nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for thursday, december 27, 2012)

Here are the highlights of the 18 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

CBS (9.56 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.1, #1) was the repeat king on Thursday with its mix of "The Big Bang Theory" (11.98 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.3, #1), "Two and a Half Men" (8.74 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.3, #2), "Person of Interest" (10.33 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.9, #3) and "Elementary" (7.98 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4).

ABC (3.58 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.9, #2) then snagged the silver with encores of "Happy New Year, Charlie Brown" (4.65 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.2, #5), "Grey's Anatomy" (3.20 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T7) and "Scandal" (2.90 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T10).

Next up was NBC (2.61 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.8, #3) and its combination of "30 Rock" (2.55 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T10), "Up All Night" (2.23 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T7), "The Office" (2.14 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T7), "Parks & Recreation" (1.92 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T10) and "Rock Center With Brian Williams" (3.41 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.9, #6).

Meanwhile, FOX (1.77 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) offered up a marathon of "The Mindy Project" (2.06 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T10), another "The Mindy Project" (1.74 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T10), yet another "The Mindy Project" (1.62 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.6, #16) and even more "The Mindy Project" (1.66 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T10).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.05 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T17) and "Beauty and the Beast" (0.94 million viewers, #18; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T17) on The CW (0.99 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) cloised out the evening. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Diaries" delivered a 0.5 rating at 8:00/7:00c and "Beast" a 0.4 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

TBA

Here are the highlights of the 17 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/29/11):

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to a local NBA preemption, Fast Nationals for NBC are likely inflated from 8-930p.]

CBS (8.79 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.0, #1) was once again the king of repeats with its lineup of "The Big Bang Theory" (10.19 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.8, #1), "Rules of Engagement" (7.84 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.2, #2), "Person of Interest" (8.45 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T3) and "The Mentalist" (8.89 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T3).

FOX (4.83 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.1, #2) then claimed the silver with repeats of "Bones" (4.86 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8) and a second "Bones" (4.81 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T5).

Next up was ABC (3.38 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.9, #3) with encores of "Happy New Year, Charlie Brown" (4.20 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T5), "Grey's Anatomy" (2.79 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T12) and another "Grey's Anatomy" (3.16 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8).

Meanwhile, NBC (2.15 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #4) offered up its mix of "Community" (2.24 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.6, #15), "Parks & Recreation" (1.97 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T12), "The Office" (2.80 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T5), "Whitney" (2.09 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T10), another "The Office" (1.91 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T10) and "Up All Night" (1.88 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T12).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (0.97 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T16) and "The Secret Circle" (0.83 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T16) on The CW (0.90 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Diaries" posted a 0.4 rating while "Circle" delivered a 0.4 rating.

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," 2.4/6 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.7/6; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.2/3 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; "Late Show," 0.6/3 with an encore; "Nightline," 0.9/3; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/2 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.2/4 in metered-market households with an encore) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.1/3 with an encore). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49 with an encore) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2 with an encore).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.3/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research