nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, august 11, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 16 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to local NFL preseason preemptions, fast nationals for ABC, CBS and NBC are inflated.]

CBS (7.69 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.3, #1) held off the competition on Thursday with its mix of "The Big Bang Theory" (7.80 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.2, #2), "Rules of Engagement" (7.16 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T3), "Big Brother 13" (8.64 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.2, #1) and "The Mentalist" (6.94 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T6).

FOX (6.28 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.1, #2) then had to settle for second place despite its two-hour season finale of "So You Think You Can Dance" (6.28 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T3). Compared with last year's finale, "Dance" was down 13% in both total viewers and adults 18-49.

Next up was ABC (5.55 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.6, #3) with fresh installments of "Wipeout" (6.35 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.9, #5), "Expedition Impossible" (5.23 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T6) and "Rookie Blue" (5.08 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.4, #8).

Meanwhile, NBC (3.12 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) was out of the hunt with its all-repeat lineup of "Community" (2.72 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.7, #13), "Parks & Recreation" (2.66 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.9, #12), "The Office" (3.14 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.2, #9), "30 Rock" (2.74 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (3.74 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.09 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T14) and "Plain Jane" (1.11 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T14) on The CW (1.10 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): So You Think You Can Dance (31.3%), Big Brother 13 (18.5%), Expedition Impossible (14.3%), Rookie Blue (7.7%), Wipeout (0.0%).

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," 2.4/6; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.0/5 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.8/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.1/3 with an encore.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.8/3; "Late Show," 0.5/2 with an encore; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3 with an encore.

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" (1.1/3 with an encore delayed by golf coverage). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.2/1 with an encore delayed by golf coverage).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.9/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.4/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (8/12/10):

FOX (7.19 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.4, #1) snagged top honors on Thursday thanks to a new "So You Think You Can Dance" (6.58 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.2, #3) and the season finale of "So You Think You Can Dance" (7.80 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.7, #1).

CBS (7.88 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.0, #2) then claimed the silver with a new "Big Brother 12" (7.93 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.6, #2) followed by repeats of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (7.57 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #7) and "The Mentalist" (8.14 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T5).

Next up was ABC (5.66 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #3) with a repeat of "Wipeout" (6.13 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.8, #4), a new "Rookie Blue" (6.15 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T5) and the season finale of "Boston Med" (4.69 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T10).

Meanwhile, it was all repeats on NBC (3.17 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #4) with "Community" (3.03 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T12), "30 Rock" (2.85 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T12), "The Office" (3.24 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.4, #8), "Parks & Recreation" (2.81 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.3, #9) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (3.55 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T10).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.56 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.6, #14) and "Moonlight" (1.23 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.5, #15) on The CW (1.39 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5) rounded out the evening.

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (2.8/7) took top honors over ABC's "Nightline" (2.8/6) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.5/6). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.4/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.0/4) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.3/4) and "Daly" (0.7/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research