nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for friday, september 9, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

NBC (5.30 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.5, #1) claimed top honors on Friday thanks to another two-hour "Dateline NBC" (6.64 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.9, #1). Leading off the night was the one-hour series finale of "Friends With Benefits" (2.62 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T6).

ABC (3.63 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.9, #2) then took home the silver with a repeat of "Shark Tank" (4.01 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.1, #2) followed by new episodes of "Karaoke Battle USA" (3.14 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T6) and "20/20" (3.76 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.0, #3).

Next up was CBS (5.08 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T3) with encores of "48 Hours Mystery" (4.99 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T4), "CSI: NY" (4.97 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #9) and "Blue Bloods" (5.29 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T6).

Meanwhile, FOX (2.01 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T3) offered up repeats of "Kitchen Nightmares" (2.33 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T4) and "Fringe" (1.69 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.6, #10).

And finally, rebroadcasts of "Nikita" (1.46 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T11) and "Supernatural" (1.15 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T11) on The CW (1.30 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Dateline NBC (58.3%), Friends With Benefits (14.3%), Karaoke Battle USA (14.3%), 20/20 (11.1%).

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release, the San Diego market is currently excluded):

In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 2.9/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.0/5 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.7/6; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.3/4 with an encore.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.9/4; "Late Show," 0.5/2 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" (1.5/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.0/3). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

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 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (9/10/10):

NBC (4.28 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.0, #1) was the network to beat on a very low key Friday with its coverage of "Stand Up to Cancer" (3.08 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T7) and a two-hour "Dateline NBC" (4.84 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.2, #2).

The silver then went to ABC (3.90 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.9, #2) with its mix of "Stand Up to Cancer" (3.19 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.6, #9), "Primetime: What Would You Do?" (3.24 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T5) and "20/20" (5.27 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.3, #1).

Meanwhile, CBS (4.46 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T3) offered up "Stand Up to Cancer" (2.90 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T10), a repeat of "CSI: NY" (4.40 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T7) and the penultimate week of "Flashpoint" (6.09 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.1, #3).

Next up was The CW (2.51 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T3) with encores of "Hellcats" (2.42 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.9, #4) and "Nikita" (2.61 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T5).

And finally, FOX (1.30 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the evening with its coverage of "Stand Up to Cancer" (1.41 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T10) and a repeat of "The Good Guys" (1.19 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #12).

Collectively, "Stand Up to Cancer" drew 10.58 million viewers on the broadcast networks (including a 2.3 adults 18-49 rating).

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (2.8/7) took top honors over ABC's "Nightline" (2.7/6) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.2/5). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.3/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.1/4) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.5/5) and "Daly" (0.9/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research