nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for tuesday, april 12, 2011)

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

CBS (15.16 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.0, #1) overwhelmed the competition on Tuesday with new episodes of "NCIS" (19.21 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.8, #1), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (15.35 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.3, #2) and "The Good Wife" (10.92 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T6).

NBC (6.49 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.4, #2) then moved up to second place with fresh installments of "The Biggest Loser" (7.18 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.6, #4) and "Parenthood" (5.09 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T6).

Next up was ABC (10.64 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.3, #3) with the premiere of "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" (5.32 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T8) followed by new episodes of "Dancing With the Stars" (15.46 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.0, #3) and "Body of Proof" (11.15 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.5, #5).

Meanwhile, FOX (3.47 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #4) was out of the hunt with repeats of "Glee" (4.19 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T8), "Raising Hope" (3.21 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.1, #10) and a new "Traffic Light" (2.29 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.9, #11).

And finally, repeats of "One Tree Hill" (0.76 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #12) and "Hellcats" (0.62 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.2, #13) on The CW (0.69 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the night.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): NCIS (5.60%), Parenthood (5.30%), Body of Proof (4.20%), The Good Wife (0.00%), Dancing With the Stars (-3.20%), The Biggest Loser (-3.70%), NCIS: Los Angeles (-5.70% vs. 3/29/11), Traffic Light (-18.20% vs. 3/29/11).

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," 2.6/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.8/7; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.5/8; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.7/5.

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," 0.6/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.2/4 in metered-market households with an encore) trailed CBS's first-run "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.3/5). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49 with an encore) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/3).

At 1:35 a.m., Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.7/3 with an encore 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 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (4/13/10):

FOX (18.78 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 6.8, #1) was the network to beat on Tuesday thanks to a 90-minute edition of "American Idol" (20.23 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 7.2, #1) and the return of "Glee" (13.63 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 5.7, #2).

The silver then went to NBC (7.64 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.0, #2) with new episodes of "The Biggest Loser" (8.29 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 3.3, #4) and "Parenthood" (6.36 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.6, #6).

Next up was ABC (9.57 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.9, #3) with fresh installments of "Dancing With the Stars" (13.38 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.7, #5), "Lost" (9.45 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.8, #3) and "V" (5.88 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.3, #7).

Meanwhile, CBS (9.67 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #4) offered up repeats of "NCIS" (10.82 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T8), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (10.29 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T8) and "The Good Wife" (7.91 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.4, #10).

And finally, a new "90210" (1.48 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.7, #11) lead into the season finale of "Melrose Place" (1.10 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.6, #12) on The CW (1.29 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5).

Source: Nielsen Media Research