Overall: Continuing to grow its primetime numbers year to year, ABC finished #2 during the week of 7/26/10 among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. The Net has placed 1st or 2nd in the key young Adult sales demo on nearly every week this summer (7 of 9 weeks). ABC aired 4 of the Top 20 most-watched TV programs overall for the week (The Bachelorette – #4, Wipeout-TUES-R – #12, Rookie Blue – #15 and Wipeout-THURS-R – #18) and placed 2 of the Top 10 shows in Adults 18-49 (The Bachelorette – #2 and Wipeout-TUES-R – #10). For the 5th straight week, ABC’s The Bachelorette qualified as the #1 TV show with key Women (W18-49/W25-54). ABC News delivered the #1 newsmagazine for the week with 20/20 SP Edition on Monday in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54. In fact among Adults 18-49, ABC News claimed TV’s top-rated newsmagazine for the 7th week in a row and for the 8th time in the last 9 weeks this summer. The only major net to post gains over the same week last year (w/o 7/27/09), ABC built by 11% in Total Viewers and 8% in Adults 18-49, marking its 11th consecutive week of year-over-year increases on both counts.
Summer 2010: Versus the same point last year, ABC’s summer results are up by +22% in Total Viewers and by +25% in Adults 18-49, generating its most-watched overall summer frame since 2003. The Net is up by substantial margins this summer in Adults 18-49 on 5 of 7 nights during the week: +12% on Monday, +80% on Tuesday, +94% on Thursday, +33% on Friday and +24% on Sunday.
Monday: ABC was the most-watched network overall for the 6th week in a row and ranked #1 in Adults 18-49 for the 8th straight Monday. In fact ABC is registering its longest Adult 18-49 winning streak on the night in more than 10 years – since November 1999-January 2000. The Network outperformed its nearest broadcast competition (CBS) by 1.4 million viewers and by 32% in Adults 18-49. With ABC’s The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All, the Network placed a strong #1 in the time period for the 9th consecutive week, outperforming its closest time period competition (CBS) by 2.3 million viewers and by 45%. The veteran ABC unscripted series led all 4 of its half-hours in viewers and young adults. The Bachelorette stood as Monday’s #1 TV show in Adults 18-49 for the 7th week running, and for the 9th time in 9 weeks stood the evening’s dominant #1 television program across all key Women demographics (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All saw increases over its year-ago performance (7/20/09) by nearly 1.0 million viewers and by 4% among Adults 18-49. On average, The Bachelorette is up over its performance at the same point last year by 1.3 million viewers and by 10% in Adults 18-49. ABC News’ 20/20: The Stories Behind the Rose ranked #1 in the 10 o’clock hour against its CBS and NBC competition among Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54.
Tuesday: ABC’s Tuesday lineup registered its strongest performance in 5 weeks with Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 – since 6/22/10. For the 3rd straight week, ABC’s Tuesday lineup improved over the same night last year (7/28/09) in Total Viewers (+1.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (+33%). In fact the Net was up over the year-ago night for the 8th time in 9 weeks this summer. An repeat telecast of ABC’s Wipeout: Blind Date took second in its 2-hour time period, topping NBC’s original 8-10pm lineup (Breakthrough with Tony Robbins series debut and the first hour of America’s Got Talent) by 1.0 million viewers and by 53% in Adults 18-49. Wipeout registered its 2nd-best performance ever for an encore telecast in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. ABC News’ Primetime: What Would You Do? replay finished second in the 10 o’clock hour in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54, posting the Net’s 2nd-strongest non-sports performance in the hour of the summer.
Thursday: Although Wipeout was in repeat at 8pm, ABC won Thursday among Adults 18-49, finishing #1 on the night against its broadcast rivals for the 3rd week in a row. Continuing to exhibit substantial year-to-year improvement on Thursday, ABC more than doubled its performance from the same night last summer (7/30/09) in Total Viewers (+103%) and Adults 18-49 (+113%). In fact the Net registered its 8th consecutive Thursday of year-to-year primetime increases. ABC’s rebroadcast Wipeout ran a strong second to CBS’ Big Brother in the 8 o’clock hour in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, while beating the original CBS unscripted series with key Men (M18-49/M25-54), Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11. Wipeout topped its time period for the 6th week running among key Men (M18-49/M25-54). TV’s #1 new scripted series this summer, ABC’s Rookie Blue was up week-to-week despite having a repeat lead-in, and stood as the most-watched TV show in the 9 o’clock hour. The freshman ABC drama also took first place in its time slot with Adults 25-54. Surging week-to-week by +20% in Adults 18-49, Rookie Blue turned in its best performance in 4 weeks (since 7/1/10) and equaled its 2nd highest-ever young adult number. Rookie Blue once again generated impressive year-to-year gains for ABC in the hour, doubling the Net’s year-ago results among Total Viewers (+109%) and Adults 18-49 (+100%). Growing week-to-week in Total Viewers (+4%) and Adults 18-49 (+9%), ABC News’ Boston Med took second place in the 10 o’clock hour against its CBS and NBC competition. Boston Med improved Thursday’s 10 o’clock hour for ABC by 2.4 million viewers and by 71% in Adults 18-49, over the same night last year.
Friday: For the 4th straight week, ABC ranked #1 against its broadcast rivals on Friday in Adults 18-49, beating NBC by 20%, CBS by 33% and Fox by 50%. A repeat ABC News’ Primetime: What Would You Do? won the 9 o’clock hour in the key Adults 25-54 news demo, topping the first hour of NBC’s Dateline by 31% (1.3/7). In fact, the ABC newsmagazine finished #1 in its slot among Adults 25-54 for the 4th week in a row. ABC News’ 20/20 led the final hour of Friday’s prime in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 for the 4th week running.
Sunday: In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, ABC turned-in its best Sunday numbers in 6 weeks – since 6/20/10. In fact, the Net saw its 2nd-strongest non-sports performance on the night this summer in both Nielsen measures. ABC’s repeat telecast of America’s Funniest Home Videos hit summer-highs in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. In addition, the video-clip show topped the 7 o’clock hour in the key young adult sales demographic for the 5th consecutive week.
(source; ABC)
