ABC Wins 2nd Straight Thursday with New Summer Line-up

Growing week to week, ABC's new Thursday lineup won the night for the 2nd week in a row among Adults 18-49 (2.0/7), beating Fox by 18% (1.7/6), CBS by 54% (1.3/4) and NBC by 100% (1.0/3). In fact ABC has finished No. 1 on the evening for the 5th straight week and for the 6th time in the last 7 weeks.

ABC continued to deliver strong year-to-year improvement on the night, surging over the same night last summer (7/2/09) by 4.4 million viewers (7.0 million vs. 2.6 million) and by 186% in Adults 18-49 (2.0/7 vs. 0.7/3). In fact the Network has been up year-over-year on Thursday for 4 consecutive weeks.

The Net posted week-to-week gains with its new Thursday schedule, drawing its highest summertime non-sports numbers on the evening in close to 4 years with Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 - since 8/17/06 and 8/24/06, respectively.

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

ABC's "Wipeout" won its time period for the 2nd week in a row in both Total Viewers (8.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.7/10), standing as Thursday's No. 1 TV program on both Nielsen measures. It was the 2nd week in a row to stand as the top-rated show with young adults, beating Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance."

Despite declining overall TV usage heading into the 4th of July holiday weekend, "Wipeout" was up over it's week-ago season premiere in the hour (7.9 million and 2.6/10 on 6/24/10) in both Total Viewers (+9%) and Adults 18-49 (+4%).

In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, "Wipeout" registered ABC's best non-sports numbers in the hour in more than 8 months - since 10/29/09, respectively.

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

Exhibiting strong retention of its week-ago series debut, ABC's freshman series "Rookie Blue" finished in virtual-tie for first place with CBS in the 9 o'clock hour among Total Viewers (6.8 million vs. 6.9 million) and ran a strong second to Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" among Adults 18-49 (1.8/6 vs. 2.0/7). The new ABC drama finished No. 1 in its time slot with Adults 25-54 (2.4/7) and Men 25-54 (2.0/6).

"Rookie Blue" substantially boosted the hour year to year for ABC in Total Viewers (+4.6 million - 6.8 million vs. 2.2 million) and in Adults 18-49 (+200% - 1.8/6 vs. 0.6/2).

In addition to holding nearly all of its overall premiere audience in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 (94%/95%), "Rookie Blue" was up over its week-earlier debut among AD18-34, W18-34, M18-34 and W18-49.

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

Building on its week-ago season premiere in viewers (+6%) and young adults (+8%), ABC's "Boston Med" placed a strong second at in the 10 o'clock hour with Total Viewers (5.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.4/4). The new show ranked No. 1 in its hour with key Women (W18-34/W18-49).

Versus the year-ago night, "Boston Med" boosted the 10 o'clock hour for ABC by 3.2 million viewers and by 133% in Adults 18-49 (2.2 million and 0.6/2).

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), 7/1/10.

To post a comment, you must register and login.