NIGHLINE Hits #1 In Fourth Quarter For First Time

For the just-completed 4th Quarter, ABC News' "Nightline" ranked No. 1 among Total Viewers (3.93 million) and Adults 25-54 (1.61 million), beating NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman," according to Nielsen Media Research. This represents the first-time ever that "Nightline" outperformed its late-night rivals in Total Viewers during a 4th quarter. In addition, "Nightline" topped both the "Tonight Show" and the "Late Show" in the key Adults 25-54 news demo for the first-time-ever during the course of a quarter.

"Nightline" drew its largest Total Viewer audience during a quarter in one year (since 4Q09) and biggest Adults 25-54 audience in seven quarters (since 1Q09). "Nightline" defeated CBS' "Late Show" during the 4th quarter in Total Viewers (330,000), Adults 25-54 (40,000) and Adults 18-49 (100,000), marking the 3rd consecutive quarter that "Nightline" bettered "Letterman" across all three measures.

"Nightline" delivered double-digit increases over the previous quarter across all three measures: Total Viewers (+16%), Adults 25-54 (+15%) and Adults 18-49 (+14%).

Season-to-date, "Nightline" ranks first among Total Viewers and A25-54. This is the first time "Nightline" has been in first place at this point in the season since at least the 1993-94 season, when "Letterman" began on CBS.

ABC News' "Nightline" is anchored by Cynthia McFadden, Terry Moran and Bill Weir. John Donvan and Vicki Mabrey are correspondents. James Goldston is the executive producer. The program airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m., ET on the ABC Television Network.

(4th Quarter, 2010)

TOTAL VIEWERS A25-54(000)/ Rtg A18-49(000)/ Rtg

ABC "Nightline" 3,930,000 1,610,000/ 1.3 1,270,000/ 1.0

CBS "Late Show" 3,600,000 1,570,000/ 1.3 1,170,000/ 0.9

NBC "Tonight" 3,880,000 1,590,000/ 1.3 1,290,000/ 1.0

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 & Adults 18-49 Live+SD weeks of 12/20/10. Live+7 (where available) & Live+SD for 9/20/10 - 12/24/10. 4Q10: 9/20 - 12/26/10. 3Q10: 6/28 - 9/19/10.