ABC Finishes #1 In Late-Night For 4th Sweep In A Row with Adults 18-49

ABC Late-Night (Monday - Friday)

With its new lineup of Jimmy Kimmel Live at 11:35 p.m. and NIGHTLINE at 12:35 a.m., ABC finished as the No. 1 network in late-night in Adults 18-49 (792,000) during the 2013 February sweep, marking its 4th sweep in a row to win over both CBS (+5% - 753,000) and NBC (+9% - 728,000). In addition, ABC drew a larger overall audience in late-night than NBC (+3% - 2.264 million vs. 2.194 million) for the 4th consecutive sweep period.

Jimmy Kimmel LIVE (M-F 11:35 p.m.)

During its first sweep in its new 11:35 p.m. time slot, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" attracted its biggest ever audience for any sweep period during the February 2013 sweep (2.562 million). In fact, February 2013 and November 2012 (2.117 million) stand as "JKL's" two most-watched sweeps ever. Growing over November by 21% in Total Viewers, "JKL" grew its overall audience for the 2nd straight sweep. In addition, "JKL" grew 21% in Adults 18-49 over the prior sweep (913,000 vs. 756,000) to its strongest sweep period in 6 years - since February 2007.

JKL posted gains over the year-ago February sweep (1.728 million and 685,000) of 48% in Total Viewers and 33% in Adults 18-49. In fact, JKL grew its overall audience year over year for the 6th straight sweep.

ABC's JKL stood just 108,000 Adult 18-49 viewers from NBC's THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH AY LENO, marking its closest finish ever during any sweep period (913,000 vs. 1.021 million). JKL slashed more than three-quarters of its young adult gap with the NBC program versus its gap during the year-ago February sweep (-78% - 108,000 vs. 484,000).

ABC's "JKL" ran neck-and-neck with CBS' "The Late Show with David Letterman" in Adults 18-49, as only 28,000 young adult viewers separated the two programs (913,000 vs. 941,000). "JKL" virtually eliminated its entire young adult gap with "Letterman" during February 2013
(-94% - 28,000 vs. 467,000), as nearly 500,000 Adult 18-49 viewers stood between the two late-night programs during the February 2012 sweep. "JKL" beat "Letterman" by 7% in Adults 18-34 during the sweep (316,000 vs. 294,000).

During the month of February, the 8th annual broadcast of Jimmy Kimmel LIVE: AFTER THE OSCARS (on 2/24/13) marked the show's most-watched post-Oscars telecast ever (5.736 million) and drew its 2nd-largest audience ever (behind only a post-Super Bowl airing on 2/5/06).

NIGHTLINE (M-F 12:35 a.m.)

In its first sweep (February 2013) in its new 12:35 a.m. time-slot, ABC's NIGHTLINE attracted 1.605 million Total Viewers, 716,000 Adults 25-54 and 527,000 Adults 18-49, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Compared to ABC's performance in the time period during the year-ago sweep (1.449 million on February 2012), NIGHTLINE improved by +11% in Total Viewers. In fact, NIGHTLINE posted the Net's largest February sweep audience in the time slot in 6 years - since February 2007.

Late-Night (2013 February): TOTAL VIEWERS A18-49(000)

ABC 2,264,000 792,000

CBS 2,490,000 753,000

NBC 2,194,000 728,000

Source: The Nielsen Company, Most Current National Program Ratings for February 2013 Sweep (1/31-2/27/13), February 2012 Sweep (2/2-2/29/12) & November 2011 Sweep (10/25-11/21/12). Sweep periods (November, February, May and July). Comparisons based on 000s.

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