or


[01/07/11 - 08:56 AM]
Thursday's Broadcast Ratings: ABC Takes Demo Crown
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, january 6, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 17 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

ABC (10.34 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.6, #1) took home top honors on Thursday with the season premiere of "Wipeout" (11.59 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.7, #3) followed by new episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" (11.66 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 4.2, #2) and "Private Practice" (7.78 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.8, #7).

CBS (13.82 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.4, #2) nevertheless was the most-watched network with its mix of "The Big Bang Theory" (14.11 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.4, #1), "Bleep My Dad Says" (10.86 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.9, #6), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (14.22 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.3, #4) and "The Mentalist" (14.81 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.0, #5).

Next up was NBC (2.98 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T3) with its all-repeat mix of "Community" (3.04 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T13), "30 Rock" (3.19 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T9), "The Office" (3.98 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.7, #8), "Outsourced" (3.16 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T9), another "The Office" (2.19 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T13) and yet another "The Office" (2.30 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.2, #12).

Meanwhile, FOX (3.98 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T3) offered up a new "Million Dollar Money Drop" (4.61 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T9) alongside a repeat of "Bones" (3.36 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T13).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.42 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T16) and "Nikita" (1.40 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T16) on The CW (1.41 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): The Mentalist (25.00% vs. 12/9/10), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (10.00% vs. 12/9/10), The Big Bang Theory (7.30% vs. 12/16/10), Grey's Anatomy (5.00% vs. 12/2/10), Bleep My Dad Says (-3.30% vs. 12/16/10), Private Practice (-3.40% vs. 12/2/10).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.6/8) took top honors over NBC's "Leno" (2.6/6) and CBS's "Letterman" (3.1/8). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.7/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.6/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.2/4) and "Daly" (0.7/3) on NBC.


Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (1/7/10):

ABC (29.75 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 9.7, #1) and its coverage of the "BCS Championship: Texas vs. Alabama" (30.00 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 10.2, #1) flattened the competition on Thursday. Kicking off the night was a half-hour "BCS Championship Pre-Game" (21.00 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 6.4, #2).

The silver then went to CBS (9.90 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.1, #2) with its all-repeat lineup of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (9.40 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.9, #5), another "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (10.41 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.3, #3) and "The Mentalist" (10.98 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.2, #4).

Next up was NBC (3.85 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #3) with is mix of "Community" (4.51 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T6), "Parks & Recreation" (3.21 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #11), "The Office" (3.93 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T6), "30 Rock" (3.77 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T6) and "The Jay Leno Show" (4.58 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.4, #10).

Meanwhile, FOX (4.54 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #4) offered up second runs of "Bones" (5.98 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T6) and "Fringe" (3.10 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #12).

And finally, yes, more repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.78 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.7, #13) and "Supernatural" (1.53 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.6, #14) on The CW (1.65 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [january 2011]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
      


· SHOWATCH
(series past and present)
· DEVWATCH
(series in development)
· MOVIEWATCH
(tv movies and mini-series)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[11/20/25 - 11:31 AM]
"Landman" Season 2 Premiere Delivers Record Breaking 9.2 Million Global Streaming Views in Its First Two Days on Paramount+
Views increased by +262% from the first season premiere, making it the most watched premiere for any original series for Paramount+.

[11/20/25 - 08:22 AM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Hits Season Highs with Best Performance Among Total Viewers and Households in Five Months
Friday's "Live's Halloween Show: "It's Trending!" posted its top telecast in Total Viewers (2.554 million) and Households (1.62 million) in over six months.

[11/18/25 - 03:40 PM]
"College GameDay" Scores Best Week 12 Show Ever in Steel City Stop; ABC & ESPN Deliver Top Four Most-Watched Games of Week 12
ABC is registering 6.9 million viewers per game, on pace for the most-watched season on record for the network.

[11/18/25 - 03:06 PM]
FOX NFL Off to Its Best Start to the Season Since 2016
Season-to-date, the NFL on FOX is off to its best start to the season since 2016, averaging 19,038,000 viewers and up +4% over last year's season-to-date average (18,239,000).

[11/18/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of November 10 - "The Beast in Me" Plays Mind Games at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Those wishing to escape into fantasy opted for "The Witcher" Season 4, placing the series at No. 2 on the list with 3.6 million views in its third week in the Top 10.

[11/14/25 - 10:30 AM]
"High Potential" Season 2 Premiere Scores Over 21 Million Total Viewers Across 35 Days
Season to date, the powerhouse drama continues to dominate, ranking as the No. 1 original broadcast series for the second season in a row among Adults 18-49 (2.42 rating), based on Nielsen cross-platform rankings.

[11/14/25 - 09:35 AM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Rises Week to Week with 6.67 Million Total Viewers as Show Heads to Semi-Finals
This marks the show's best performance for its last episode before the semi-finals among Total Viewers in six years and among Adults 18-49 in eight years.

[11/14/25 - 09:31 AM]
"Wicked: One Wonderful Night" Shines for NBC
Across all platforms, the special drew 3.6 million viewers, which was up 64% from last year's "Defying Gravity: The Curtain Rises on Wicked" special.

[11/12/25 - 08:27 AM]
ABC Scores Top Game of the Week for the 10th Straight Week; "College GameDay" Posts Week 11 Growth and Record Season Rolls On
LSU-Alabama (7.5 million viewers) was the most-watched game of the week, followed by Texas A&M-Missouri (4.9 million) and BYU-Texas Tech (4.0 million) among the top five.

[11/11/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of November 3 - "Frankenstein" Comes to Life at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
For more monsters, viewers turned to Season 4 of "The Witcher," putting the series at No. 1 on the English TV list with 7.4 million views.

[11/06/25 - 02:15 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54
"Nightline" was up on the previous week by double digits in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

[11/05/25 - 09:39 AM]
"College GameDay" and ESPN College Football on ABC Win Week 10
Georgia-Florida led the week with 7.8 million viewers, marking the largest audience on record for this rivalry in a full national window.

[11/05/25 - 08:00 AM]
The NASCAR Xfinity Series Concludes First Full Year on The Cw Network with Most-Watched Season in Four Years
The championship race, which saw Jesse Love emerge as the season winner, drew 1,015,000 total viewers and peaked at 1,191,000 total viewers from 9:30-9:45pm ET.

[11/04/25 - 04:19 PM]
FOX Scores 7.19 Million Viewers for Penn State-Ohio State
Plus, Texas Tech's win over K-State earned 3,131,000 viewers on FOX - up +42% over last year's average of Big 12 games on the network.

[11/04/25 - 03:38 PM]
FOX Sports Wraps Unforgettable Postseason as Epic World Series Game 7 Delivers 27.3 Million Viewers
On FOX, the 11-inning Fall Classic conclusion peaked at 33,064,000 viewers from 11:45 PM-12:00 AM ET.