Overall: Growing its overall audience year to year, ABC earned second place during the week of 10/4/10, beating out both NBC and Fox among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. Weekly averages for CBS (nearly 1-hour primetime overrun on Sunday) and NBC (Sunday Night Football) were once again boosted by NFL coverage. For the 3rd straight week this season, the Net ranked #1 among Women 18-34. ABC claimed the highest-rated scripted TV shows during the week, as Grey’s Anatomy and Modern Family tied with Fox’s Glee as the #1 television series in Adults 18-49. Please note that based on the first round of Live + 7 Day ratings for the new season, both Grey’s (+1.4 rating point gain) and Modern Family (+1.3 rating point gain) delivered bigger increases in the finalized DVR playback than Glee (+1.0 rating point gain). ABC once again delivered more Top 10 TV shows than any other network, placing 4 of the weekly Top 10 in Adults 18-49: Modern Family and Grey’s Anatomy tied at #3 (tied as the #1 scripted shows), Dancing with the Stars – No. 7 (#1 unscripted series for the 3rd straight week) and Desperate Housewives – #10. For the 3rd consecutive week this season, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars qualified as America’s most-watched TV show overall. Gaining 5% year over year, ABC stood as the only major network to build its overall audience from the same week last year, while CBS, NBC and Fox were each down.
Monday: ABC stood as Monday’s most-watched network for the3 rd consecutive week this season. During prime, ABC outperformed CBS by 5.5 million viewers and by 3% in Adults 18-49. Improving on its Monday results year to year for the 3rd week in a row, ABC was up over the same night last season (10/5/09) by 2.8 million viewers and by 23% in Adults 18-49. ABC’s Dancing with the Stars led its 2-hour time-slot for the 3rd week running with Total Viewers and across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). DWTS outperformed CBS’ original comedy block by 9.0 million viewers and by 16% in Adults 18-49. Season to date, DWTS improved substantially over its year-ago averages by 3.7 million viewers and by 24% among Adults 18-49. Castle defeated NBC’s Chase by its largest margins yet in both Total Viewers (+5.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (+53%). ABC’s Castle beat CBS’ high-profile reboot, Hawaii Five-0, among Women 18-34 (+8%) for the 3rd time in 3 weeks. Castle was up sharply over its performance on the same night last year for the 3rd straight telecast, surging by 1.6 million viewers and by 18% in Adults 18-49. In fact on average, Castle is up over the same point last season by 1.7 million viewers and by 17% in Adults 18-49.
Tuesday: With its new Tuesday line up, ABC posted substantial year-to-year gains for the 2nd consecutive week, jumping over the year-ago night (10/6/09) by 2.8 million viewers and by 30% in Adults 18-49. In Tuesday’s 8 o’clock hour, arguably one of the most competitive time periods on TV this season (opposite Fox’s Glee, CBS’ NCIS and NBC’s The Biggest Loser), ABC’s No Ordinary Family exhibited solid retention of its week-earlier premiere, while continuing to grow its audience throughout its broadcast and deliver big year-over-year time period growth for ABC. In the opening hour of the evening, ABC freshman No Ordinary Family beat out NBC’s time-period established The Biggest Loser by 2.5 million viewers and by 17% in Adults 18-49. Building audience throughout its telecast, No Ordinary Family picked up 9% in Total Viewers and 12% in Adults 18-49 from its first half-hour to its second half-hour. No Ordinary Family dramatically improved the time period for ABC over the year-ago, boosting the hour by +73% in Total Viewers and by +80% in Adults 18-49. Increasing from its lead-in and building audience throughout its telecast against stiff competition (CBS’ NCIS: LA, NBC’s second hour of The Biggest Loser and Fox’s Glee-driven comedies Raising Hope/Running Wilde), ABC’s Dancing with the Stars: The Results stood as the most-watched TV show in the 9 o’clock hour for the 3rd week in a row. DWTS: The Results overshadowed its unscripted competition in the time period, besting The Biggest Loser by 9.5 million viewers and by 22% in Adults 18-49. Comedian Margaret Cho was the third celebrity to leave the dance competition this season. The ABC dancing results show surged over its year-ago performance by 4.3 million viewers and by 27% in Adults 18-49. Opposite CBS’ sophomore drama The Good Wife, ABC’s freshman Detroit 1-8-7 ranked as the 2nd-most-watched TV show in the 10 o’clock hour, outdrawing NBC’s sophomore Parenthood for the 3rd consecutive week (+50% advantage). The new ABC drama also finished #2 in the hour for the 3rd week running with Adults 25-54, defeating NBC’s Parenthood by 9%. Detroit 1-8-7 once again drew more viewers to ABC in the 10pm hour over the year-ago night, growing the time slot year to year.
Wednesday: Producing improved year-to-year returns, ABC was up over the same Wednesday last year (10/6/09) by 6% in Total Viewers and by 9% in Adults 18-49. The Net was also up 4% over the prior week among Adults 18-49. Leading off the night, ABC’s The Middle opened as the 2nd-most-watched TV show in the 8pm half-hour to CBS’ Survivor: Nicaragua, attracting 27% more viewers than NBC’s Undercovers and 31% more than Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen. The sophomore comedy generated substantial year-to-year time-period improvement for ABC, growing the half-hour by 1.5 million viewers and by 56% in Adults 18-49, from the same night a year ago. In fact on average, The Middle is improving its new earlier time slot by 14% in Total Viewers and by 32% in Adults 18-49, over the same point last year. The Middle is also trending ahead of its own performance at this point last season (when it aired at 8:30pm) in both viewers (+14%) and young adults (+13%). Growing by 5% week to week and showing impressive lead-in retention for ABC at 8:30pm (92%), Better with You continued to dominate its freshman competition in the half-hour in Adults 18-49, leading NBC’s Undercovers by a best-yet margin of 44% – building steadily from a 19% advantage on Week 1 and a 29% advantage on Week 2. In addition to its strong Adult 18-49 retention, the ABC freshman held all of its Adult 18-34 lead-in and built by 5% with Women 18-34. Year to year, Better with You boosted the half-hour for ABC by 10% in the key young adult sales demo. The comedy equaled series-high ratings with key Men (M18-34/M25-54). Finishing as Wednesday’s dominant #1 TV show for the 3rd consecutive week this season, ABC’s Modern Family once again led its 9pm half-hour by a strong margin, outdelivering second-place CBS’ Criminal Minds by 31% in Adults 18-49. Modern Family built sharply on its year-ago performance, gaining 2.6 million viewers and 35% in Adults 18-49. On average in its sophomore season, Modern Family’s numbers are up over the same point last season by 14% in Total Viewers and by 26% in Adults 18-49. Modern Family posted the series’ 2nd-highest-ever numbers among Adults 18-49 (tie), Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34 (behind only its two-week-ago season premiere). At 9:30pm, Cougar Town built week to week by 7% in Adults 18-49, pulling in the series’ 2nd-highest viewer and young adult numbers since January (behind only its season premiere) – since 1/20/10. The ABC comedy ranked a strong #1 in its time period with Women 18-34, beating its nearest competition by 16% (Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen and L&O: SVU tied). Qualifying as the only new network drama to grow week to week in Wednesday’s 10 o’clock hour, as NBC’s Law & Order: Los Angeles (-25%) and CBS’ The Defenders (-12%) each declined, ABC’s The Whole Truth increased 8% over the prior week in Adults 18-49.
Thursday: Growing its numbers week to week, ABC posted a competitive second-place finish on Thursday in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, closing the gap with CBS on both counts. The Net ranked #1 on the evening for the 3rd week running in Adults 18-34 and key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49). ABC increased its overall audience from the prior Thursday and built 4% with Adults 18-49. Building sharply on its lead-in (+205% in Viewers and +283% in Adults 18-49), self-starter Grey’s Anatomy posted another dominant first-place finish in Thursday’s 9 o’clock hour to stand as the #1 TV show on the night for the 3rd week running in Adults 18-49. Continuing to widen its winning advantage in the time period week to week, Grey’s outdelivered runner-up NBC’s comedies by +53% (The Office/Outsourced), CBS’ CSI by +70% and Fox’s Fringe by +130%. Grey’s also registered as the most-watched TV show overall in its time period. Grey’s was up week to week in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, Women 18-49 and Teens 12-17, while retaining all of its Adult 18-49 audience. In the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Private Practice ran neck-and-neck with CBS’ The Mentalist for first place among Adults 18-49 (pacing within 1-tenth of a rating point of a tie for the lead), while defeating NBC’s The Apprentice by 123%. For the 3rd week in a row, Private Practice towered over The Mentalist with Adults 18-34, topping its CBS drama competition by a season-best 47%. Private Practice increased its numbers over the previous week with Adults 18-49, Adults 25-54 and key Women (W18-49/W25-54).
Friday: Building sharply on its lead-in at 10pm (+77% in Viewers/+100% in AD18-49), ABC News’ 20/20 finished #1 in its time period among Adults 18-49, tying CBS’ Blue Bloods and beating NBC’s Outlaw by 80%. The ABC newsmagazine also delivered a strong first-place rank in the hour among Women 18-34, outdelivering Blue Bloods by 38%, respectively. 20/20 examined the breakout documentary “Catfish,” featuring the exclusive first interview with Angela, the woman at the center of the reality thriller. 20/20 stood as the #2 TV show on the major nets on Friday in Adults 18-49, while qualifying as the night’s #1 show with Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34. The ABC newsmagazine surged week to week by 20% in Total Viewers and by 64% in Adults 18-49, hitting its 2nd-highest number since March with young adults. Additionally, 20/20 equaled its highest ratings in more than 6 months with Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34 – since 3/26/10.
Saturday: With coverage of Saturday Night Football (Florida State at Miami or USC at Stanford), ABC ranked #1 on Saturday against its broadcast rivals in Adults 18-49, outpacing runner-up Fox by 7%.
Sunday: As CBS (overrun during the 7 o’clock hour) and NBC (Sunday Night Football) were driven by the NFL coverage on Sunday night, ABC beat out its non-sports driven competition on Fox in both Total Viewers (+3.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (+8%). Building on its lead-in at 8pm, ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition topped Fox’s animated comedies in the hour by 2.0 million viewers (The Simpsons/Cleveland Show). Against stiff competition on the night, including another big Sunday Night Football contest on NBC (Philadelphia Eagles-San Francisco 49ers), and an NFL primetime overrun-fueled CBS, ABC’s Desperate Housewives registered as Sunday’s #1 entertainment TV show among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. Housewives also finished #1 against its non-sports competition in its 9 o’clock time slot in viewers and young adults. For the 3rd week in a row, Housewives qualified as Sunday’s #1 TV program overall across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). Opposite the conclusion of the NFL game and CBS’ combo of Undercover Boss and CSI: Miami, ABC’s Brothers & Sisters finished as the #1 TV show in the 10 o’clock hour among Women 18-49.
(source; ABC)
