ABC's DESIGNATED SURVIVOR Builds On Its Lead-in to Win the 10 O'Clock Hour

ABC Wednesday Prime (8:00-11:00 p.m. - 6.9 million and 1.9/7 in AD18-49): For the 2nd week in a row this season, ABC ranked No. 2 on Wednesday in Adults 18-49 (1.9/7) to an "Empire"-driven Fox, beating CBS by 12% ("Survivor"/"Criminal Minds" premiere/"Code Black" premiere = 1.7/6) and NBC by 36% ("Blindspot"/"L&O: SVU"/"Chicago PD" = 1.4/5). Trailing only Fox's "Empire" on the night, ABC's "Modern Family" was Wednesday's No. 2 show in Adults 18-49 (2.3/8).

ABC's Wednesday was up year to year in Total Viewers (+5%) and held even with Adults 18-49 (6.6 million and 1.9/6 on 9/30/15).

Showing strong retention in the 8:00 p.m. hour, ABC's "The Goldbergs" held 95% of its week-ago premiere in its new time earlier slot among Adults 18-49 (1.9/7 vs. 2.0/7) and "Speechless" held 90% of its week-ago series debut in the key sales demo (1.8/6 vs. 2.0/7).

For the 2nd straight week, ABC's "Designated Survivor" built on its lead-in to win Wednesday's 10 o'clock hour with Total Viewers (7.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.8/6), beating NBC's "Chicago PD" (6.1 million and 1.5/5) and CBS' "Code Black" premiere (6.3 million and 1.2/4). Once again delivering big year-over-year gains in the hour, the new ABC drama improved its time period from the year ago night (4.7 million and 1.1/4 on 9/30/15) by 3.2 million viewers and 64% in Adults 18-49.

"Designated Survivor" Surges in TV Playback: The season's top gainer in TV playback among viewers, the debut of "Designated Survivor" shot up by 5.3 million viewers and by 1.5 Adult 18-49 rating points from L+SD to L+3 Day. In fact the show's 5.3 million viewer SPIKE after 3 days of playback is the largest lift for any TV series debut in 2 years - since ABC's "How to Get Away with Murder" on 9/25/14.

Projections Rationale: Lifts vs. L+SD are based on 2015-16 season averages for originals (excluding the premiere). Returning shows: Profile based on same show (either premiere or averages for originals). New Series: Based on similar series.

A note about DVR penetration: DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample is currently at 49% in U.S. TV Homes. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which are increasingly not reflected in the overnight Live + Same Day numbers. As a result, the Live + 7 Day ratings are the most accurate Nielsen measure to gauge the size of the TV audience.

Source: The Nielsen Company, Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings for 9/28/16.

Photo credit: ABC/Ben Mark Holzberg

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