During the 1st Quarter 2011, ABC’s “Nightline” ranked No. 1 in all key target demos: Total Viewers (3.98 million), Adults 25-54 (1.65 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.27 million), beating NBC’s “The Tonight Show” and CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman,” according to Nielsen Media Research. 1Q11 stands as the first time ever for “Nightline” to rank No. 1 in Adults 18-49 during any quarter. In addition, 1Q11 represents the second quarter in a row for “Nightline” to rank No. 1, beating its late-night rivals, in both Total Viewers and Adults 25-54. Furthermore, 1Q11 stands as the first time that “Nightline” ranked No. 1 during the course of a 1st Quarter in Adults 25-54.
Compared to the year-ago quarter (1Q10), “Nightline” was up by +8% in Total Viewers and by +5% in Adults 25-54, drawing its most-watched 1st Quarter in 8 years – since 1Q03.
Looking at all quarters, “Nightline” was up by +1% in Total Viewers and by +2% in Adults 25-54 versus 4Q10. The ABC late night program attracted its most-watched overall quarter audience in 5 quarters and highest Adult 25-54 performance in 8 quarters – since 4Q09 and 1Q09, respectively.
“Nightline” topped NBC’s “The Tonight Show” by +100,000 Total Viewers, by +50,000 Adult 25-54 viewers and by +10,000 Adult 18-49 viewers during 1Q11, marking its first 1st Quarter win over the NBC late-night program across all three demos in 16 years – since 1Q95. Furthermore, “Nightline” defeated “The Tonight Show” among Adults 18-49 for the first time during any quarter in over 15 years – since 2Q95.
“Nightline” turned in its largest lead over CBS’ “The Late Show” during a 1st Quarter in Total Viewers (+390,000) and Adults 18-49 (+120,000) in 12 years (since 1Q99) and biggest advantage in Adults 25-54 (+100,000) in 8 years (since 1Q03).
During the week of March 21, 2011, ABC’s “Nightline” ranked No. 1 among Total Viewers (4.34 million), Adults 25-54 (1.78 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.36 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. In fact, “Nightline” ranked No. 1 in all key target demos for the 5th week in a row. Also, “Nightline” finished No. 1 in Total Viewers for the 17th time during the season. This qualifies as the most number of weeks at No. 1 in Total Viewers during the course of any season, beating both “The Tonight Show” and “The Late Show,” in 16 years – since the 1994-95 season.
For the 2nd straight week, “Nightline” improved on the same week last year across all key target demos: Total Viewers (+17%), Adults 25-54 (+11%) and Adults 18-49 (+3%). Further, the ABC late-night program grew its overall audience year over year for the 6th consecutive week.
Season to date, “Nightline” ranks first in late-night among Total Viewers and Adults 25-54. This is the first time that “Nightline” has been in first place at this point in the season since at least the 1993-94 season, when “Letterman” began on CBS. In addition, “Nightline” is up by +3% in Total Viewers and by +3% in Adults 25-54 compared to the same point last year. Season to date “Nightline” is drawing its largest overall audience in 8 years – since the 2002-03 season.
“Nightline” outperformed CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman” by it 2nd-largest margin of the season in Total Viewers (+960,000).
Note: Due to CBS’ coverage of NCAA Basketball, “The Late Show” was delayed and coded as specials on Thu (3/24/11) and Fri (3/25/11); ratings are excluded from the averages.
ABC News’ “Nightline” is anchored by Cynthia McFadden, Terry Moran and Bill Weir. John Donvan and Vicki Mabrey are correspondents. Jeanmarie Condon is the Executive Producer. The program airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m., ET on the ABC Television Network.
(1st Quarter 2011)
TOTAL VIEWERS A25-54(000)/ Rtg A18-49(000)/ Rtg
ABC “Nightline” 3,980,000 1,650,000/ 1.3 1,270,000/ 1.0
CBS “Late Show” 3,590,000 1,550,000/ 1.2 1,150,000/ 0.9
NBC “Tonight Show” 3,880,000 1,600,000/ 1.3 1,260,000/ 1.0
(Week of March 21, 2011)
TOTAL VIEWERS A25-54(000)/ Rtg A18-49(000)/ Rtg
ABC “Nightline” 4,340,000 1,780,000/ 1.4 1,360,000/ 1.0
CBS “Late Show” 3,380,000 1,590,000/ 1.2 1,230,000/ 0.9
NBC “Tonight Show” 4,000,000 1,630,000/ 1.3 1,310,000/ 1.0
(Source: ABC – The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 & Adults 18-49 Live+SD weeks of 3/21/11, 3/14/11 & 3/22/10. Live+7 (where available) & Live+SD for Season-to-date 10-11 vs. 09-10 (9/2/10-3/25/11 vs. 9/21/09-3/26/10). 1Q11: 12/27/10 – 3/27/11. 4Q10: 9/20 – 12/26/10. 1Q10: 12/28/09 – 3/28/10.)
