ABC mixes new and old for Friday success

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With a mix of repeat and original programming opposite all first-run competition, ABC finished in a virtual tie for #1 with CBS in Adults 18-49 (pacing within 1-tenth of a rating point), while dominating Fox by 33% and NBC by 45%.  With reports on lotto frenzy, ABC’s 20/20 at 10pm stood as Friday’s #1 TV show in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54.


* The Network matched its top-rated Friday in 6 weeks among Adults 18-49 – since 2/17/12.
* Starting off the night against original unscripted competition, a repeat of ABC’s Shark Tank at 8pm tied Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares and beat NBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? by 50% in Adults 18-49.

* ABC’s Shark Tank turned in its most-watched-ever repeat telecast and equaled an encore high with young adults.

* Building on its lead-in at 9pm, ABC’s Primetime: What Would You Do? ran in a near-tie with CBS’ CSI:NY for first place in the hour among Adults 18-49 (tied in audience share), while beating NBC’s Grimm by 25% and Fox’s Fringe by 25%.  Impressively, the ABC newsmagazine beat out the original dramas on CBS, NBC and Fox in the hour with Adults 18-34.

* Friday’s #1 TV show, ABC’s 20/20 dominated the 10 o’clock hour, outdelivering runner-up CBS’ Blue Bloods by 31% in Adults 18-49 and by 22% in Adults 25-54.  In addition, 20/20 continued to overshadow its newsmagazine competition during the hour, beating NBC’s Dateline by 50% in Total Viewers, by 65% in Adults 25-54 and by 75% in Adults 18-49. ABC’s 20/20, Lotto Frenzy: Be Careful What You Wish For, was anchored by Barbara Walters with reports from Dan Harris, Jay Schadler, John Berman, Nick Watt and Cecilia Vega. 

* Scoring its 3rd straight week of demographic growth, ABC’s 20/20 drew its biggest audience since October and hit its highest numbers in well over 2 years with Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 – since 10/21/11 and 1/8/10, respectively