Surging Year to Year by 2.5 Million Viewers and by 57% in Adults 18-49, ABC Marks its Strongest Tuesday in 2 Months in Viewers and Young Adults. Despite Moving into an Earlier Time Period Opposite “American Idol,” ABC’s “DWTS the Results Show” Earns its Best Premiere Numbers Since Fall 2008. “Lost” is Tuesday’s No. 1 Scripted TV Show in Adults 18-49 for 9 Straight Weeks. Generating its Biggest Audience This Season Against “Idol” and Growing for the
2nd Straight Week, ABC’s “Lost” Marks its Most-Watched Telecast in 7 Weeks. “V” Returns After 4 Months at No. 1 in its Slot with Adults 18-49, Marking the
Net’s Best Number in the Hour with Regular Programming in Well Over 1 Year.
Tuesday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)
With its Tuesday lineup of “DWTS the Results Show,” “Lost” and “V,” ABC ranked No. 2 on the night to Fox with a 2-hour “Idol” in Total Viewers (10.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.3/9), topping NBC’s original schedule by 3.5 million viewers and by 22%, respectively (2-hour Biggest Loser/Parenthood = 7.0 million and 2.7/7)
The Net’s numbers shot up over the same Tuesday last year by 2.5 million viewers and by 57% in Adults 18-49 (8.0 million and 2.1/6 on 3/31/09). On both Nielsen measures, ABC posted its strongest Tuesday night results in 2 months – since 2/2/10.
“DWTS the Results Show” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
Finishing a solid No. 2 to Fox’s opening hour of a 2-hour “American Idol” from 8:00-9:00 p.m., ABC’s season premiere of “DWTS the Results Show” beat out the opening hour of NBC’s time-slot regular “Biggest Loser” by 7.4 million viewers (14.1 million vs. 6.7 million) and by 16% in Adults 18-49 (2.9/9 vs. 2.5/7). In fact “DWTS the Results Show” registered as the 2nd most-watched TV show on Tuesday, behind only Fox’s 2-hour “American Idol.” Actress Shannen Doherty was the first celebrity to leave the competition in its 10th season.
Moving from its former 9:00 p.m. slot into the 8:00 p.m. hour this season, the ABC dancing results show produced the Net’s largest audience in the hour in nearly 5 months – since 11/3/09.
Although it shifted into an earlier time period and aired against “Idol,” it was “DWTS the Results” strongest premiere since Fall 2008 (3 seasons ago) in viewers and young adults – since 9/30/08.
“Lost” (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Opposite stiff original competition at 9:00 p.m. on Fox (second hour of a 2-hour “American Idol”) and NBC (second hour of a 2-hour “Biggest Loser”), ABC’s “Lost” built on its lead-in by 38% in Adults 18-49. Dominating its non-“Idol” competition in the 9 o’clock hour among Adults 18-49, “Lost” (4.0/10) outperformed NBC’s “Biggest Loser” by its largest margin yet of 29% (3.1/8) and “NCIS: LA” encore by 100% (2.0/5).
“Lost” finished as Tuesday’s No. 1 scripted TV show for the 9th straight week in Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34 and among key Men (M18-34/M18-49).
Growing its overall audience for the 2nd straight week, “Lost” turned in its most-watched telecast in 7 weeks – since 2/9/10. In addition, it was the ABC drama’s biggest audience this season against “American Idol.”
“V” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
On its first original telecast since November, freshman “V” returned to ABC’s schedule in winning fashion, ranking No. 1 in the 10 o’clock hour among Adults 18-49 and defeating NBC’s freshman “Parenthood “by 16% (2.9/8 vs. 2.5/7). In fact “V” was the No. 1 show in its time period across all key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54).
Please note that, similar to its “Lost” lead-in, “V” exhibits substantial increases over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback, picking up an average 2.0 million viewers (+18%) and an additional 9-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point (+24%) from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.
Despite its 4-month hiatus, “V” retained 94% of its last original airing in November (on 11/24/09) among Adults 18-49 (2.9/8 vs. 3.1/9) and was up with Adults 18-34 and Men 18-34.
“V” marked ABC’s strongest Adult 18-49 performance in the time period with a regularly scheduled program (excluding extended editions of “Lost” and “DWTS the Results”) in well over 1 year – since 1/13/09.
A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 36% currently, from 30% at the same point in 2009. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.
(Source: information from ABC – Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Program Ratings), 3/30/10.)
