nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for monday, september 5, 2011)

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

FOX (4.51 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.0, #1) was the demo champ on Labor Day thanks to a repeat of "Hell's Kitchen" (3.19 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T5) followed by an original "Hell's Kitchen" (5.83 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1).

ABC (5.34 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.5, #2) then was the top viewership draw with a new "Bachelor Pad" (5.88 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.8, #2) and a rebroadcast of "Castle" (4.27 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.9, #10).

Next up was CBS (4.49 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #3) with encores of "How I Met Your Mother" (3.70 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.2, #7), another "How I Met Your Mother" (3.93 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.4, #4), "Two and a Half Men" (5.03 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #3), "Mike & Molly" (5.05 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T5) and "Hawaii Five-0" (4.61 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T8).

Meanwhile, NBC (3.71 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.9, #4) offered up a repeat of "America's Got Talent" (3.83 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.8, #11) alongside the special "Children of 9/11" (3.47 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T8).

And finally, repeats of "Gossip Girl" (0.68 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T12) and "One Tree Hill" (0.53 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.2, #T12) on The CW (0.61 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Bachelor Pad (-10.0%), Hell's Kitchen (-10.3%).

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," 2.1/6 with an encore telecast; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 1.7/5 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.6/6; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.9/3 with an encore.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters (with several major markets currently excluded), adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.7/3 with an encore; "Late Show," 0.5/2 with an encore; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.3/2 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (0.9/3 in metered-market households with an encore) beat CBS's first-run "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (0.8/3). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.3/2 in 18-49 with an encore) tied "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

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 (9/6/10):

ABC (4.79 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T1) and CBS (6.13 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T1) split top honors on the Labor Day holiday as the former offered up new episodes of "Bachelor Pad" (5.63 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.0, #3) and "Dating in the Dark" (3.11 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T8).

The Eye then offered up its mix of "How I Met Your Mother" (3.49 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T6), "CBS Fall Preview" (5.03 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T6), "Two and a Half Men" (7.85 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.1, #2), "The Big Bang Theory" (7.55 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1) and "CSI: Miami" (5.92 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4).

Next up was NBC (5.00 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.3, #3) with an encore of "America's Got Talent" (4.76 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T8) and a new "Dateline NBC" (5.48 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.5, #5).

Meanwhile, repeats of "House" (3.22 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10) and "Lie to Me" (3.36 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10) kept FOX (3.29 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) out of the hunt.

And finally, second runs of "90210" (0.79 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T12) and "Gossip Girl" (0.62 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T12) on The CW (0.71 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the evening.

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (2.5/6) and ABC's "Nightline" (2.5/6) shared top honors ahead of CBS's "Letterman" (1.8/5). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.1/3) on ABC "Ferguson" (0.9/3) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.2/4) and "Daly" (0.7/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research