ABC Wins In Ratings For Week Of 5/31

ABC won the week of May 31, 2010 in Total Viewers (7.2 million) and across all key adult demographics: AD18-34 (2.3/8), AD18-49 (2.6/8) and AD25-54 (2.8/8). Winning among Adults 18-49 for the 2nd time in 3 weeks, ABC (2.6/8) beat out second-place Fox by 30% (2.0/6), third-place NBC by 37% (1.9/6) and fourth-place CBS by 86% (1.4/4).

· For the 3rd week in a row, ABC was up from the same week last year (w/o 6/1/09), growing year to year by 1.0 million viewers (7.2 million vs. 6.2 million) and by 13% in Adults 18-49 (2.6/8 vs. 2.3/7).

· ABC posted its strongest summer week results in nearly 1 year among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 - since w/o 6/8/09.

Rankings: ABC aired 5 of the week's Top 15 TV programs in Adults 18-49, including the Top 2 with the opening games of the 2010 NBA Finals: "NBA Finals on ABC - GM2" - No. 1, "NBA Finals on ABC - GM1" - No. 2, "Wipeout-TUES" - No. 6, "The Bachelorette" - No. 13 and "20/20 SP Edition" - No. 15. Games 2 and Game 1 of the 2010 "NBA Finals on ABC" also finished as the Top 2 most-watched TV programs overall for the week. ABC News' "20/20 SP Edition" stood as TV's No. 1 newsmagazine for the week in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54. In fact it was the 4th time in 5 weeks for ABC News to deliver the highest-rated newsmagazine with Adults 18-49.

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

With "The Bachelorette" and the season opener of "True Beauty" on Memorial Day, ABC took second place on the night in Total Viewers (6.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.3/7), while finishing No. 1 on Monday among all key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

· ABC was up from Memorial Day Monday last year (5/25/09), when it aired "The Bachelorette" into the premiere of "Here Come the Newlyweds," by 1.3 million viewers and by 15% in Adults 18-49, despite facing competition from the Stanley Cup Finals' Game 2 on NBC this year. In fact in viewers and young adults, ABC marked its strongest Memorial Day results in 4 years - since 2006.

"The Bachelorette SP-5/31" (8:00-10:02 p.m.)

ABC's "The Bachelorette" finished No. 1 in its time period with Total Viewers (7.6 million-tie) and Adults 18-49 (2.4/7). The ABC unscripted series also won its time slot for the 2nd straight week among its core audience of Women 18-34 (3.1/10). In fact "The Bachelorette" stood as Monday's No. 1 TV show all key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

· "The Bachelorette" posted year-to-year increases over its performance on Memorial Day last year of 1.6 million viewers and 19% in Adults 18-49 (6.0 million vs. 2.1/6 on 5/25/09).

"True Beauty-5/31" (10:02-11:00 p.m.)

During the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's season premiere of "True Beauty" earned second place in Adults 18-49 (2.0/6) and finished No. 1 among Women 18-49 and Women 25-54.

· "True Beauty" improved the hour year to year for ABC, up over the Memorial Day premiere of "Here Come the Newlyweds" last year by 8% in Total Viewers (5.3 million vs. 4.9 million) and by 5% in Adults 18-49 (2.0/6 vs. 1.9/5).

Tuesday

"Wipeout-TUES" (8:00-10:00 p.m.)

Opposite stiff competition from 8:00-10:00 p.m. from NBC's season opener of "America's Got Talent" and Fox's season opener of "Hell's Kitchen" into an original "Glee," ABC's 2-hour "sneak-peek" preview "Wipeout: Blind Date" (the series' 3rd season premieres in its regular 8-9pm time slot in three weeks, on Tuesday 6/22) more than doubled the Net's performance in the time period on the year-ago night (6/2/09) with original programming in Total Viewers (+4.4 million - 8.4 million vs. 4.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (+158% - 3.1/9 vs. 1.2/4). The broad-appealing ABC unscripted series held the No. 2 position in its 2-hour time period with key Men (M18-49/M25-54) and registered as Tuesday evening's No. 1 TV show with Kids 2-11.

· Although facing substantial competition, the "Wipeout" preview produced ABC's top non-sports summer numbers in the time slot in close to 2 years among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 - since 7/8/08.

· In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, "Wipeout" marked its strongest telecast in 1 year - since 6/10/09 and 5/27/09, respectively.

"20/20 SP Edition - 6/1: Superhumans" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

From 10:00-11:00 p.m., "20/20 Special Edition: Superhumans" qualified as the most-watched TV show, drawing 16% more viewers than NBC's series debut of "Losing it with Jillian" (7.4 million vs. 6.4 million), despite NBC's decided lead-in advantage coming into the hour from "America's Got Talent." "20/20" also finished No. 1 in the hour across all key Men (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54) and was the top-rated broadcast with Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11. The special featured real people with superpowers they've developed by dedicating their lives to the basic human urge to overcome limitations.

· "20/20" significantly boosted the hour for ABC over the year-ago night, with an "ABC News Special," by 3.8 million viewers (7.4 million vs. 3.6 million) and by 92% in Adults 18-49 (2.3/7 vs. 1.2/3).

· The "20/20 Special Edition" was the highest-rated telecast for any ABC newsmagazine since November 2009 in Adults 18-49 (2.3/7) and since December 2009 in Adults 25-54 (2.9/8) - since 11/6/09 and 12/29/09, respectively.

Thursday

With coverage of the 2010 NBA Finals Game 1 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, ABC posted a dominant win on Thursday night, beating its nearest competition (Fox) by 2.0 million viewers (10.7 million vs. 8.7 million) and by 24% in Adults 18-49 (4.1/14 vs. 3.3/11).

· In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 (tie), ABC tallied its strongest Thursday with summer programming since September 2005 - since 9/8/05.

· The Net produced its most-watched-ever opening night with the NBA Finals. It was also ABC's highest-ever opening night delivery with the NBA Championship Series in Adults 18-34 (4.2/15-tie), Men 18-49 (5.4/19-tie), Men 25-54 (5.5/17-tie) and Teens 12-17 (3.2/13).

"Jimmy Kimmel Live Game Night 1" (Various Time Periods)

Airing around the NBA Finals in various time periods across the country, the "Jimmy Kimmel Live Game Night" special generated broad exposure for the ABC late-night talker in primetime. ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live Game Night" achieved its best-ever numbers for any telecast since it began airing in 2008 (a total of 12 telecasts). The "JKL" special was up over last year's opening night telecast by 17% in Total Viewers (4.2 million vs. 3.6 million) and by 8% in Adults 18-49 (1.3/5 vs. 1.2/4).

· Thursday's (6/3/10) late-night telecast of "JKL" equaled the show's highest Metered Market Adult 18-49 rating (0.9) in more than 3 months - since 3/1/10.

"NBA Finals on ABC - GM 1" (9:04 p.m. - 12:00 a.m., ET)

Featuring the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, the "NBA Finals on ABC - GM 1" towered over its primetime competition and finished as Thursday's definitive No. 1 TV program in Total Viewers (14.1 million) and across each of the key Adult demographics: A18-34 (5.9/20), A18-49 (5.7/18) and A25-54 (5.8/17). Los Angeles won the opening game of the series by a score of 102-89 to lead the best-of-seven series 1-0.

· In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, Game 1 of the 2010 NBA Finals qualified as the best start for the Championship Series in 6 years (since 2004 Pistons-Lakers) and as the second-highest-ever opening game for The Finals on ABC - beginning with coverage in 2003.

· Game 1 of the 2010 NBA Finals delivered a 25.2/43 Household number in Los Angeles and a 19.1/34 in Boston.

Sunday

Driven by Game 2 coverage of the 2010 NBA Finals, featuring the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, ABC turned in a convincing win on Sunday evening. ABC outpaced its nearest competition during primetime by 5.9 million viewers (12.5 million vs. 6.6 million - CBS) and by 168% in Adults 18-49 (5.1/15 vs. 1.9/6 - NBC). In Adults 18-49, ABC beat The Combined delivery of CBS, NBC and Fox by 15% on the evening (5.1/15 vs. 4.4/13). It was ABC's 2nd consecutive night to claim a dominant primetime victory with coverage of the 2010 NBA Finals.

· ABC's primetime results were up sharply over the same night last year when it aired coverage of the second game for the Lakers-Magic 2009 NBA Finals, increasing by 1.3 million viewers and by 11% in Adults 18-49 (11.2 million and 4.6/14 on 6/7/09). It was the Net's most-watched summer Sunday in nearly 10 years - since 8/27/00.

· Similarly to Thursday's Game 1, the Net posted its best-ever primetime results with a Game 2 of The Finals in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. ABC began carriage of the NBA Finals starting in 2003.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live Game Night 2" (Various Time Periods)

For the 2nd straight telecast, "JKL Game Night" grew its overall audience year to year. On average, ABC's 2010 "JKL Game Night" specials have gained 12% in Total Viewers (3.7 million vs. 3.3 million) and 9% in Adults 18-49 (1.2/4 vs. 1.1/4), over the first two telecasts last year.

"NBA Finals on ABC - GM 2" (8:04 - 11:04 p.m., ET)

The "NBA Finals on ABC - GM 2" overcame its competitors during primetime, including NBC's broadcast of the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals, to qualify as Sunday night's No. 1 TV program in Total Viewers (15.7 million) and across each of the key adult demographics: A18-34 (6.5/20), A18-49 (6.5/18) and A25-54 (6.5/16). It was the 2nd straight telecast for the 2010 NBA Finals to stand as the night's top-rated television program in viewers and key adults. The Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers by a score of 101-96, tying the best-of-seven series at 1-1.

· ABC's Game 2 of the 2010 NBA Finals posted solid year-to-year increases in Total Viewers (+1.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (+12%), over the second game of the 2009 Lakers-Orlando Finals (14.1 million & 5.8/17 on 6/7/09). In viewers and young adults, it was the strongest Game 2 for the NBA Championship Series in 6 years and the second-highest-ever on ABC - since Game 2 of the 2004 series on 6/8/04.

· On average, the NBA Championship Series is delivering to its best start in 6 years (since 2004) and its 2nd-strongest-ever opening on ABC in Total Viewers (14.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (6.1/18). Versus the first two games of 2009 (Lakers-Magic), The Finals is up year to year by 10% in Total Viewers and 9% in Adults 18-49 (13.6 million and 5.6/17).

Source: The Nielsen Company (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 5/31/10, unless stated otherwise.

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