Overall: During the week of 8/9/10, ABC claimed 4 of the Top 20 primetime TV shows in Adults 18-49, including Wipeout-TUES (#7), Bachelor Pad (#16), Wipeout-THURS (#20) and Dating in the Dark (#20). Wipeout-TUES also finished among the most-watched television series overall for the week (#7). For the 13th week in a row, ABC built its Adult 18-49 audience year to year, rising by 8% over the same frame last summer. On average versus to the same point last year, ABC’s summer numbers have surged by 23% in Total Viewers and by 19% in Adults 18-49. The Net is up by substantial margins this summer in Adults 18-49 on 5 of 7 nights during the week: +17% on Monday, +73% on Tuesday, +87% on Thursday, +33% on Friday and +12% on Sunday. In viewers and young adults, ABC is producing its strongest summertime results in 5 years – since 2005.
Monday: With the series debut of Bachelor Pad and the season premiere of Dating in the Dark, ABC won Monday night in Adults 18-49, beating CBS by 5%, Fox by 40% and NBC by 50%. In fact it was ABC’s 10th straight Monday to deliver the #1 position on the evening in the key young adult sales demo. ABC was up over the same Monday last summer (8/10/09) by 14% in Total Viewers and by 50% in Adults 18-49. The series debut of Bachelor Pad won its 2-hour time period among Adults 18-49, making ABC the #1 network on Monday in the 8-10pm tune period on 11 of 11 weeks this summer. The new summer series gained young adult audience from its first hour to its second hour (+10%). Bachelor Pad dominated its time period and stood as Monday’s #1 TV show among key Women demographics. (W18-34/W18-49). Bachelor Pad posted increases over the Net’s year-ago performance (8/10/10) in the time period by 10% in Total Viewers and by 38% in Adults 18-49. During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Dating in the Dark ranked No. 1 in its second season premiere, besting its CBS and NBC competition by 20% each in Adults 18-49. Dating in the Dark greatly improved the time period for ABC over the same night last year among Total Viewers (+33%) and Adults 18-49 (+80%). The ABC unscripted series was also up from its performance in the 9 o’clock hour on the year-ago night by 6% with young adults.
Tuesday: Posting year-to-year increases on the night for the 5th week running, ABC improved on the year-ago Tuesday (8/11/10) by 26% in Total Viewers and by 50% in Adults 18-49. In fact the Net has been up year to year on Tuesday evening on 10 of 11 weeks this summer. ABC’s Wipeout finished a solid second in the 8 o’clock hour among viewers and young adults, while ranking #1 in the hour among the broadcast networks with Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11. For the 2nd week in a row, Shaq VS delivered substantial year-to-year improvement to its time period, growing by 57% in Total Viewers and by 75% in Adults 18-49 on the year-ago night featuring original programming. Building on its lead-in in both viewers and young adults, ABC News’ repeat airing of Primetime: What Would You Do? took second in the 10 o’clock hour against its CBS and NBC competition among Adults 18-49.
Thursday: The biggest gainer among the networks on Thursday night this summer, ABC’s numbers shot up over the same night last summer (8/13/09) in Total Viewers (+25%) and Adults 18-49 (+36%). The Net marked its 10th straight Thursday of year-to-year primetime gains. Opposite the second hour of Fox’s 2-hour season finale of So You Think You Can Dance, ABC’s Rookie Blue ranked #2 among the major nets with young adults (AD18-34/AD18-49). Rookie Blue delivered impressive year-to-year growth for ABC in the hour, improving the Net’s results over the same night last year by 2.8 million viewers and by 78% in Adults 18-49. On its season finale, ABC News’ Boston Med finished #2 against its CBS and NBC competition in the 10 o’clock hour among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. On average during its 8-episode run, Boston Med greatly improved Thursday’s 10 o’clock hour for ABC, boosting the time period by +2.8 million viewers and by +86% in Adults 18-49 over its performance on the same nights last summer.
Friday: For the 6th week in a row, ABC placed #1 among the major networks on Friday in Adults 18-49, beating Fox by 9%, NBC by 33% and CBS by 50%. A repeat ABC News’ Primetime: What Would You Do? topped the first hour of NBC’s Dateline by 30% in Adults 18-49 and by 15% among Adults 25-54. ABC News’ 20/20 won the final hour of prime in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54, beating the second hour of NBC’s Dateline by 40% and 38%, respectively. In fact, the ABC newsmagazine ranked #1 at 10pm among Adults 18-49 for the 6th consecutive week and 5 of the last 6 weeks among Adults 25-54.
Sunday: ABC’s repeat America’s Funniest Home Videos finished as the #1 regular program in the 7 o’clock hour among Adults 18-49 for the 7th straight week. For the 2nd week in a row, ABC’s encore Extreme Makeover: Home Edition marked a summer-high performance among Adults 18-49.
(source; ABC)
