nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for saturday, february 26, 2011)

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

FOX (5.86 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.8, #1) mainstays "Cops" (5.73 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.8, #2) and "America's Most Wanted" (5.98 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.9, #1) cruised to top honors on Saturday.

ABC (3.72 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T2) and CBS (4.12 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T2) then shared the silver as the former offered up the feature "The Pursuit of Happyness" (3.72 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T4).

The Eye then went with its mix of "The Amazing Race" (2.51 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.7, #7), "Hawaii Five-0" (4.44 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T4) and "48 Hours Mystery" (5.41 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.2, #3).

And finally, repeats of "Harry's Law" (4.72 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #8), "Law & Order: Los Angeles" (3.62 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #9) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (4.51 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.8, #6) on NBC (4.28 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #4) rounded out the evening.

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

An encore telecast of "Saturday Night Live" (3.9/10 in metered-market households) hosted by Anne Hathaway with musical guest Florence and the Machine, dominated its time period. "SNL" was the #1 telecast of the night in metered-market households ahead of all primetime programs on ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Saturday Night Live" averaged a 2.3 rating, 10 share in adults 18-49, making it the #1 telecast of the night, ahead of all primetime programs on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.

Here are the highlights of the seven ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (2/27/10):

NBC (19.73 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.5, #1) was the network to beat on Saturday with the penultimate night of its "Winter Olympics" (19.73 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.5, #1) coverage.

The silver then went to FOX (5.61 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.8, #2) with full hours of "Cops" (5.72 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T2) and "America's Most Wanted" (5.50 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T2).

Next up was ABC (3.89 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with an encore of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (3.89 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.4, #5).

And finally, CBS (4.54 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) offered up its mix of "NUMB3RS" (3.16 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.6, #7), "Cold Case" (4.18 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.9, #6) and "48 Hours Mystery" (6.28 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4).

Source: Nielsen Media Research