Overall: ABC outdelivered its rivals during the week of 8/30/10 in Adults 18-49, finishing 8% ahead of CBS, NBC and Fox (in a 3-way tie). In addition, ABC was the only major net to grow its numbers week to week in Total Viewers (+9%) or Adults 18-49 (+8%). The Net claimed 3 of the Top 15 TV shows for the week in Adults 18-49, placing 2 in the Top 10: Wipeout-TUES – #7, Bachelor Pad – #10 and Shaq VS – #14. With Primetime: What Would You Do?, ABC aired TV’s #1 newsmagazine for the 3rd week in a row among Adults 18-49. In fact among young adults, ABC News delivered the #1 newsmag for the 11th time in 12 weeks.
Summer 2010: During the just-completed 2010 summer frame (Memorial Day-Labor Day), ABC’s primetime numbers jumped year to year by 21% in Total Viewers and by 20% in Adults 18-49. Consistently outperforming its year-ago results, the Net was up over the same week last summer on 13 of 14 weeks in Adults 18-49. On average, the Network’s Adult 18-49 delivery jumped by double-digit percentages this summer on 5 of 7 nights during the week [+23% on Monday, +79% on Tuesday, +86% on Thursday, +33% on Friday and +13% on Sunday], while it finished #1 on Monday, Thursday and Sunday evenings. Overall, ABC marked its most-watched summer in 5 years – since 2005.
Monday: With its lineup of Bachelor Pad and Dating in the Dark, ABC was #1 on Monday across all key Women demographics: W18-34/W18-49/W25-54. In fact, ABC ranked #1 across each of the key Women demos for the 15th consecutive Monday, every week of Summer 2010. Drawing its largest audience since its series debut, ABC’s Bachelor Pad hit series highs among Women 18-34 and Women 25-54. The freshman unscripted series won its 2-hour time period across each of the key Women demos: W18-34/W18-49/W25-54, leading its time period for the 4th consecutive week among W18-49 and W25-54. ABC’s Dating in the Dark took second place to its CBS and NBC competition in the hour among Adults 18-49, beating NBC’s Dateline by 15%. ABC ranked #1 in the hour among the broadcast networks in Women 18-49. ABC’s Dating in the Dark saw gains over the prior week by 3% in Total Viewers and by 7% in Adults 18-49.
Tuesday: ABC placed second among the broadcast networks on Tuesday in Adults 18-49, topping Fox by 29% and CBS by 50%. Improving on the night for the 8th straight week, ABC grew solidly over the year-ago Tuesday (8/25/09) in Total Viewers (+56%) and Adults 18-49 (+64%). The Net has been up year to year on Tuesday evening on 13 of 14 weeks this summer. The 2nd-season finale of ABC’s Shaq VS saw increases over the previous week of 13% in Total Viewers and 6% in Adults 18-49. In fact, season closer, where Shaquille O’Neal took on both Pop/R&B multi-platinum singer Justin Beiber and ABC’s late night host Jimmy Kimmel, turned in the series’ 2nd-best performance ever among Adults 18-49, Women 18-49 and Teens 12-17. Shaq VS was up from its year-ago freshman season finale in Adults 18-49 (+6%).
Wednesday: Boosted by CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock, ABC hit Wednesday summer-highs in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. Despite moving from Monday to Wednesday night this year opposite stiff unscripted competition on the other nets, including CBS’ Big Brother, NBC’s America’s Got Talent and Fox’s Master Chef, ABC’s CMA Music Festival grew by 6% year to year with Women 18-34, posting its strongest performance in 3 years – since 2007.
Friday: ABC ranked #1 among the major networks on Friday in Adults 18-49, beating NBC by 20%, CBS by 50% and Fox by 100%. A repeat airing of ABC News’ Primetime: What Would You Do? beat the first hour of NBC’s original Dateline by double-digit percentages once again, leading the NBC newsmagazine by 30% in Adults 18-49 and by 14% among Adults 25-54. What Would You Do? drew is largest audience on the night in 6 weeks and highest Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 ratings in 5 weeks – since 7/23/10 and 7/30/10, respectively.
Saturday: The 5th-season premiere of Saturday Night Football, featuring LSU at North Carolina, made ABC a solid #1 on Saturday evening in Total Viewers and across each of the key Adult demographics (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54).
(source: ABC)
