nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for monday, march 7, 2011)

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

FOX (9.30 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.9, #1) claimed the top spot on Monday with new episodes of "House" (11.08 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.8, #1) and "The Chicago Code" (7.51 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.1, #6).

ABC (8.52 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.5, #2) then took home the silver with a new "The Bachelor" (9.94 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.1, #2) followed by a repeat of "Castle" (5.67 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T10).

Next up was CBS (8.05 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.3, #3) with its mix of "How I Met Your Mother" (6.42 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T7), "Mad Love" (7.27 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.4, #5), "Two and a Half Men" (10.15 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.8, #3), "Mike & Molly" (9.29 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.6, #4) and "Hawaii Five-0" (7.58 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T7).

Meanwhile, NBC (6.62 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4) saw the return of "The Event" (5.23 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T10) - a series low - followed by a new "Harry's Law" (9.40 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.8, #9).

And finally, repeats of "90210" (0.71 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T12) and "Gossip Girl" (0.49 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T12) on The CW (0.60 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5) closed out the night.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): House (0.00%), The Chicago Code (0.00%), Harry's Law (0.00%), The Bachelor (-8.80%), Mad Love (-11.10%), The Event (-26.30% vs. 11/29/10).

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

In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 2.7/7 with an encore telecast; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.5/6 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.1/8; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.3/4 with an encore.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.7/3 with an encore; "Late Show," 0.8/4 with an encore; "Nightline," 1.1/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/4 in metered-market households with an encore) beat CBS's first-run "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.2/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.4/3 in 18-49 with an encore) trailed "Late Late Show" (0.5/3).

At 1:35 a.m., Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.2/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (3/8/10):

CBS (13.01 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.3, #1) was the network to beat on Monday thanks to new episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" (10.32 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.9, #4), "Rules of Engagement" (10.15 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.6, #5), "Two and a Half Men" (17.54 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.8, #T1), "The Big Bang Theory" (16.26 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 5.8, #T1) and "CSI: Miami" (11.89 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.3, #6).

The silver then went to FOX (10.83 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.8, #2) with new episodes of "House" (12.75 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.8, #3) and "24" (8.91 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.8, #T7).

Next up was ABC (9.20 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.6, #3) with its "The Bachelor: Jason and Molly�s Wedding" (9.26 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.8, #T7) special followed by a new "Castle" (9.09 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.4, #9).

Meanwhile, NBC (5.42 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.7, #4) offered up a new "Chuck" (6.31 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.3, #10), the return of "Trauma" (4.78 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.4, #12) and a new "Law & Order" (5.18 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.5, #11).

And finally, the 8:00/7:00c premiere of "Life Unexpected" (1.99 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.9, #14) lead into the return of "Gossip Girl" (1.76 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.0, #13) on The CW (1.87 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.9, #5).

Source: Nielsen Media Research