ABC’s Comedy Block is Up by 2.3 Million and by 56% in Adults 18-49 Over Year-Ago Night, the Net’s Best Performance in 4 Years Opposite Fox’s Wednesday “Idol” Debut
ABC’s “The Middle” Tops CBS’ “Gary Unmarried” in Viewers and Young Adults
“Modern Family” Takes Second at 9p in Adults and Women 18-34 and Key Men
“Cougar Town” Holds 100% Retention from its Week-Ago Performance in Adults 18-34 and Builds Across All Key Women
“Ugly Betty” Takes Second at 10pm Among Adults 18-34 and All Key Women Demos
Wednesday Night (8:00-10:00 p.m.)
Up against Fox’s Wednesday season premiere of “American Idol,” ABC’s 8:00-10:00pm comedies (repeat “Modern Family” and originals of “The Middle,” “Modern Family” and “Cougar Town”) delivered sharp year-to-year improvement for the Network. Versus the year-ago night (1/14/09), the Net’s delivery in the 2-hour time period jumped by +2.3 million viewers (6.7 million vs. 4.4 million) and by +56% in Adults 18-49 (2.5/7 vs. 1.6/4). In fact it represented ABC’s best performance in the time period on the night of a Wednesday Idol premiere in 4 years – since 2006, when “Lost” was in the time period.
Despite the heightened competition, all 3 ABC comedies held up phenomenally, with each show performing at or above its season average in the Live + Same Day numbers. “The Middle” retained 100% (2.1/6 vs. 2.1/6) of its Adult 18-49 overnight season norm, while “Modern Family” (+3% – 3.2/8 vs. 3.1/8) and “Cougar Town” (+11% – 3.1/8 vs. 2.8/7) were up. Also worth noting, “Cougar Town” retained an impressive 97% of its Adult 18-49 lead-in from “Modern Family.”
“The Middle” (8:30-9:00 p.m.)
Building sharply on its lead-in for ABC at 8:30pm opposite “Idol,” ABC freshman “The Middle” finished as the No. 1 scripted show in its slot and defeated CBS’ comedy, “Gary Unmarried,” in the half-hour in both Total Viewers (+5% – 6.1 million vs. 5.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (+11% – 2.1/6 vs. 1.9/5).
“The Middle” is posting significant gains over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback, picking up 600,000 viewers and an additional 2-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.
“Modern Family” (9:00-9:30 p.m.)
Growing on its lead-in, ABC’s Modern Family took second in its time-slot among Adults 18-34 (2.9/8), Women 18-34 (3.4/9) and key Men: Men 18-34 (2.5/8) and Men 18-49 (2.8/7).
“Modern Family” is exhibiting big increases over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback, jumping by 1.4 million viewers and by an additional 7-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.
“Cougar Town” (9:30-10:00 p.m.)
Holding retention of 95% in Total Viewer and 97% in Adults 18-49 from its week-ago performance, ABC’s “Cougar Town” saw 100% retention among Adults 18-34 (2.7/8), while building on its performance across all key Women demographics: Women 18-34 (3.5/10 vs. 3.3/9), Women 18-49 (3.9/9 vs. 3.8/9) and Women 25-54 (4.2/9 vs. 4.1/9). In fact, “Cougar Town” matched its highest rating among Women 18-34 and Women 18-49 in nearly 4 months – since 9/30/09.
ABC’s “Cougar Town” built on its “Modern Family” lead-in across each of the key Women demographics: Women 18-34 (3.5/10 vs. 3.4/9), Women 18-49 (3.9/9 vs. 3.7/8) and Women 25-54 (4.2/9 vs. 4.0/9).
Like its lead-in, “Cougar Town” is producing gains over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback, increasing by 1.1 million viewers and by an additional 5-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.
“Ugly Betty” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC’s “Ugly Betty” took second in the 10 o’clock hour to CBS’ veteran drama “CSI: New York” among Adults 18-34 (1.4/5) and across all key Women demographics: Women 18-34 (1.9/6), Women 18-49 (2.2/6) and Women 25-54 (2.4/6).
“Ugly Betty” is seeing bumps from first-reported numbers through DVR playback, growing by 800,000 viewers and by an additional 3-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.
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 34% currently, from 29% 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: data and information provided by ABC. – Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 1/13/10.)
