The competition grew tougher than ever this week on “Dancing with the Stars,” when the five remaining couples performed two individual dances for the first time. In the Latin round, each couple was asked to perform to a randomly chosen theme from an era in time.
ABC is No. 1 in Viewers on the Night for the 8th Week in a Row, While Standing as the Most-Watched Net for the 2nd Straight Monday in May. ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” Leads its Time Slot and Stands as Monday’s Most-Watched Television Series for the 8th Consecutive Week.
“Castle” is No. 1 at 10pm in Viewers for the 6th Time in 8 Weeks, Topping its Year-Ago Finale by 1.4 Million Viewers and by 8% in Adults 18-49.
Monday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC was most-watched TV network for the 2nd straight Monday of the May Sweep (16.5 million), ranking No. 1 on the evening for the 8th consecutive week. The Net earned a strong second during prime in Adults 18-49 to CBS (tied in audience share – 3.6/10 vs. 3.8/10), beating Fox by 16% (3.1/9) and NBC by 125% (1.6/4). ABC was up week to week in viewers and young adults, while building its overall audience from the year-ago Monday for the 7th time in 8 weeks.
“Dancing with the Stars” (8:00-10:00 p.m.)
ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” took first place in its time period and qualified as Monday’s most-watched television series (19.0 million) for the 8th week in a row. Opposite stiff original sweep competition from 8:00 – 10:00 p.m. on CBS (“How I Met Your Mother”/”Rules of Engagement”/”Two and a Half Men”/”Big Bang Theory”) and Fox (“House”/”24”), the ABC unscripted series grew in each half-hour, gaining 3.3 million viewers (16.9 million to 20.2 million) and 29% in Adults 18-49 (3.4/10 to 4.4/11) from start to finish.
“Castle” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC’s “Castle” ranked No. 1 at 10:00 p.m. in Total Viewers (11.4 million) and took a strong second in the hour to CBS’ veteran “CSI: Miami” among Adults 18-49 (2.6/7). In fact ABC’s sophomore “Castle” registered as the No. 1 TV show in its hour in Total Viewers for the 6th time in 8 telecasts. “Castle” was up over its Season Finale performance on the year-ago night (5/11/09), when it also had a “DWTS” lead-in, among Total Viewers (+1.4 million – 11.4 million vs. 10.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (+8% – 2.6/7 vs. 2.4/7). The ABC drama pulled in its biggest audience in 4 weeks – since 4/12/10.
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 36% currently, from 31% 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: ABC – Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate Ratings, Live + Same Day Program Ratings), 5/10/10)
