nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, january 5, 2012)

Here are the highlights of the 17 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

ABC (9.46 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.3, #1) was the network to beat on Thursday with the return of "Winter Wipeout" (8.54 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.8, #T3), "Grey's Anatomy" (12.04 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.5, #1) and "Private Practice" (7.82 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.8, #T3).

CBS (9.34 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.3, #2) then claimed the silver with its all-repeat lineup of "The Big Bang Theory" (11.61 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.5, #2), "Rules of Engagement" (8.69 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.6, #5), "Person of Interest" (8.71 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T6) and "The Mentalist" (9.16 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T6).

Next up was FOX (4.56 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T3) with encores of "Bones" (4.83 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #9) and another "Bones" (4.30 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T10).

Meanwhile, The CW (2.63 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T3) offered up fresh installments of "The Vampire Diaries" (3.20 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.4, #8) and "The Secret Circle" (2.06 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T14). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Diaries" posted a 2.3 rating while "Circle" delivered a 1.1 rating.

And finally, repeats of "Community" (2.64 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T14), "Parks & Recreation" (2.36 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T12), "The Office" (2.61 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T10), "Whitney" (2.25 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T12), another "The Office" (1.83 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T16) and "Up All Night" (1.86 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T16) on NBC (2.26 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.8, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+47.37% - Winter Wipeout (vs. 12/8/11)
+12.50% - Grey's Anatomy (vs. 11/10/11)
+7.69% - Private Practice (vs. 11/17/11)
0.00% - The Vampire Diaries (vs. 11/10/11)
0.00% - The Secret Circle (vs. 11/10/11)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
180.00% - The Vampire Diaries (vs. The Vampire Diaries (Repeat))
60.00% - The Secret Circle (vs. Nikita (Repeat))
7.14% - Grey's Anatomy
0.00% - Private Practice
-24.32% - Winter Wipeout

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," 2.6/7; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.1/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.5/4.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.7/3; "Late Show," 0.7/3; "Nightline," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/4 in metered-market households) tied CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.3/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/2).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.7/3 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 17 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (1/6/11):

ABC (10.34 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.6, #1) took home top honors on Thursday with the season premiere of "Wipeout" (11.59 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.7, #3) followed by new episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" (11.66 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 4.2, #2) and "Private Practice" (7.78 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.8, #7).

CBS (13.82 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.4, #2) nevertheless was the most-watched network with its mix of "The Big Bang Theory" (14.11 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.4, #1), "Bleep My Dad Says" (10.86 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.9, #6), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (14.22 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.3, #4) and "The Mentalist" (14.81 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.0, #5).

Next up was NBC (2.98 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T3) with its all-repeat mix of "Community" (3.04 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T13), "30 Rock" (3.19 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T9), "The Office" (3.98 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.7, #8), "Outsourced" (3.16 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T9), another "The Office" (2.19 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T13) and yet another "The Office" (2.30 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.2, #12).

Meanwhile, FOX (3.98 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T3) offered up a new "Million Dollar Money Drop" (4.61 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T9) alongside a repeat of "Bones" (3.36 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T13).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.42 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T16) and "Nikita" (1.40 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T16) on The CW (1.41 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): The Mentalist (25.00% vs. 12/9/10), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (10.00% vs. 12/9/10), The Big Bang Theory (7.30% vs. 12/16/10), Grey's Anatomy (5.00% vs. 12/2/10), Bleep My Dad Says (-3.30% vs. 12/16/10), Private Practice (-3.40% vs. 12/2/10).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.6/8) took top honors over NBC's "Leno" (2.6/6) and CBS's "Letterman" (3.1/8). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.7/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.6/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.2/4) and "Daly" (0.7/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research