During the week of July 9, 2012, ABC was up week to week by 3% in Total Viewers and by 7% in Adults 18-49 to deliver its best performance in late-night in 3 weeks – since the week of 6/18/12. In addition, ABC posted double-digit gains over the year-ago week in both viewers (+16%) and young adults (+15%), qualifying as the only broadcaster to see year-to-year increases in either Nielsen measure (CBS was down -2%/-6, respectively; NBC was down -10%/-21%, respectively). ABC outdrew CBS by 29% and NBC by 4% to rank as late-night’s most-watched network for the 2nd week in a row. In fact, ABC has ranked as the #1 network in Total Viewers in 23 of the 43 weeks of the season – more than CBS (14) and NBC (6) combined. ABC outdelivered CBS by 33% and NBC by 5% to qualify as the top-rated network in late-night among Adults 18-49 for the 22nd time this season, marking the most number of wins in late-night. Together, Nightline and Jimmy Kimmel Live form ABC’s winning late-night strategy of airing news and entertainment programming.
For the week, ABC’s Nightline ranked as the #1 program in late-night across all key target demos: Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49. Nightline has ranked as the #1 late-night program in all 3 demos in 14 of the last 16 weeks. Nightline posted across-the-board week-to-week increases: Total Viewers (+3%), Adults 25-54 (+5%) and Adults 18-49 (+4%), drawing its largest overall audience in 4 weeks – since w/o 6/11/12. Nightline has taken the #1 position in 30 weeks in Total Viewers, 34 weeks in Adults 25-54 and 33 weeks in Adults 18-49 of the 43 weeks of the season to date. Nightline’s Friday broadcast (7/13/12) stood as late-night’s most-watched telecast of the week. Season to date, Nightline ranks #1 in late-night among Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, ahead of both NBC’s The Tonight Show and CBS’ The Late Show. This marks the 2nd straight season that the ABC program is taking the top spot in overall viewers and the key adult news demo.
During the week, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live grew over its most recent week of originals in both Total Viewers (+2%) and Adults 18-49 (+3%). Despite its later time period, ABC’s JKL (M-F 12am) topped CBS’ The Late Show with David Letterman (M-F 11:35pm) by 4% in Adults 18-34. ABC’s JKL beat NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (M-F 12:35am) in 3 of JKL’s 4 original telecasts of the week in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, holding double-digit advantages over the NBC program among young adults: Monday (+6%/+10%), Tuesday (+7%/+14%) and Wednesday (+16%/+11%).
(source: ABC)
