nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for tuesday, december 14, 2010)

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

The season finale of "The Biggest Loser" (11.02 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 4.0, #T1) put NBC (9.90 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.4, #1) on top in adults 18-49 last night. Leading off the evening was a new "Minute to Win It" (7.67 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.3, #4).

CBS (16.08 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.1, #2) however was the most-watched network with new episodes of "NCIS" (19.78 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.0, #T1), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (16.76 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.2, #3) and "The Good Wife" (11.71 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T5).

Next up was FOX (5.49 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.1, #3) with repeats of "Glee" (5.59 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T5) and a second hour of "Glee" (5.39 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T5).

Meanwhile, ABC (4.30 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #4) offered up repeats of "Charlie Brown: I Want a Dog for Christmas" (5.52 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.6, #8), "No Ordinary Family" (3.53 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.0, #9) and "Detroit 187" (3.87 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.8, #10).

And finally, The CW (1.30 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) rounded out the evening with repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.36 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T11) and a second "The Vampire Diaries" (1.24 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T11).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): The Biggest Loser (29.00%), Minute to Win It (21.10%), NCIS (2.60% vs. 11/23/10), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.00% vs. 11/23/10), The Good Wife (0.00% vs. 11/23/10).

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (3.4/8) took top honors over CBS's "Letterman" (3.0/7) and ABC's "Nightline" (3.1/7). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.6/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.4/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.7/6) and "Daly" (0.9/4) on NBC.

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/15/09):

CBS (17.33 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.6, #1) towered over the competition on Tuesday thanks to new episodes of "NCIS" (20.54 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.3, #1), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (17.36 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.6, #2) and "The Good Wife" (14.08 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.8, #T3).

The silver then went to NBC (6.37 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.3, #2) with night two of "The Sing-Off" (6.48 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.4, #4), a second hour of "The Sing-Off" (7.42 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.8, #T3) and a new "The Jay Leno Show" (5.23 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T7).

Next up was FOX (5.15 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.0, #3) with the penultimate installment of "So You Think You Can Dance" (6.30 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.3, #T5) and the special "Gordon Ramsay: Cookalong Live" (4.01 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.7, #9).

Meanwhile, ABC (4.54 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4) was invisible with its lineup of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (6.57 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.3, #T5), "Scrubs" (4.27 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T7), "Better Off Ted" (3.18 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.3, #10) and a repeat of "The Forgotten" (3.33 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #11).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.37 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.7, #12) and another "The Vampire Diaries" (1.38 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.6, #13) on The CW (1.37 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research