Surging from its Lead-in and Building Throughout its Broadcast, ABC’s “Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to You” Delivers Big Week-to-Week Time Period Gains.
ABC’s Tuesday Repeat of “I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown” Matches Fox’s Replay “Glee” in Viewers and Stands as the Night’s No. 1 Broadcast in Kids.
ABC’s “The Middle” Marks its 3rd-Most-Watched Repeat Airing on Wednesday.
ABC’s Replay “Modern Family” Outdraws Fox’s Original “Hell’s Kitchen” Finale, While Delivering Strong Year-to-Year Growth in Viewers and Young Adults.
The Net’s Second Rebroadcast this Season of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” Ranks No. 2 in Adults 18-49 and Wins in Kids, Generating Big Year-to-Year Gains for ABC.
ABC’s Rebroadcast Theatrical “Madagascar” Takes Second in Adults 18-49 and Ranks No. 1 in Teens and Kids, Growing its 2-hour Slot from the Year-Ago Saturday.
Opposite Stiff NFL-Driven Competition from NBC and CBS on Sunday, Replays Of “The Santa Clause 2” and “The Santa Clause 3” Boost ABC Year Over Year.
Monday
“Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to You” (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
At 9:00 p.m. ABC’s musical holiday special, “Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to You,” surged from its lead-in among viewers (+1.1 million – 4.9 million vs. 3.8 million) and young adults (+38% – 1.1/3 vs. 0.8/2), gaining audience throughout its telecast. In the hour, the ABC special outperformed its competition on Fox by 1.7 million viewers and by 10% in Adults 18-49 (“Lie to Me” encore = 3.2 million and 1.0/3).
“Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to You” greatly improved ABC’s delivery in the hour week to week, boosting the slot by 48% in Total Viewers and by 22% in Adults 18-49 (3.3 million and 0.9/2 on 12/6/10).
Tuesday
“I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
ABC’s annual rebroadcast of “I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown” matched Fox’s “Glee” replay in the 8 o’clock hour in Total Viewers (5.6 million). In addition, the ABC PEANUTS Christmas special won the hour among Kids 2-11, leading its nearest broadcast competition by 93% (2.7/9 vs. 1.4/5 – NBC’s “Minute to Win It”). In fact “I Want a Dog for Christmas” stood as the No. 1 broadcast program of the night with kids.
Wednesday
“The Middle” (8:00-8:30 p.m.)
At 8:00 p.m., ABC’s repeat airing of “The Middle” matched Fox’s original “Human Target” (5.5 million), while leading the first-run drama across all key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).
“The Middle” generated its 3rd-biggest-ever repeat audience on the night.
“Modern Family” (9:00-9:31 p.m.)
Building on its lead-in at 9:00 p.m., ABC’s replay “Modern Family” attracted more viewers in its half-hour than Fox’s season finale of “Hell’s Kitchen” (5.9 million vs. 5.6 million).
“Modern Family” surged over its repeat performance in the half-hour on the same night last year by 16% in Total Viewers (5.9 million vs. 5.1 million) and by 11% in Adults 18-49 (2.0/6 vs. 1.8/5).
Thursday
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
From 8:00-9:00 p.m., ABC’s second rebroadcast this season of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (1.9/6) placed No. 2 among Adults 18-49 to CBS’ original comedies (“Big Bang Theory”/”$#! My Dad Says”), beating NBC’s encore comedies by 46% (“Community”/”30 Rock” = 1.3/4) and Fox’s replay “Bones” by 58% (1.2/4). In fact, it was the No. 1 non-original telecast on Thursday in the key young adult sales demo. The PEANUTS Christmas special (6.4 million) also attracted a much larger overall audience than its repeat competition in the hour, topping Fox by 1.3 million viewers (5.1 million) and NBC by 3.1 million (3.3 million). Outdelivering its combined broadcast competition in its hour by 13% with Kids 2-11 (2.6/9 vs. 2.3/9 – CBS-NBC-FOX-CW), “Charlie Brown Christmas” finished as the night’s
No. 1 broadcast program among TV’s youngest viewers.
With the animated Christmas special, ABC was up in the hour over the year-ago night by wide margins, jumping year to year by 2.6 million viewers and by 111% in Adults 18-49 (3.8 million and 0.9/3 on 12/17/09).
Saturday
“ABC Saturday Movie of the Week: Madagascar” (9:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC’s rebroadcast of the theatrical “Madagascar” took second in its 2-hour time period to Fox’s original programming among Adults 18-49 (1.1/4), while ranking No. 1 with Kids 2-11 (1.9/8) and Teens 12-17 (1.1/5). In fact the movie built from its first to second hour, finishing No. 1 in the 10 o’clock hour among young adults (AD18-34/AD18-49).
With the rebroadcast movie, ABC was up in the time slot over the year-ago night by 10% in Adults 18-49 (1.0/3 on 12/19/09).
Sunday
With rebroadcasts of “The Santa Clause 2” and “The Santa Clause 3” up against stiff NFL-fueled competition, with another huge “Sunday Night Football” contest (Green Bay-New England) on NBC and an NFL overrun boosted CBS with its 3-hour “Survivor: Nicaragua” finale, ABC grew over the year-ago night by 6% in Adults 18-49 (1.8/5 vs. 1.7/5).
“ABC Sunday Movie of the week: The Santa Clause 2” (8:00-10:00 p.m.)
Versus its year-ago Saturday telecast (12/19/09), “The Santa Clause 2” encore produced greatly improved year-to-year returns for ABC, jumping by 47% in Total Viewers (5.9 million vs. 4.0 million) and by 70% in Adults 18-49 (1.7/5 vs. 1.0/3).
WEEK NO. 13: ADULTS 18-49 TOTAL VIEWERS
No.1 NBC 2.8 No.1 CBS 11,140,000
No.2 CBS 2.7 No.2 NBC 8,500,000
No.3 FOX 1.6 No.3 ABC 4,650,000
No.4 ABC 1.3 No.4 FOX 4,610,000
No.5 CW 0.5 No.5 CW 1,340,000
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 38% currently, from 34% 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: ABC – The Nielsen Company (National, Live+ Same Day Program Ratings), week of 12/13/10, unless stated otherwise.)
