ABC Generates Year-To-Year Increases For 2nd Consecutive Week

During the week spanning the final 3 nights of the TV Season and May Sweep leading into the extended Memorial Day holiday weekend (w/o 5/24/10), ABC's "Dancing" season finales finished in the Top 10 TV shows among both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49: "Dancing with the Stars" - No. 3/No. 6 and "DWTS the Results Show" - No. 4/No. 7. ABC's 6th-season premiere of "The Bachelorette" finished among the Top 10 TV shows for the week with its core audience of Women 18-34 (No. 9) and Women 18-49 (No. 9).

· For the 2nd week in a row ABC was up from the same week last year (w/o 5/25/09), growing year to year by 2.2 million viewers (6.4 million vs. 4.2 million) and by 23% in Adults 18-49 (1.6/5 vs. 1.3/4).

2010 May Sweep (Complete - Most Current): ABC finished No. 2 to an "Idol"-driven Fox in May 2010 among Adults 18-49 (2.7/8), its 2nd straight year to earn second place for the month. ABC ranked No. 1 on Thursday (4th straight year) and Sunday (6th straight year) nights during the month in Adults 18-49, placing 5 of the Top 12 TV series for the Sweep in the key young adult sales demo.

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 36% currently, from 31% 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 qualified as the most-watched TV network (12.5 million) for the 10th consecutive week (all 4 Mondays of the May Sweep). ABC built its overall Monday audience from the year-ago night for the 9th time in 10 weeks.

"Dancing with the Stars" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

From 8:00-9:00 p.m., ABC's Monday finale of "Dancing with the Stars" ranked No. 1 in its time period among both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 for the 10th week in a row (on each telecast of its 10th Season), leading its nearest competition by 10.9 million viewers (19.4 million vs. 8.5 million - Fox's "24" series finale) and by 18% in Adults 18-49 (4.0/12 vs. 3.4/10 - CBS' "How I Met Your Mother"/"Rules of Engagement"). The ABC dancing performance show qualified as Monday's most-watched television series overall for the 10th week running. Based on final projections, "DWTS" generated its most-watched season ever.

"The Bachelorette" (9:00-11:00 p.m.)

From 9:00-11:00 p.m., the 6th-season premiere of "The Bachelorette" earned second place against its broadcast competition among Total Viewers (9.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.8/8), while ranking No. 1 in its 2-hour slot among its core audience of Women 18-34 (3.8/11). In addition, "The Bachelorette" finished as the No. 1 TV series in the 10 o'clock hour, beating the season finale of CBS' veteran drama, "CSI: Miami," among Adults 18-34 (2.4/7 vs. 2.3/7), Women 18-34 (3.8/11 vs. 2.8/8) and Women 18-49 (4.1/11 vs. 3.9/11).

· Retaining nearly all of its "DWTS" lead-in (97%) among Women 18-34 (3.8/11 vs. 3.9/12), "The Bachelorette" posted ABC's highest rating in the time-slot in 6 weeks - since 4/12/10. "The Bachelorette" was up over its year-ago season premiere by 5% in Total Viewers (9.1 million vs. 8.7 million on 5/18/09).

Tuesday

With the 10th-season closer of "Dancing," ABC nearly tied Fox with its Tuesday finale of "Idol" into "Glee" as the most-watched network (pacing within 300k viewers - 15.4 million vs. 15.7 million) on the final Tuesday of the TV Season. ABC considerably narrowed the gap with Fox from the year-ago season-finale Tuesday (900k on 5/19/09). Also on the night, ABC outdrew CBS with its drama finales ("NCIS"/"NCIS: LA"/"The Good Wife") by 2.0 million viewers (13.4 million), and NBC with "The Biggest Loser" and "Parenthood" finales by 6.7 million viewers (8.7 million).

· ABC generated its most-watched Tuesday in 6 months - since 11/24/09.

"DWTS the Results Show" (9:00-11:00 p.m.)

In its 10th-season finale from 9:00-11:00 p.m., ABC's "Dancing with the Stars the Results Show" produced season-high numbers on the night in both Total Viewers (18.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.9/11). The "Dancing" finale dominated all 4 of its half-hours in Total Viewers to stand as the second-most-watched TV program of the night to "American Idol." In fact "DWTS the Results Show" finale posted its most-competitive finish ever to the finale of "Idol-Tuesday," running within 1.7 million viewers and shrinking the gap year to year by 1.8 million viewers. Singer, songwriter, actress and the lead singer of "The Pussycat Dolls" Nicole Scherzinger won the coveted Mirror Ball trophy.

· Soaring during its second hour from 10:00-11:00 p.m., "DWTS the Results Show" outdrew its combined network competition, original drama finales on CBS ("The Good Wife") and NBC ("Parenthood"), by 2.6 million viewers (19.2 million vs. 16.6 million) and topped second-place NBC by 65% in Adults 18-49 (4.3/12 vs. 2.6/7).

· "Dancing with the Stars the Results Show" season ender produced ABC's second-biggest audience in the 2-hour time period this season, while generating its highest Adult 18-49 number in nearly 4 months (since 2/2/10).

Wednesday

"ABC WED MOVIE OF WK - 5/26 Transformers" (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

With its broadcast of the theatrical "Transformers," opposite the season finale of "American Idol," ABC was up year to year on the final night of the TV Season by 1.4 million viewers (4.8 million vs. 3.4 million) and by 50% in Adults 18-49 (1.8/5 vs. 1.2/3) over the comparable year-ago evening (5/20/09). In viewers and young adults, ABC posted its best season-ending Wednesday in 3 years - since 2007.

Source: The Nielsen Company (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 5/24/10, unless stated otherwise.

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