.07 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T4).

Meanwhile, FOX (2.30 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.9, #4) was out of the hunt with its combination of "Brothers" (2.35 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T12), "'Til Death" (2.36 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T12) and "Dollhouse" (2.25 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8).

And finally, a new "Smallville" (2.30 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8) lead into a repeat of "America's Next Top Model" (1.16 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.5, #15) on The CW (1.73 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #5).

Source: Nielsen Media Research