Overall: ABC won the week in Adults 18-49, beating Fox by 7%, CBS by 25% and NBC by 36%. In addition, the Net ranked #1 for the 4th straight week with Women 18-49. ABC’s season finale of The Bachelorette and The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose tied as the week’s #1 TV show with Adults 18-49. Among Adults 18-49 and Total Viewers, the Net claimed 3 of the Top 10 television programs: The Bachelorette SP-7/22 (#1/# 3), The Bachelorette: After Rose (#1/#4) and The Bachelorette (#9/#9). For the 3rd week running, ABC’s 20/20 stood as the week’s #1 newsmagazine in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54. In fact among Adults 18-49, the Net delivered the Top 3 newsmags with 20/20-FRI, 20/20-FRIDAY and NY Med. Growing year to year in Total Viewers (+4%) and Adults 18-49 (+15%), ABC was the only net to improve over the same week last year in the key young adult sales demo. Spiking 15% week to week in Adults 18-49, ABC marked its best non-NBA summer week in 2 years – since w/o 8/2/10.
Monday: With its lineup of The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All and The Glass House, ABC finished second on the night, beating NBC (including originals of Fear Factor and American Ninja Warrior) by 50% in Total Viewers and by 29% in Adults 18-49. ABC’s The Bachelorette: The Men Tell won its 2-hour time period, beating Fox’s unscripted lineup (Hell’s Kitchen/MasterChef), to stand as Monday’s #1 TV show in Total Viewers for the 2nd week in a row. Additionally, for the 9th consecutive week, the ABC unscripted series won its slot across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54), while ranking as Monday’s #1 TV show for the 6th week in a row with Women 18-49 and Women 25-54. The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All surged from its year-ago telecast by 1.6 million viewers and by 29% in Adults 18-49.
Tuesday: ABC’s Final Witness stood as the #1 program in the 10 o’clock hour on the major networks among Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49. The new ABC series delivered double digit-growth week to week in Adults 25-54 (+14%) and grew for the 2nd straight regular telecast among Adults 18-49 (+9%) to hit series-highs on both Nielsen measures. Final Witness greatly improved over original series programming in the time slot on the year-ago night (Primetime Nightline: Beyond Belief on 7/20/11) by 34% in Total Viewers, 33% in Adults 25-54 and 33% in Adults 18-49. In fact, the show matched ABC’s strongest performance in the hour so far this summer with both Adult demos.
Wednesday: ABC’s NY Med retained 100% of its week-ago series debut in Adults 18-49 and 94% among Adults 25-54. From 10-11pm, NY Med built by 9% in Total Viewers, by 18% in Adults 18-49 and by 13% in Adults 25-54 from its first half-hour to its second. In fact, as the new ABC series grew its overall audience from start to finish for the 2nd week in a row, both CBS and NBC lost audience across the hour. NY Med built sharply on its lead-in among both Total Viewers (+2.3 million) and Adults 25-54 (+60%). The freshman series continued to generate enormous time-period gains for ABC, leaping over the year-ago night (Combat Hospital) in viewers (+29%), Adults 18-49 (+50%) and Adults 25-54 (+45%).
Thursday: ABC ranked as the 2nd-most-watched net on Thursday night to a Big Brother-boosted CBS. In addition, among Adults 18-49, ABC defeated Fox by 18% and more than doubled NBC (+117%). At 8pm, the season finale of ABC’s Duets finished second in the hour among Total Viewers, outdrawing Fox’s unscripted series, Take Me Out, by 1.4 million viewers. Surging over its lead-in by double-digit margins in Total Viewers (+16%) and Adults 18-49 (+70%), ABC’s Wipeout ranked as the #2 program on the major nets in the 9pm hour to CBS’ Big Brother 14. The broad-appealing series ranked #1 versus its network rivals in the time-slot in Teens 12-17, while finishing as Thursday’s top-rated broadcast program in Kids 2-11 Wipeout easily defeated NBC’s original summer drama in the hour, beating Saving Hope by 2.2 million viewers and 240% in Adults 18-49. Wipeout grew from its first half-hour to its second half-hour by 12% in viewers and by 13% among young adults. At 10 o’clock, ABC’s Rookie Blue ranked #1 among Adults 25-54 and also beat its CBS and NBC time period competition in Adults 18-49. The ABC drama grew week to week by 6% in Total Viewers, by 17% in Adults 18-49 and by 13% in Adults 25-54. In fact, Rookie Blue matched its best Adult 18-49 rating in over 1 year – since 7/7/11.
Friday: ABC ranked #1 among the major nets on Friday night in Adults 18-49, beating CBS (with an original 48 Hours Mystery) by 50% and NBC (with a 2-hour Dateline) by 33%. ABC was up over the same night a year-ago by 5% in Total Viewers and by 9% with young adults. An encore telecast of ABC’s Shark Tank finished as the 2nd-most watched program in the 8 o’clock hour, behind CBS’ original 48 Hours: Tragedy in Aurora, and ranked #1 versus its network rivals in the slot among Adults 18-49, tying the CBS newsmagazine. At 9pm, ABC’s 20/20-FRIDAY led the pack among key Adult demos (A18-49/A25-54) for the 3rd week in a row, beating the first hour of NBC’s Dateline by 7% among Adults 25-54 and by 9% with Adults 18-49. Anchored by Deborah Roberts, ABC’s 20/20 looked at crazy behavior captured on camera. From 10-11pm, ABC’s 20/20 finished #1 among the major networks in both Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49. The ABC newsmagazine was up over its year-ago telecast in the 10pm hour for the 3rd straight week in Total Viewers (+5%) and the 2nd consecutive week in Adults 25-54 (+13%) and Adults 18-49 (+8%). Chris Cuomo anchored a special live edition of ABC’s 20/20 from Aurora, Colorado with breaking news coverage of the mass shooting in a local movie theater.
Sunday: Featuring the season finale of The Bachelorette and the After the Final Rose special, ABC overshadowed Sunday night, beating out its nearest competition (CBS) by 54% in Total Viewers and by 117% in Adults 18-49 (#1 in all 8 half hours of prime). It was ABC’s 3rd straight Sunday to lead in the key young adult sales demo. ABC’s The Bachelorette and The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose special stood as Sunday’s Top 2 TV programs with viewers and young adults. Hitting summer highs in viewers and young adults, ABC’s encore America’s Funniest Home Videos won the 7 o’clock hour for the 2nd week in a row with Adults 18-49. Jumping over its lead-in at 8pm and gaining audience throughout its more than 2-hour broadcast, The Bachelorette season closer dominated its time period with season highs, soaring over its most-recent telecast last Monday by 1.7 million viewers and by 41% in Adults 18-49. It was Sunday’s most-watched TV show overall. Head to head from 8-10pm, ABC’s The Bachelorette tripled Fox’s Teen Choice 2012 in Total Viewers (+197%) and Adults 18-49 (+210%). The Bachelorette was up over its year-ago finale (on 8/1/11) by 11% in Adults 18-49. In viewers and young adults, The Bachelorette generated ABC’s biggest summertime (Memorial Day-Labor Day) entertainment numbers in the time period in almost 6 years – since 8/27/06. Towering over the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose outdelivered its combined CBS and NBC competition by 1.7 million viewers and by 94% with young adults. The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose tied The Bachelorette finale as Sunday’s #1 TV show with young adults. The special grew year to year by double digits in Adults 18-49 (+11%).
