nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, december 1, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

FOX (9.51 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.0, #1) held off the competition on Thursday thanks to new episodes of "The X Factor" (10.20 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.1, #1) and "Bones" (8.82 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.8, #4).

ABC (8.42 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.1, #2) then climbed to second place with a repeat of "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" (7.24 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.2, #T5) followed by the two-hour special "CMA Country Christmas" (9.01 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.1, #7).

Next up was CBS (8.41 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #3) with an all-repeat lineup of "The Big Bang Theory" (10.45 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.9, #T2), "Rules of Engagement" (8.08 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.2, #T5), "Person of Interest" (8.08 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T11) and "The Mentalist" (7.89 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T11).

Meanwhile, NBC (4.44 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.8, #4) offered up new episodes of "Community" (3.92 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.7, #10) - its largest audience since September 29, "Parks & Recreation" (3.72 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.8, #9), "The Office" (5.74 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.9, #T2), "Whitney" (4.02 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.9, #8) and "Prime Suspect" (4.63 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.3, #13).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.11 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T14) and "The Secret Circle" (0.86 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T14) on The CW (0.98 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) rounded out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Diaries" posted a 0.4 rating while "Circle" delivered a 0.5 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+18.18% - Prime Suspect (vs. 11/17/11)
+6.25% - Community (vs. 11/17/11)
+3.33% - The X Factor (vs. 11/17/11)
0.00% - The Office (vs. 11/17/11)
0.00% - Bones (vs. 11/17/11)
0.00% - Whitney (vs. 11/17/11)
-10.00% - Parks & Recreation (vs. 11/17/11)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+55.56% - Bones (vs. Fringe)
+29.17% - The X Factor (vs. Bones)
-7.14% - Prime Suspect (vs. The Apprentice)
-10.53% - Community
-21.62% - The Office
-21.74% - Parks & Recreation (vs. 30 Rock)
-24.00% - Whitney (vs. Outsourced)

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," 3.0/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.3/6 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.4/8; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/4.

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 with an encore; "Nightline," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/2.

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" (1.2/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/3).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.9/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.3/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 16 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/2/10):

With CBS (9.09 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.9, #4) in repeats, ABC (8.76 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.1, #1) coasted to victory on Thursday with its mix of "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" (7.34 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.3, #T7) and new episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" (10.94 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.0, #1) and "Private Practice" (8.01 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.9, #3).

NBC (5.09 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.2, #2) then snagged a rare second place finish with new episodes of "Community" (4.96 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T9), "30 Rock" (5.02 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.3, #T7), "The Office" (7.31 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 3.7, #2), "Outsourced" (5.37 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.5, #4) and "The Apprentice" (4.11 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.4, #15).

Next up was FOX (7.00 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.1, #3) with fresh installments of "Bones" (8.87 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.4, #T5) and "Fringe" (5.13 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.8, #12).

As for CBS, the Eye offered up its all-repeat lineup of "The Big Bang Theory" (8.91 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.4, #T5), "Bleep My Dad Says" (7.44 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T9), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (9.76 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T9) and "The Mentalist" (9.34 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.7, #13).

And finally, new episodes of "The Vampire Diaries" (3.70 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.6, #14) and "Nikita" (2.75 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 1.0, #16) on The CW (3.23 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.3, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): The Apprentice (55.60%), Nikita (11.10% vs. 11/11/10), The Vampire Diaries (0.00% vs. 11/11/10), Community (0.00% vs. 11/18/10), 30 Rock (0.00% vs. 11/18/10), The Office (0.00% vs. 11/18/10), Private Practice (-3.30% vs. 11/18/10), Fringe (-5.30% vs. 11/18/10), Grey's Anatomy (-7.00% vs. 11/18/10), Outsourced (-7.40% vs. 11/18/10), Bones (-11.10% vs. 11/18/10).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.4/8) took top honors over NBC's "Leno" (2.9/7) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.5/6). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.5/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.4/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.3/4) and "Daly" (0.7/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research