Overall: During the week of 10/21/13, ABC delivered 4 of the Top 10 non-sports broadcast programs in Adults 18-49: Modern Family – #4, Scandal – #8, Grey’s Anatomy – #9 and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – #10. Additionally, ABC’s DWTS (#5), Castle (#12) and Modern Family (#15) each placed among the Top 15 most-watched non-sports telecasts. ABC’s 20/20 was the week’s #1 newsmagazine in Adults 18-49, drawing its biggest overall audience in more than 1-1/2 years – since March 2012.
Season-to-Date Live + 7 Day Ratings: On average, ABC ranks #1 this season in the non-sports Adult 18-49 L+7 ratings, beating NBC, CBS and Fox. In fact, the Net claims 5 of the Top 10 biggest broadcast gainers in Adults 18-49 from L+SD to L+7: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (+2.2 rating points), Modern Family (+2.0 rating points), Grey’s Anatomy (+1.7 rating points), Scandal (+1.4 rating points) and Nashville (+1.3 rating points). The biggest gainer among freshman series, ABC’s S.H.I.E.L.D. stands as both the season’s #1 new show as well as the top-rated broadcast drama with a 5.8 Live + 7 Day rating.
Monday: ABC paced within 100k viewers of tying NBC for the viewership lead on Monday and delivered its most competitive finish this season. The Net topped CBS by 5.7 million viewers and Fox by 7.1 million viewers. In addition, ABC outdelivered Fox on the night by 19% in Adults 18-49. ABC’s Dancing with the Stars was the 2nd-most-watched show on Monday, coming within 2% of NBC’s The Voice on the night to mark its closest finish this season. Also in its time period, Dancing outdrew CBS’ 2-hour comedy block by 5.8 million viewers. No celebrity was eliminated this week. ABC’s DWTS grew its overall audience by 3% week to week to deliver its most-watched telecast in 4 weeks – since 9/23/13. Ranking as the most-watched series during the 10 o’clock hour, Castle drew a larger audience than NBC’s Blacklist for the 2nd week in a row to stand as Monday’s #1 scripted program.
Tuesday: ABC’s Tuesday lineup was up week to week in Adults 18-49 (+13%) and beat Fox on the night by 20%. ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. earned a strong second place in the 8 o’clock hour with Adults 18-49 to CBS’ NCIS, beating NBC’s The Biggest Loser by 35% and Fox’s comedies by 80%. It was once again the #2 scripted TV show on Tuesday in Adults 18-49. The ABC drama continued to win its hour with key Men (M18-34/M18-49) to rank as Tuesday’s #1 TV show for the 5th week in a row in Men 18-49. S.H.I.E.L.D. held 96% of its week-ago Adult 18-49 number and 100% in Men 18-49, while growing 6% with Men 25-54. At 9pm, The Goldbergs was up week to week by 2% in Total Viewers and 6% in Adults 18-49. Outdrawing Fox’s New Girl the half-hour by 1.5 million viewers and running in a virtual-tie with Adults 18-49 (pacing within 1-tenth of a rating point and tied in audience share), The Goldbergs was Tuesday’s most-watched comedy for the 5th straight week. Holding better than 90% retention week to week in viewers (98%) and young adults (92%), ABC’s Trophy Wife was Tuesday’s 2nd-most-watched comedy, behind only The Golbergs, topping all 4 of Fox’s comedies on the evening for its 5th consecutive telecast. At 10pm, ABC’s encore Shark Tank improved the hour week to week in viewers (+27%) and young adults (+83%).
Wednesday: Up against Fox’s World Series Game 1, ABC delivered the #1 entertainment program on Wednesday in Adults 18-49, with Modern Family holding the top series position on the night for the 5th straight week this season. With TV playback included, the ABC comedy will move well ahead of the World Series as the night’s #1 TV program. At 8pm, ABC’s The Middle returned after the prior week’s pre-emption up in Total Viewers and holding 100% of its two-week ago Adult 18-49 rating, while hitting a season-high with Kids 2-11. The Middle’s 100th episode beat CBS’ Survivor in the half-hour with Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34. In the 8:30pm half-hour, ABC’s Back in the Game continued to outdeliver NBC’s Revolution by wide margins, beating the sophomore drama by 1.3 million viewers and by 31% in Adults 18-49. More than doubling its Adult 18-49 lead-in (+129%) at 9pm, ABC’s Modern Family dominated its entertainment competition in the half-hour, beating CBS’ Criminal Minds by 44% and NBC’s L&O: SVU by 179%. The ABC comedy topped the half-hour to stand as the night’s #1 TV show across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). In the 9:30pm half-hour, ABC’s Super Fun Night was even week to week in Adults 18-49 and was up in Adults 18-34 (+6%). The freshman ABC comedy was the #1 series in the half-hour with Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34. At 10pm, ABC’s Nashville held steady week to week in Adults 18-49 and grew 8% in Adults 18-34. In addition for the 5th week in a row, Nashville beat out CBS’ CSI in the hour with Women 18-34. On average, Nashville gets a much bigger lift than CSI in the Live +7 Day Adult 18-49 ratings (+60% vs. +48%) and leads the CBS drama in the final playback data for the season at a 3.2 rating (vs. a 3.1 rating).
Thursday: Despite facing the World Series Game 2 on the night, ABC was up over the year-ago Thursday for the 4th week in a row in Adults 18-49 (+10%). Outside of Fox, it was the only network up year to year on the night. In Adults 18-49, ABC’s Scandal was Thursday’s #2 TV series for the 3rd week running (behind only CBS’ The Big Bang Theory). During the 8 o’clock hour, ABC’s Once Upon a Time in Wonderland paced within 1-tenth of an Adult 18-49 rating point week to week and delivered 100% retention of the prior week’s telecast with Adults 18-34, Women 18-34 and Adults 25-54. The show spiked 50% week to week with Kids 2-11. During the 9 o’clock hour, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy dominated its non-sports competition in Adults 18-49, leading CBS’ comedies by 22% (The Crazy Ones/Two and a Half Men) and continued to more than double NBC’s comedies (+133% over Sean Saves the World/The Michael J Fox Show). Grey’s Anatomy was up week to week in Adults 18-49 (+4%) and Adults 18-34 (+14%) to deliver 3-week highs. Building on its Grey’s lead-in for the 4th consecutive week in Adults 18-49 (+4%) at 10pm, ABC’s Scandal beat CBS’ Elementary by 61% and once again more than doubled NBC’s Parenthood (+123%) in the hour. Scandal was up by wide margins over its year-ago telecast against the World Series, surging by 42% in Total Viewers and by 45% in Adults 18-49. Scandal was also Thursday’s #1 most social TV series with 203,968 tweets.
Friday: With repeat comedies from 8-9pm, Shark Tank and 20/20, ABC took second on Friday night, beating CBS’ all-original line up by 7% and Fox by 36%. The Net also took second on the night in Total Viewers, outdrawing NBC’s premiere lineup by 5%. ABC’s Shark Tank equaled a season high and was Friday’s #1 TV program for the 6th week running in Adults 18-49, outdelivering NBC’s season premiere of Grimm by 11% and the series debut of Dracula by 11%. With its most-watched telecast since March 2012 and hitting a season high in the key news demo, ABC’s 20/20 stood as the night’s #1 newsmagazine, outdelivering NBC’s Dateline in Total Viewers (+8%), Adults 18-49 (+15%) and Adults 25-54 (+17%). Nearly tripling its repeat The Neighbors lead-in at 9pm in Adults 18-49 (+186%), ABC’s Shark Tank won its hour by double-digit margins over NBC’s premiere of Grimm (+11%) and CBS’ Hawaii Five-0 (+43%). The ABC unscripted series drew its biggest audience ever for a regular telecast and matched a season best in Adults 18-49. Shark Tank was up over the same night last year by 9% in Total Viewers and by 11% in Adults 18-49. During the 10pm hour, ABC’s 20/20 shot up week to week in Total Viewers (+43%), Adults 18-49 (+25%) and Adults 25-54 (+31%). The ABC newsmagazine drew its biggest audience in over 1-1/2 years (since 3/30/12) and hit a season high with Adults 25-54.
Sunday: Opposite a night of big professional sports competition from Fox’s World Series Game 4 and NBC’s Sunday Night Football, ABC’s Sunday lineup gained 7% week to week in Adults 18-49 to match a 3-week high. And despite the heightened competition, each of the Net’s Sunday series were up or held even week to week. In the 7 o’clock hour, America’s Funniest Home Videos was up 27% over the prior week in Adults 18-49 to deliver a season high. Sunday’s top-rated broadcast drama, ABC’s Once Upon a Time, spiked over its Adult 18-49 lead-in at 8pm (+57%) and defeated its non-sports competition on CBS by 22% (Amazing Race). Once Upon a Time continued to rank as the #1 most social broadcast series of the evening with 63,878 tweets, up 48% from the prior week. The ABC drama was up 5% week to week in Adults 18-49. During the 9 o’clock hour, ABC’s Revenge defeated its CBS drama competition by 25% (The Good Wife) in Adults 18-34. Revenge held steady with the prior week in Adults 18-34. During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Betrayal held even week to week with Adults 18-49.
