All 10 of ABC's Comedies Return Up in 2017 to Multi-Week/Season Highs

During the first complete week of 2017 (w/o 1/2/17), ABC ranked No. 1 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, delivering a network-leading 8 of the Top 20 broadcast programs in Adults 18-49: "Modern Family" - No. 5, "The Bachelor" - No. 6, "The Goldbergs" - No. 7, with "The Middle," "Speechless," "black-ish" and "Truth and Lies: The Menendez Brothers" tied at No. 12 and "American Housewife" - No. 19.

All 10 of ABC's comedies returned up in 2017 over their last original airings of 2016, scoring multi-week highs across the board in Adults 18-49: "The Middle" (+6% - best-since-premiere rating), "American Housewife" (+7% - best since 10/18/16), "Fresh Off the Boat" (+17% - best-since-premiere rating), "The Real O'Neals" (+11% - best since 11/29/16), "The Goldbergs" (+12% - best since 11/16/16), "Speechless" (+6% - best since 11/16/16), "Modern Family" (+20% - best-since-premiere rating), "black-ish" (+6% - best since 10/12/16), "Last Man Standing" (+25% - new season high) and "Dr. Ken" (+22% - new season high).

The Net scored its top-rated week since mid-November in Adults 18-49 - since w/o 11/14/16. In addition, ABC was up by double digits from the opening week of 2016, gaining 18% in Total Viewers (5.2 million vs. 4.4 million) and 18% in Adults 18-49 (1.3/4 vs. 1.1/4).

Monday

Featuring the Season 21 opener of "The Bachelor" up against NBC's highly promoted premiere of "Celebrity Apprentice," ABC won the first Monday of the new year in Adults 18-49 (1.8/6), beating NBC by 38% (1.3/4 for "Celebrity Apprentice"/"The Wall"), CBS' regular original Monday lineup by 50% (1.2/4) and Fox' "MasterChef" celebrity special by 100% (0.9/3). In addition, ABC beat NBC on the night by 171% in Adults 18-34 (1.9/7 vs. 0.7/3).

ABC's "The Bachelor" returned as Monday's No. 1 TV series with Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34 and across all key Women. The ABC unscripted show was also Monday's most social broadcast series with over 933,000 interactions (includes Twitter/Facebook).

"The Bachelor" (8:00-10:01 p.m. - 6.6 million and 2.1/6 in AD18-49):
Ranking No. 1 in each half-hour with young adults against its broadcast competition from 8:00-10:00 p.m., the season premiere of "The Bachelor" won its 2-hour slot over NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" opener by 32% in Total Viewers (6.6 million vs. 5.0 million) and by 62% in Adults 18-49 (2.1/7 vs. 1.3/4) with a season high for ABC in the time period.

"The Bachelor" held steady with its year-ago opener in Adults 18-49 (2.1/7 vs. 2.2/7 on 1/4/16) and grew with Adults 18-34 (+10%), Men 18-34 (+40%) and Men 18-49 (+8%), scoring a 3-year high in Adults 18-34 and 6-year highs in the two Men demos - since 1/6/14 and 1/3/11, respectively

"JKL: Here for the Right Reasons" (10:01-11:00 p.m. - 3.6 million and 1.0/4 in AD18-49):
At 10:00 p.m., ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" special for "The Bachelor" premiere was up over its 2016-17 Late-Night season average by 1.3 million viewers (3.6 million vs. 2.3 million) and by 100% Adults 18-49 (1.0/4 vs. 0.5/3). In viewers and young adults, the "Jimmy Kimmel" special delivered ABC's 2nd-highest numbers in the Monday 10:00 p.m. time period this season.

Tuesday

Up against stiff competition in the opening hour of the night from CBS' "NCIS" original and the time-period premieres of NBC's "The Wall" and Fox's "The Mick," ABC returned with Tuesday's Top 2 comediesin Adults 18-49, with "The Middle" (1.7/6) and "American Housewife" (1.6/5), beating Fox's "New Girl" (1.1/4) and "The Mick" (1.3/4) head to head by 55% and 23% at 8:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., respectively. Other competition on the night included cross-over episodes of NBC's "Chicago Fire" and "Chicago P.D." (9:00-11:00 p.m.) and Fox's final season premiere of "Bones" (9:00-10:00 p.m.).
All 4 of ABC's Tuesday comedies grew over their most recent originals 3 weeks ago (on 12/13/16), driving the Net to a 6-week high on the night in Adults 18-49 - since 11/22/16.

At 8:00 p.m., ABC's "The Middle" was up from its most recent original in Adults 18-49 (+6% - 1.7/6 vs. 1.6/6) to deliver a best-since-premiere rating 12 weeks ago - since 10/11/16.

At 8:30 p.m., ABC's "American Housewife" built by 7% on its last original airing in Adults 18-49 (1.6/5 vs. 1.5/5) to tie its highest rating since mid-October - since 10/18/16.

At 9:00 p.m., ABC's "Fresh Off the Boat" grew by double digits to deliver its best numbers since its season opener(on 10/11/16) in Total Viewers (+13% - 4.4 million vs. 3.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (+17% - 1.4/4 vs. 1.2/4). "Fresh Off the Boat" was Tuesday's No. 3 comedy, outdelivering both of Fox's sitcoms in viewers and young adults.

At 9:30 p.m., ABC's "The Real O'Neals" built on its most recent original in Total Viewers (+6% - 3.3 million vs. 3.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (+11% - 1.0/3 vs. 0.9/3), marking its strongest performance in 5 weeks - since 11/29/16.

Wednesday

With the return of its 8:00-10:00 p.m. comedies to original for the first time in 3 weeks and the season premiere of "Match Game" at 10:00 p.m., ABC won the opening Wednesday of 2017 in Adults 18-49 (1.7/6), beating FOX with "Lethal Weapon"/"Star" by 13% (1.5/5) and first-run lineups on NBC by 31% (1.3/5) and on CBS by 42% (1.2/4). The Net delivered Wednesday's Top 4 TV shows in the key young adult sales demo with "Modern Family" (2.4/8), "The Goldbergs" (1.9/7), "Speechless" (1.7/6) and "black-ish" (1.7/6), respectively. "Modern Family" was the most watched TV show overall on the night (7.5 million). In addition, ABC's comedies ranked No. 1 in each half-hour of the 2-hour block in Adults 18-49.

Season to date, ABC is up on Wednesday in viewers, young adults and by double digits across all key Men demos: Total Viewers (+16%), Adults 18-49 (+4%), Men 18-34 (+17%), Men 18-49 (+15%) and Men 25-54 (+16%). In fact, ABC is delivering a 5-year high on the night in Total Viewers and matching 5-year highs with Men 18-49 and Men 25-54 - since Fall 2011.

At 8:00 p.m., ABC's "The Goldbergs" increased from its last original in Total Viewers (+8% - 6.7 million vs. 6.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (+12% - 1.9/7 vs. 1.7/7) with its most watched telecast since its season premiere and a 7-week high in young adults - since 9/21/16 and 11/16/16, respectively.

At 8:30 p.m., ABC's "Speechless" rose from its most recent original in Total Viewers (+4% - 5.7 million vs. 5.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (+6% - 1.7/6 vs. 1.6/6) to deliver its best numbers in 6 weeks - since 11/16/16.

At 9:00 p.m., ABC's "Modern Family" gained over its last original in Total Viewers (+12% - 7.6 million vs. 6.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (+20% - 2.4/8 vs. 2.0/7) to mark best-since-premiere numbers - since 9/21/16.

In the 9:30 p.m. half-hour, ABC's "black-ish" built on its most recent original in Total Viewers (+5% - 5.8 million vs. 5.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (+6% - 1.7/6 vs. 1.6/5) to deliver 12-week highs - since 10/12/16.

At 10:00 p.m., ABC's 2nd season premiere of "Match Game" spiked 44% from its season 1 finale in Adults 18-49 (1.3/5 vs. 0.9/3 on 9/1916) to earn its 2nd-highest-ever rating, behind only its first season debut in June (on 6/26/16).

Thursday

"The Great American Baking Show" (8:00-9:00 p.m. - 5.0 million and 1.0/4 in AD18-49):
From 8:00-9:00 p.m., ABC's "The Great American Baking Show" rose for its 2nd straight original telecast, gaining 28% in Total Viewers (5.0 million vs. 3.9 million) and 11% in Adults 18-49 (1.0/4 vs. 0.9/3), drawing its most watched telecast ever and tying a season high in young adults.
"Truth and Lies: The Menendez Brothers" (9:00-11:00 p.m. - 7.1 million and 1.7/6 in AD18-49):
Spiking over its lead-in against all-original competition at 9:00 p.m., the ABC documentary special "Truth and Lies: The Menendez Brothers" won its 2-hour time period, beating its nearest competition (CBS) by 9% in Total Viewers (7.1 million vs. 6.5 million), by 42% in Adults 18-49 (1.7/6 vs. 1.2/4) and by 22% in Adults 25-54 (2.2/7 vs. 1.8/5). The special was Thursday's No. 2 most social broadcast, behind only CBS' top-rated "The Big Bang Theory" (45,180 vs. 46,742).

"Truth and Lies: The Menendez Brothers" drew ABC's biggest audience to the 2-hour time period in over 1 year with non-sports programming - since New Year's Eve 2015. In addition, it delivered the Net's best non-sports performance in the slot in nearly 1 year with Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 - since 2/11/16.

Friday

With its Friday lineup returning to all originals for the first time in 1 month (since 12/9/16), ABC ranked No. 1 on the night in Adults 18-49 (1.3/5), tying CBS and beating NBC with the debut of "Emerald City" by 30% (1.0/4). ABC delivered the Top 3 TV shows of the night in Adults 18-49 with "Last Man Standing" at No. 1 (1.5/6), SHARK TANK at No. 2 (1.4/5) and 20/20 at No. 3 (1.3/5-tie). As all 4 of its series on the night surged to their best numbers this season, the Net earned new Friday season highs in viewers and young adults.

At 8:00 p.m., ABC's "Last Man Standing" grew from its most recent original telecast (on 12/16/16) with Total Viewers (+15% - 7.8 million vs. 6.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (+25% - 1.5/6 vs. 1.2/5), setting new season highs on both counts and its best performance in exactly 2 years- since 1/9/15.

At 8:30 p.m., ABC's "Dr. Ken" was up from its last original (on 12/16/16) in Total Viewers (+22% - 5.5 million vs. 4.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (+22% - 1.1/4 vs. 0.9/3), scoring new season bests on both Nielsen measures. "Dr. Ken" earned its best Adult 18-49 rating since early-March in Adults 18-49 - since 3/4/16.

From 9:00-10:00 p.m., ABC's "Shark Tank" won its slot in Adults 18-49 by 8% over its nearest competition (1.4/5 vs. 1.3/4 - CBS' "Hawaii Five-0"). "Shark Tank" spiked over its last original three weeks ago (on 12/9/16) by 18% in Total Viewers (5.8 million vs. 4.9 million) and by 40% in Adults 19-49 (1.4/5 vs. 1.0/4), scoring new season highs on both counts. "Shark Tank" posted its top Adult 18-49 rating since last April - since 4/29/16.

At 10:00 p.m., ABC's "20/20" shot up week to week in Total Viewers (+22% - 6.2 million vs. 5.1 million), Adults 18-49 (+63% - 1.3/5 vs. 0.8/3) and Adults 25-54 (+73% - 1.9/6 vs. 1.1/4). In fact, the ABC newsmagazine jumped to new season highs in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 with its strongest ratings in nearly 1 year- since 2/19/16 and 2/12/16, respectively. "20/20" reported on former members of the Church of Scientology, including those who are crusading against it and others who still practice outside the Church.

Sunday

Opposite Sunday's "Golden Globe Awards" broadcast and NFL-fueled competition on Fox, ABC's back-to-back episodes of "To Tell the Truth" from 8:00-10:00 p.m. and "Conviction" at 10:00 p.m. grew week to week.

Building on its lead-in at 8:00 p.m., ABC's time-period premiere of "To Tell the Truth" grew over last week's "The Bachelor" special in the hour by 48% in Total Viewers (4.6 million vs. 3.1 million) and by 25% in Adults 18-49 (1.0/3 vs. 0.8/3). In addition, the ABC game show greatly improved its hour for ABC from the year-ago night against the "Golden Globes" ("Galavant" = 2.4 million and 0.6/2 on 1/10/16), by 92% in viewers and by 67% in young adults.

Holding steady at 9:00 p.m. in young adults, ABC's second episode of "To Tell the Truth" was up from its own performance in the same hour last Sunday by 16% in Total Viewers (4.3 million vs. 3.7 million) and by 43% in Adults 18-49 (1.0/3 vs. 0.7/2).

At 10:00 p.m. opposite the final hour of the "Golden Globes," ABC's "Conviction" built by double digits week to week in Total Viewers (+29% - 2.7 million vs. 2.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (+25% - 0.5/2 vs. 0.4/1).

WEEK NO. 16: ADULTS 18-49 TOTAL VIEWERS
No.1 NBC 2.8 No.1 NBC 10,320,000
No.2 FOX 1.9 No.2 CBS 7,920,000
No.3 ABC 1.3 No.3 FOX 6,120,000
No.4 CBS 1.2 No.4 ABC 5,150,000
No.5 CW 0.2 No.5 CW 750,000

Source: The Nielsen Company, National Live+ Same Day Program Ratings for week of 1/2/17.

Image courtesy of NBC.

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