THE BACHELOR Premieres with Strong Ratings for ABC

On the New Year's holiday Monday with the season opener of THE BACHELOR and a special preview of Celebrity Wife Swap, ABC earned a solid second place to CBS' original lineup, beating out NBC's original schedule by wide margins with Total Viewers (+41%) and Adults 18-49 (+41%). ABC finished #1 on the night among Women 18-34.

ABC's season opener of The Bachelor from 8-10pm ranked a competitive #2 to CBS' first-run comedy block in viewers and young adults. The Bachelor took full control of NBC's unscripted programming (Who's Still Standing?/Fear Factor) during the 2-hour time period, leading by 2.0 million viewers and by 26% in Adults 18-49. The Bachelor ranked #1 in its slot among its core audience of Women 18-34.

· The veteran ABC unscripted series gained audience from its first hour to its second hour, beating NBC's Fear Factor during the 9pm hour in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

· In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, The Bachelor generated ABC's strongest performance in the 2-hour time period in 6 weeks - since 11/21/11. Additionally, the show posted the Net's best Women 18-34 number in the slot since mid-October, representing its 2nd-highest number since season-premiere Monday - since 10/17/11 and 9/19/11, respectively.

Holding 100% of its Adult 18-49 lead-in during the 10 o'clock hour, a preview airing of ABC's Celebrity Wife Swap the night before its debut earned a solid second place to CBS' original Hawaii Five-0, dominating NBC's Rock Center with BrIan Williams with viewers (+66%) and young adults (+100%). In fact the new ABC series won the hour, beating time period veteran Hawaii Five-0 among Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34. Please Note: ABC's Celebrity Wife Swap debuts in its regular time period tonight from 9-10pm.

· In addition to retaining all of its Adult 18-49 lead-in, Celebrity Wife Swap built on its lead-in across all key Men demos (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54).

· The Celebrity Wife Swap preview produced ABC's top Adult 18-34 and Women 18-34 numbers in the hour since September - since 9/26/11 and 9/19/11. In addition, the show improved its time period year to year with Adults 18-34 and key Women (W18-34/W18-49).

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