nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for tuesday, march 22, 2011)

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

CBS (15.73 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.0, #1) was the network to beat on Tuesday with new episodes of "NCIS" (19.11 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.8, #1), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (16.46 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.2, #2) and "The Good Wife" (11.62 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.1, #4).

NBC (6.48 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.4, #2) then took home the silver with a new "The Biggest Loser" (8.19 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.0, #3) and a repeat of "Parenthood" (3.07 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T9).

Next up was ABC (6.50 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #3) with the return of "No Ordinary Family" (5.30 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T7) followed by the two-hour special "Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Times" (7.10 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.8, #6).

Meanwhile, FOX (4.37 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4) served up repeats of "Glee" (5.25 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.9, #5) and "Raising Hope" (4.20 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T7) alongside a fresh "Traffic Light" (2.80 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T9).

And finally, repeats of "One Tree Hill" (0.82 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T11) and "Hellcats" (0.72 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T11) on The CW (0.77 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): No Ordinary Family (25.00% vs. 3/1/11), The Biggest Loser (11.10%), NCIS (0.00% vs. 3/1/11), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.00% vs. 3/1/11), The Good Wife (-4.50% vs. 3/1/11), Traffic Light (-31.30%).

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," 2.5/6; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 3.0/7; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.4/8; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/4.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.9/4; "Late Show," 0.7/3; "Nightline," 1.1/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/4 in metered-market households) tied CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.3/5 with an encore). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/3 with an encore).

At 1:35 a.m., Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 in metered-market households and a 0.3/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 11 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (3/23/10):

A two-hour "American Idol" (23.84 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 8.3, #1) overshadowed the competition on Tuesday, putting FOX (23.84 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 8.3, #1) in the top spot.

Second place then went to NBC (7.70 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.9, #2) with new episodes of "The Biggest Loser" (8.02 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.0, #33) and "Parenthood" (7.07 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.8, #4).

Next up was ABC (6.12 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.4, #3) with a repeat of "Lost" (4.69 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #8) followed by a new "Lost" (8.99 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.9, #2) and the special "V: The Arrival" (5.14 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.9, #7), which included six minutes of "Lost" overrun.

Meanwhile, repeats of "NCIS" (12.82 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.2, #5), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (11.22 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.0, #6) and "The Good Wife" (7.99 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.4, #9) saw CBS (10.67 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.9, #4) fall to fourth.

And finally, new episodes of "90210" (1.59 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.8, #10) and "Melrose Place" (1.00 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.5, #11) on The CW (1.29 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research