ABC Ranks No. 1 in Adult Viewership 18-49 for 4th Consecutive Week

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 penultimate 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.

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.

Source: The Nielsen Company (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 8/5/10.

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