nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for monday, march 28, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

[Please note: Nielsen is now reporting duplicate viewing beginning with last night's data. This means that if the same viewer watches a show live and then again in playback, that viewing will count towards the program's rating. The same will apply if a viewer rewinds and re-watches content on their DVR.]

ABC (19.16 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.5, #1) overshadowed the competition on Monday with week two of "Dancing With the Stars" (22.33 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.1, #1) and a new "Castle" (12.83 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.3, #2).

CBS (6.25 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.9, #2) then took home the leftovers with its mix of "How I Met Your Mother" (5.65 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T5), "Mad Love" (5.63 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.1, #4), "Two and a Half Men" (7.61 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.3, #3), "Mike & Molly" (7.02 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T5) and "Hawaii Five-0" (5.78 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T8).

Next up was FOX (4.40 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #3) with repeats of "House" (4.83 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T8) and "The Chicago Code" (3.97 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.1, #11).

Meanwhile, NBC (5.59 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.2, #4) was out of the hunt with its combination of "All Together Now: A Celebration of Service" (4.20 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.9, #12), "The Event" (4.36 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.2, #10) and "Harry's Law" (8.21 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.6, #7).

And finally, repeats of "90210" (0.76 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #13) and "Gossip Girl" (0.54 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.2, #14) on The CW (0.65 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the night.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Dancing With the Stars (0.00%), Castle (0.00%), Harry's Law (0.00%), The Event (0.00%), Mad Love (-8.70%).

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," 3.0/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.4/6; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.8/9; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.8/6.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.8/4; "Late Show," 0.8/4; "Nightline," 1.1/5; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.1/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/2).

At 1:35 a.m., Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.3/2 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 (3/29/10):

ABC (19.86 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.9, #1) was the network to beat on Monday thanks to new episodes of "Dancing With the Stars" (22.56 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.5, #1) and "Castle" (14.47 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.7, #T2).

The silver then went to CBS (8.29 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.8, #2) with the nearly all-repeat mix of "How I Met Your Mother" (5.69 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.2, #8), "Rules of Engagement" (7.26 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.9, #5), "Two and a Half Men" (10.79 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.7, #T2), "The Big Bang Theory" (9.76 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.5, #4) and "CSI: Miami" (8.13 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.3, #7).

Next up was FOX (6.89 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.2, #3) with a repeat of "House" (5.47 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.9, #10) followed by a new "24" (8.31 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.6, #6).

Meanwhile, NBC (5.45 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.8, #4) offered up new episodes of "Chuck" (5.59 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.1, #9), "Trauma" (4.80 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.6, #12) and "Law & Order" (5.98 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.8, #11).

And finally, new episodes of "Life Unexpected" (2.05 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T13) and "Gossip Girl" (1.64 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T13) on The CW (1.85 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.9, #5) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research