HELL'S KITCHEN Season Premiere Serves Up Ratings Win for FOX

The season premieres of HELL'S KITCHEN (5.40 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.4, #2) and "MasterChef" (5.17 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.3, #3) put FOX (5.28 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.3, #1) in front on Monday.

Here are the other highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

NBC (7.29 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.1, #2) then had to settle for second place with new episodes of "America's Got Talent" (12.06 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.2, #1) and "American Ninja Warrior" (6.65 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.2, #4) plus a repeat of "Grimm" (3.15 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #11).

Next up was ABC (6.23 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #3) with a new "The Bachelorette" (6.72 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.1, #5) alongside a repeat of "Castle" (5.24 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.9, #12).

Meanwhile, CBS (5.39 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) offered up its all-repeat lineup of "How I Met Your Mother" (4.20 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T7), "2 Broke Girls" (4.54 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T7), "Two and a Half Men" (6.51 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #6), "Mike & Molly" (5.92 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T7) and "Hawaii Five-0" (5.58 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.2, #10).

And finally, encores of "Breaking Pointe" (0.55 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.2, #13) and "The Catalina" (0.34 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.1, #14) on The CW (0.44 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.1, #5) closed out the evening. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Pointe" delivered a 0.2 rating while "Catalina" posted a 0.1 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+18.52% - America's Got Talent
+16.67% - The Bachelorette
+10.00% - American Ninja Warrior
Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+220.00% - America's Got Talent (vs. Minute to Win It (Repeat))
+144.44% - American Ninja Warrior (vs. Law & Order: Criminal Intent)
+91.67% - MasterChef (vs. House (Repeat))
+33.33% - Hell's Kitchen (vs. MasterChef)
-19.23% - The Bachelorette
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," 2.0/5; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.8/6; 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," 0.7/3; "Late Show," 0.5/2; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/4 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.0/3 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 0.2/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (6/6/11):

ABC (7.24 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.4, #1) was the network to beat on Monday with its combination of "The Bachelorette" (8.01 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1) and "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition" (5.70 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.2, #2).

FOX (3.88 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #2) then had to settle for second place with the return of "Masterchef" (4.33 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.8, #3) and a repeat of "House" (3.43 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T9). Last summer (7/27/10), "Masterchef" opened to 5.75 million viewers and a 2.8 rating among adults 18-49 behind "Hell's Kitchen."

Next up was CBS (5.76 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with its repeat mix of "How I Met Your Mother" (4.58 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T9), another "How I Met Your Mother" (4.69 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T5), "Two and a Half Men" (6.17 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4), "Mike & Molly" (6.12 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T5) and "Hawaii Five-0" (6.50 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T7).

Meanwhile, NBC (4.87 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) offered up its lineup of "Minute to Win It" (3.89 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #11),"Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (4.52 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.9, #12) and "Law & Order: LA" (6.19 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T7).

And finally, repeats of "90210" (0.65 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.2, #14) and "Gossip Girl" (0.60 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #13) on The CW (0.62 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.2, #5) rounded out the night.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Law & Order: The Bachelorette (23.80%), Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition (-4.30%), Law & Order: LA (-7.10%), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (-18.20%).

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," 3.1/8; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.4/6; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.0/7; 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," 1.0/4; "Late Show," 0.7/3; "Nightline," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.6/5 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" (0.7/4 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 0.4/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research