It's the end of the TV season, which means a gluttony of year-end lists! But to rich execs in the network business, this list of the top-performing shows of the 2011-2012 season released by Nielsen is the only one that matters. These rankings are based on the advertiser-coveted 18-49 age demographic, which largely determines what's placed on Thursdays at 9pm and what's relegated to Fridays to die a slow death.



A couple interesting notes before we show you the list:



– CBS's Rob was the season's highest-rated canceled show (#22). Also shocking: Rob was #22?!?!?!?!?!?!?

– For as big of a disappointment as Terra Nova was, it still finished 24th. Alcatraz was in a similar boat; that show placed 30th. But remember, these are average ratings, and both series slid in a big way after huge debuts.

– Work It beat Community. Grumble grumble. Though that's a bit misleading because curiosity drew audiences to Work It for the few episodes that made it to the air.

– As far as overall network performance goes, Fox took first in the season for the 18-49 demo, followed by CBS, NBC, and ABC. Oh and The CW was way, way, way behind them all.



Okay! Here are the 2011-2012 series rankings in the adults 18-49 demographic:

1. NBC NBC Sunday Night Football

2. Fox American Idol Performance Show

3. NBC The Voice

4. ABC Modern Family

5. Fox American Idol, Results Show

6. CBS The Big Bang Theory

7. CBS Two And A Half Men

8. Fox The X Factor, Performance Show

9. CBS 2 Broke Girls

10. ABC Grey’s Anatomy

11. NBC Football Night in America Pt. 3

12. Fox New Girl

13. Fox The X Factor, Results Show

14. NBC The Voice, Results Show

15. CBS How I Met Your Mother

16. ABC Once Upon A Time

17. CBS NCIS

18. CBS Survivor: South Pacific

19. Fox Family Guy

20. CBS Mike & Molly

21. CBS Criminal Minds

22. CBS Rob

23. Fox Glee

24. Fox Terra Nova

25. ABC Desperate Housewives

26. CBS Survivor: One World

27. CBS NCIS: Los Angeles

28. ABC Dancing With The Stars

29. NBC The Office

30. Fox Alcatraz

31. Fox House

32. CBS Person Of Interest

33. Fox The Simpsons

34. CBS The Amazing Race 19

35. CBS Rules Of Engagement

36. CBS Hawaii Five-0

37. CBS CSI

38. NBC Smash

39. CBS The Mentalist

40. ABC Dancing With the Stars Results Show

41. CBS The Amazing Race 20

42. ABC Happy Endings

43. ABC Private Practice

44. ABC The Bachelor

45. ABC Revenge

46. Fox Bones

47. ABC Castle

48. NBC Fear Factor

49. CBS How To Be A Gentleman

50. Fox Napoleon Dynamite

51. Fox Touch

52. Fox American Dad

53. ABC Don’t Trust The B---- in Apt. 23

54. ABC GCB

55. ABC Last Man Standing

56. NBC Parenthood

57. Fox Raising Hope

58. Fox The Cleveland Show, Sunday 8:30p

59. NBC The Biggest Loser 13

60. NBC The Biggest Loser 12

61. ABC Suburgatory

62. CBS CSI: Miami

63. ABC The Middle

64. CBS Unforgettable

65. CBS The Good Wife

66. ABC Scandal

67. ABC Pan Am

68. ABC The River

69. NBC Up All Night

70. NBC Celebrity Apprentice

71. ABC Celebrity Wife Swap

72. CBS 60 Minutes

73. NBC Law And Order:SVU

74. NBC Parks And Recreation

75. Fox The Finder

76. NBC Whitney

77. NBC Football Night in America Pt 2

78. Fox Mobbed

79. CBS Undercover Boss

80. Fox Allen Gregory

81. NBC Grimm

82. NBC 30 Rock

83. Fox I Hate My Teenage Daughter

84. ABC Saturday Night Football

85. ABC Man Up!

86. ABC Body Of Proof

87. Fox Bob’s Burgers

88. CBS Blue Bloods

89. Fox The Cleveland Show

90. ABC Work It

91. NBC Community

92. ABC Cougar Town

93. NBC Are You There Chelsea?

94. CBS CSI: NY

95. ABC Wipeout, Thursday

96. NBC The Playboy Club

97. NBC The Sing Off

98. ABC Missing

99. ABC Shark Tank

100. NBC Fashion Star

101. NBC Betty White's Off Their Rockers

102. NBC Prime Suspect

103. NBC Who’s Still Standing

104. NBC Awake

105. Fox Fringe

106. Fox Kitchen Nightmares

107. ABC Charlie’s Angels

108. Fox Breaking In

109. ABC 20/20, Friday

110. ABC Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, 9pm

111. CBS NYC 22

112. ABC America's Funniest Home Videos

113. NBC Betty White's Off Their Rockers, 8:30pm

114. ABC Primetime:What Would You Do?

115. NBC Dateline, Friday

116. ABC Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

117. Fox Cops

118. NBC Harry’s Law

119. CBS A Gifted Man

120. NBC Free Agents

121. NBC Chuck

122. CW The Vampire Diaries

123. CBS 48 Hours Mystery

124. Fox Cops

125. ABC You Deserve It

126. NBC Dateline, Sunday 7pm

127. NBC Bent, 9pm

128. ABC My Extreme Affliction

129. CW America’s Next Top Model

130. ABC Missing, Wednesday

131. NBC Who Do You Think You Are?

132. ABC 20/20, Friday

133. NBC Best Friends Forever

134. ABC ABC Sat Movie Of The Week

135. NBC The Firm

136. CW One Tree Hill

137. NBC Bent, 9:30pm

138. NBC Rock Center With Brian Williams

139. CW The Secret Circle

140. CW Supernatural

141. CBS Crimetime Saturday

142. NBC Law & Order: SVU, Saturday

143. NBC Law & Order: SVU, Wednesday 9pm

144. CW 90210

145. CW Gossip Girl, Monday

146. CW Ringer

147. CW Hart Of Dixie

148. CW America’s Next Top Model, British Invasion

149. CW Nikita

150. Fox Q’Viva

151. CW H8R

152. NBC The Firm, Saturday

153. CW Remodeled

154. NBC Escape Routes

155. CW LA Complex





Are you shocked/awed by the performance of any of the shows on this list? What conclusions would you draw from the final ratings?