ABC Ranks 1st in Adults 18-49 for 7th Straight Week

Growing from the previous Monday for the 2nd week in a row, ABC stood as the most-watched network overall for the 5th week in a row and ranked No. 1 in Adults 18-49 for the 7th straight Monday, posting a summer-high performance in both Nielson measures. The Network beat its nearest primetime competition (CBS) by 2.5 million viewers (8.5 million vs. 6.0 million) and by 56% in Adults 18-49 (2.8/9 vs. 1.8/5).

· Building its overall Monday audience year to year for the 8th time in 8 weeks, ABC improved on the same night last year in viewers and young adults (7.4 million and 2.6/8 on 7/20/09).

"The Bachelorette" (8:00-10:00 p.m.)

ABC's "The Bachelorette" ranked a strong No. 1 in its time period for the 8th consecutive week, beating its closest time period competition (CBS) by 3.7 million viewers (9.9 million vs. 6.2 million) and by 74% (3.3/10 vs. 1.9/6). The veteran ABC unscripted series won all 4 of its half-hours in viewers and young adults.

· "The Bachelorette" registered as Monday's No. 1 TV show in Adults 18-49 for the 6th week in a row, and for the 8th week running stood the evening's dominant No. 1 television program across all key Women demographics (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

· "The Bachelorette" achieved season-highs in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. In fact excluding season finales, the series drew its biggest audience since February 2004 (since 2/18/04 during Season 2) and its highest Adult 18-49 rating since February 2005 (since 2/21/05 during Season 3).

· On average, "The Bachelorette" is up over its performance at the same point last year by 1.6 million viewers (9.6 million vs. 8.0 million) and by 14% in Adults 18-49 (3.2/9 vs. 2.8/8).

"True Beauty" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

With its season finale, ABC's "True Beauty" ranked No. 1 in the 10 o'clock hour against its CBS and NBC competition among Adults 18-49 (1.9/6) for the 2nd straight week.

· On average during its run, "True Beauty" improved its time period this summer for ABC by 6% in Total Viewers (5.3 million vs. 5.0 million) over the same weeks last year.

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: Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 7/19/10.

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