ABC Dominates Wednesday Night With CMA Awards

With its broadcast of "The 45th Annual CMA Awards," ABC dominated Wednesday night, beating out its nearest competition on the evening by 5.6 million viewers (16.3 million vs. 10.7 million - CBS) and by 30% in Adults 18-49 (4.8/12 vs. 3.7/10 - Fox's 2-hour "The X Factor"). ABC ranked # 1 in all 6 half-hours of the night in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. In fact it was a clean sweep on the evening, as the Net ran # 1 on Wednesday across all key Adult, Men and Women demographics (18-34/18-49/25-54), as well standing as the top-rated broadcaster with Teens 12-17.

· ABC posted its top-rated Wednesday in 2 years among Adults 18-49 - since 11/11/09.

· ABC scored its best Adult 18-49 number on any night this season, while delivering the 2nd-highest non-sports driven performance for any network on any evening this season, behind only CBS' "Two and a Half Men"-fueled delivery on season-premiere Monday - more than 7 weeks ago, on 9/19/11.

· Despite facing heightened competition this year from Fox's 2-hour "The X Factor," the "CMA Awards" was up year to year in Adults 18-49 (+2%). In addition, ABC's annual country music awards show built year to year across number of other key younger demos: Adults 18-34 (+8%), Women 18-34 (+6%), Men 18-34 (+11%) and Teens (+19%). In fact, the "CMA Awards" equaled its 2nd-best Adult 18-34 number in 7 years and its highest Men 18-34 number 7 years - since 2004.

· ABC's 2011 telecast of the "CMA Awards" eclipsed CBS' 2011 telecast of the "ACM Awards" in April by 3.3 million viewers and by 45% in Adults 18-49.

· An estimated 35.0 million viewers watched at least some portion of "The 45th Annual CMA Awards" on ABC during its 3-hour broadcast - unduplicated Viewers 2+ watching 6 minutes or more of the telecast.