ABC Earns Highest Primetime Ratings Since Mid-June Last Week

Continuing to grow its primetime numbers year to year (on each week of Summer 2010), ABC turned in its strongest weekly performance since mid-June (with coverage of the NBA Finals) in both Total Viewers (5.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.6/5) - since w/o 6/14/10. In fact, the Net posted its top non-NBA summertime week in more than 2 years - since w/o 7/7/08.

· Once again the only major net to grow its overall audience from the same week last year, ABC's primetime results shot up by 57% in Total Viewers and by 45% in Adults 18-49 (w/o 8/3/09 = 3.5 million and 1.1/4), earning its 12th straight week of year-over-year gains on both counts.

· Compared to the same point last year, ABC's summer numbers have surged by 25% in Total Viewers (6.0 million vs. 4.8 million) and by 19% in Adults 18-49 (1.9/6 vs. 1.6/5). In viewers and young adults, ABC is producing its strongest summertime results in 5 years - since 2005. The Net is up by wide margins this summer in Adults 18-49 on 5 of 7 nights during the week: +21% on Monday, +80% on Tuesday, +100% on Thursday, +33% on Friday and +18% on Sunday. The Net ranks No. 1 with young adults this summer on Monday, Thursday and Sunday nights.

Rankings: ABC claimed 3 of the Top 7 TV programs for the week in Adults 18-49: "The Bachelorette" and "The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose" tied at No. 2 and "Wipeout-TUES" - No. 7. Scoring its biggest finale since 2004, ABC's season closer of "The Bachelorette" finished as the week's most-watched TV show overall, even outdrawing NBC's NFL Hall of Fame Game on Sunday night (Cincinnati/Dallas). ABC's "The Bachelorette" and "The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose" qualified as the Top 2 TV shows across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). ABC News aired the No. 1 newsmagazine for the week in Adults 18-49, with "Primetime: What Would You Do?" on Tuesday. In fact among Adults 18-49, ABC News delivered TV's No. 1 newsmagazine for the 8th week in a row and for the 9th time in the last 10 weeks this summer.

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 37% currently, from 32% at the same point in 2009. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.

Monday

ABC was the most-watched network overall for the 7th consecutive week and ranked No. 1 in Adults 18-49 for the 9th Monday in a row. The Network towered over its nearest broadcast competition (CBS) by 5.1 million viewers (11.6 million vs. 6.5 million) and by 111% in Adults 18-49 (3.8/11 vs. 1.8/5).

· ABC drew its largest Monday summer audience (Memorial Day - Labor Day) and highest non-sports Adults 18-49 performance in over 10 years - since 6/26/00.

"The Bachelorette" (8:00-10:02 p.m.)

With the 6th-season finale of "The Bachelorette," ABC finished No. 1 in the time period for the 10th consecutive week (on every telecast this season), outperforming its closest competitor (CBS) by 5.0 million viewers (11.7 million vs. 6.7 million) and by 90% in Adults 18-49 (3.8/11 vs. 2.0/6). The veteran ABC unscripted series built steadily throughout its telecast, drawing an average of 13.2 million viewers and a 4.4/12 among Adults 18-49 during its final half-hour from 9:30-10:00 p.m., with Bachelorette Ali giving the final rose to Roberto.

· "The Bachelorette" saw increases over its year-ago season finale (7/27/09) of 1.7 million viewers (11.7 million vs. 10.0 million) and 9% in Adults 18-49 (3.8/11 vs. 3.5/10), pulling its strongest finale numbers overall since 2004 when it concluded in February (on 2/25/04).

· On average, "The Bachelorette" stood as Monday's No. 1 TV show of Summer 2010 in Adults 18-49 and the top summer series overall across all key Women demographics (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

· Like previous editions of the franchise, the 6th season of "The Bachelorette" is a big hit with Upscale viewers, ranking as TV's No. 1 series this summer among Adults 18-49 in Homes with $100k+ annual income (3.9 rating).

· On average in its sixth season, "The Bachelorette" was up over the previous year by 1.6 million viewers (9.8 million vs. 8.2 million) and by 14% in Adults 18-49 (3.3/9 vs. 2.9/8). In fact, "The Bachelorette" generated its most-watched season since 2004.

"The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose" (10:02-11:00 p.m.)

ABC's "The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose" won the 10 o'clock hour, outdelivering its CBS and NBC competition combined by 5% in Total Viewers (11.3 million vs. 10.8 million) and by 36% among Adults 18-49 (3.8/11 vs. 2.8/8). "The Bachelorette" season finale and "After the Final Rose" tied as Monday's No. 1 TV program in Adults 18-49.

· "The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose" was up over its performance last year (7/28/09) by 3.3 million viewers (11.3 million vs. 8.0 million) and by 36% in Adults 18-49 (3.8/11 vs. 2.8/8).

Tuesday

ABC's Tuesday lineup registered its strongest performance in 6 weeks with Total Viewers (6.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.1/7) - since 6/22/10.

· Growing year to year on the night for the 4th week in a row, ABC more than doubled its Tuesday results from the same night last year (8/4/10) in Total Viewers (+133% - 6.3 million vs. 2.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (+110% - 2.1/7 vs. 1.0/3). In fact the Net has been up year to year on Tuesday evening on 9 of 10 weeks this summer.

"Wipeout-TUES" (8:00-9:01 p.m.)

ABC's "Wipeout" finished a strong second in the 8 o'clock hour among viewers (8.9 million) and young adults (2.9/10). The ABC unscripted series also ranked as Tuesday's No. 2 TV show in Adults 18-49 (2.9/10), outperforming NBC's "America's Got Talent" (2.8/8) and finishing just behind Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" (3.2/11).

· "Wipeout" attracted its largest audience in 6 weeks (since 6/22/10), registering the series' 2nd-biggest audience in more than 2 years - since 7/29/08.

"Shaq VS" (9:01-10:01 p.m.)

In the 9 o'clock hour, against stiff unscripted competition on NBC ("America's Got Talent") and Fox (a "Hell's Kitchen"-driven "Masterchef"), ABC's Season 2 premiere of "Shaq VS" was up by 1.0 million viewers (5.2 million vs. 4.2 million) and by 6% in Adults 18-49 (1.8/5 vs. 1.7/5) over its year-ago series debut (on 8/18/09), hitting series highs on both Nielsen measures.

· "Shaq VS" greatly improved the time period for ABC year to year, growing the hour by 3.1 million viewers and by 125% in Adults 18-49 (2.1 million and 0.8/2 on 8/4/09).

"Primetime: What Would You Do?" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)

In the 10:00 p.m. hour, ABC News' repeat airing of "Primetime: What Would You Do?" was up week to week by 7% in Adults 18-49 (1.6/5 vs. 1.5/4), generating ABC's 2nd-highest non-sports number in the hour this summer.

Thursday

ABC ranked No. 1 on Thursday against its network rivals for the 4th consecutive week among Adults 18-49 (1.6/5 - tied w/CBS).

· Continuing to show substantial year-to-year improvement on Thursday, ABC more than doubled its performance from the same night last summer (8/6/09) in Total Viewers (+135% - 6.1 million vs. 2.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (+129% - 1.6/5 vs. 0.7/2). In fact the Network posted its 9th consecutive Thursday of year-to-year primetime increases.

"Wipeout-THURS" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

For the 2nd week in a row, ABC's repeat "Wipeout" finished a strong second to CBS' original "Big Brother" in the 8 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (6.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.8/7), while beating the CBS unscripted series with Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11.

"Rookie Blue" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

TV's No. 1 new scripted series this summer, ABC's "Rookie Blue" stood as the most-watched TV show in its time period for the 2nd straight week (6.8 million). The freshman ABC drama also earned first place in its time slot for the 2nd week running with Adults 25-54.

· Building its overall audience for the 4th week in a row, "Rookie Blue" marked its most-watched telecast since its series debut 6 weeks ago - since 6/24/10. The new series also equaled its 2nd highest-ever young adult number.

· "Rookie Blue" continued to produce impressive year-to-year gains for ABC in the hour, boosting the Net's results over the same night last year by 4.1 million viewers (6.8 million vs. 2.7 million) and by 157% in Adults 18-49 (1.8/6 vs. 0.7/2).

"Boston Med" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

Growing its viewer (+4% - 4.9 million vs. 4.7 million) and young adult numbers (+8% - 1.3/4 vs. 1.2/4) for the 2nd week in a row, the season's second-to-last episode of ABC News' "Boston Med" ranked No. 1 against its CBS and NBC competition in the 10 o'clock hour among Adults 18-49 (tie) and key Women (W18-49/W18-34).

· "Boston Med" drew its biggest audience in 4 weeks (since 7/8/10) and matched its best-ever Adult 18-49 number.

· On average during its run, "Boston Med" has greatly improved Thursday's 10 o'clock hour for ABC, boosting the time period by 2.8 million viewers (5.2 million vs. 2.4 million) and by 86% in Adults 18-49 (1.3/4 vs. 0.7/2) over its performance last summer.

Friday

For the 5th straight week, ABC ranked No. 1 among the major networks on Friday in Adults 18-49 (1.2/5), beating NBC by 20% (1.0/4), Fox by 33% (0.9/3) and CBS by 50% (0.8/4).

"Primetime: What Would You Do?" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

A repeat ABC News "Primetime: What Would You Do?" beat the first hour of NBC's "Dateline" by 44% in Adults 18-49 (1.3/5 vs. 0.9/4) and by 8% among Adults 25-54 (1.4/5 vs. 1.3/4).

"20/20" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC News' "20/20" won the final hour of prime in Adults 18-49 for the 5th consecutive week running, outperforming the second hour of NBC's "Dateline" by 30% (1.3/5 vs. 1.0/3).

Sunday

"America's Funniest Home Videos" (7:00-8:00 p.m.)

ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" hit summer highs for the 2nd week in a row in both Total Viewers (6.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.6/6). In addition, ABC's repeat video-clip show topped the 7 o'clock hour in the key young adult demographic for the 6th straight week.

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Opposite "NFL Pre-Season Football" on NBC in the hour, ABC's repeat "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" turned in a summer-best performance in the hour among Total Viewers (5.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.3/4-tie).

Source: The Nielsen Company (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 8/2/10, unless stated otherwise. Summer = 5/31-8/8/10 vs. 5/25-8/9/09.

 

 

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