nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for monday, august 22, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 13 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 are inflated.]

FOX (6.13 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1) was the network to beat on Monday with new epsiodes of "Hell's Kitchen" (5.92 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.4, #2) and a second original "Hell's Kitchen" (6.33 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.7, #1).

ABC (5.93 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.8, #2) then claimed the silver with a new "Bachelor Pad" (6.63 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.1, #3) followed by a repeat of "Castle" (4.55 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10).

Next up was NBC (3.95 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with a repeat of "America's Got Talent" (3.96 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10) followed by the two-hour season finale of "American Ninja Warrior" (3.95 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.7, #4).

Meanwhile, CBS (4.68 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) offered up repeats of "How I Met Your Mother" (3.66 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.1, #9), another "How I Met Your Mother" (3.94 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T6), "Two and a Half Men" (5.32 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #5), "Mike & Molly" (5.28 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T6) and "Hawaii Five-0" (4.95 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.2, #8).

And finally, repeats of "Gossip Girl" (0.59 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.2, #12) and "One Tree Hill" (0.35 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.1, #13) on The CW (0.47 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Bachelor Pad (0.0%), Hell's Kitchen (-7.1%).

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," 2.1/5 with an encore telecast; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.1/5 with an original; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.9/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.2/4 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 telecast; "Late Show with David Letterman," 0.6/3 with an original; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.4/2 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., household results were: "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," 1.0/4 in metered-market households with an encore; CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," 1.1/4 with an original. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.4/2 in 18-49 with an encore) tied an original "Late Late Show" (0.4/3).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.6/2 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 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (8/23/10):

CBS (6.62 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T1) lead a tight race on Monday with its all-repeat mix of "How I Met Your Mother" (5.00 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T6), "Rules of Engagement" (5.34 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.8, #5), "Two and a Half Men" (8.23 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.3, #2), "The Big Bang Theory" (8.18 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1) and "CSI: Miami" (6.50 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T8).

Sharing the adults 18-49 crown was ABC (5.32 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T1) with new episodes of "Bachelor Pad" (5.94 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.0, #3) and "Dating in the Dark" (4.08 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T8).

Next up was NBC (5.80 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.8, #3) with a special "Minute to Win It" (5.33 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T8) followed by its annual coverage of the "Miss Universe Pageant" (6.04 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.9, #4).

Meanwhile, FOX (4.17 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #4) offered up a repeat of "House" (3.35 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #11) and a new "Lie to Me" (4.99 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T6).

And finally, repeats of "90210" (0.97 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #12) and "Gossip Girl" (0.54 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.2, #13) on The CW (0.75 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the evening.

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (2.8/7) took top honors over NBC's "Leno" (2.6/6) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.5/6). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.2/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.3/4) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.1/4) and "Daly" (0.6/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research