Week 21: Scripted shows strong for ABC

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Overall: During the week of 2/6/12, ABC aired 6 of the Top 20 scripted broadcast shows in Adults 18-49: Modern Family – #2, Grey’s Anatomy – #6, Once Upon a Time – #16, Happy Endings – #18, while The Middle and Suburgatory tied at #20.  Based on projected DVR playback (+2.4 rating point gain), ABC’s Modern Family will surge ahead to become the week’s definitive #1 scripted TV show in the final Live + 7 Day Adult 18-49 ratings.  In addition, Modern Family qualified as the week’s top-rated scripted telecast with Adults 18-34 and key Women (W18-34/W18-49). Jumping over the prior week in viewers (+27%) and young adults (+40%), ABC marked its best results in 3 weeks – since w/o 1/16/12.  The Net held 100% of its year-ago Adult 18-49 rating, while growing 7% in Adults 18-34 over the same week last year.


Monday: Up against NBC’s Super Bowl-promoted premieres (The Voice/Smash) and CBS’ original Monday lineup, ABC’s combination of The Bachelor and Castle beat out Fox’s original drama lineup (House/Alcatraz) during primetime by 1.5 million viewers.   The Net finished #2 on the night to NBC with Women 18-34.   Opposite the Super Bowl-fueled 2-hour Monday premiere of The Voice and CBS’ original comedy block, ABC’s The Bachelor built audience from its first hour to second hour, outdelivering Fox’s dramas in head-to-head competition from 8-10 pm by in Total Viewers (+20%) and Adults 18-49 (+8%).  Despite facing increased competition week to week, ABC’s The Bachelor grew by 2% in Total Viewers and by 3% in Women 18-34, while retaining 100% of its Adult 18-49 performance from the prior week.  In fact on all 3 measures, The Bachelor marked its 2nd-highest numbers this season.   

Tuesday: With back-to-back airings of Last Man Standing and the series debut of The River, ABC’s numbers shot up over the same Tuesday last year (an all-original schedule) by 2.3 million viewers and by 60% Adults 18-49.  ABC finished as the 2nd-most-watched network overall on Tuesday evening, topping all-original programming on both Fox (Glee/New Girl/Raising Hope) and NBC (The Biggest Loser/Parenthood).  In addition, ABC beat out NBC’s Tuesday lineup by 14% in Adults 18-49.  In viewers and young adults, ABC marked its top Tuesday results since November – since 11/22/11. From 8-9pm opposite the 200th episode of CBS’ top-rated NCIS, back-to-back episodes of ABC’s Last Man Standing outdrew Fox’s Glee and NBC’s The Biggest Loser in viewers, while leading the NBC unscripted series by 14% in Adults 18-49.  Additionally, Last Man Standing made ABC the #2 network in the hour with key Men (M18-49/M25-54). The comedies delivered ABC’s biggest audience in the hour since November and its top Adult 18-49 number since October – since 11/29/11 and 10/18/11.  ABC’s Last Man Standing once again finished as Tuesday’s most-watched comedy overall, outdrawing Fox’s Glee-led New Girl at 9pm by 1.1 million viewers. In viewers and young adults, ABC’s debut of The River opened to 11-week highs in the 2-hour time period (9-11pm), producing the Net’s best results since the season finale of Dancing with the Stars (on 11/22/11).  In addition, the program scored the Net’s 2nd-highest numbers in the time period this season across all key Men demos (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54).  Holding 100% of its audience share from start to finish, the new ABC drama ranked #1 during its final hour from 10-11pm among Adults 18-49, beating out CBS’ Unforgettable by 5% and NBC’s Parenthood by 44%. The River generated enormous year-to-year time-period improvement for ABC over original drama programming on the year-ago night, jumping by 38% in Total Viewers and by 60% in Adults 18-49.

Wednesday: Returning to originals for the first time in 3 weeks, ABC delivered a strong 2nd-place finish on Wednesday to an Idol-driven Fox in Adults 18-49, beating out third-place CBS by 41% and fourth-place NBC by 107%.  ABC’s Modern Family stood as the clear #1 scripted program on Wednesday with Adults 18-49.  Impressively, the ABC comedy outdelivered American Idol to qualify as the night’s #1 TV show overall in Adults 18-34 and Men 18-34.  In young adults, ABC marked its top Wednesday since the beginning of January – since 1/4/12.  At 8pm, ABC’s The Middle earned second to Idol, more than doubling the audience of its NBC comedy competition (Whitney) and leading by 73% with Adults 18-49.  It was The Middle’s biggest winning advantage yet over NBC’s Whitney.  The ABC comedy equaled its best-ever performance against an installment of Idol in Adults 18-49.  Like its lead-in, ABC’s Suburgatory beat out its non-Idol competition at 8:30pm by wide margins and crushed its freshman comedy competition on NBC (Are You There, Chelsea?) with viewers (+103%) and young adults (+73%).  Suburgatory boosted its time period for ABC over the year-ago Wednesday against Idol by 7% in Total Viewers and by 24% in Adults 18-49.  The ABC comedy was over its last first-run airing in viewers (+3%) and young (+4%).  Wednesday’s #1 scripted TV program among Adults 18-49, ABC’s Modern Family more than doubled its lead-in at 9pm to dominate its slot by 77% over its closest competition (Criminal Minds).  Up over its last original in viewers (+8%) and young adults (+8%), ABC’s Modern Family registered its top numbers since the beginning of the year – since 1/4/12.  In addition, the ABC comedy scored its highest rating in nearly 3 months with Women 18-34 – 11/16/11.  During the 9:30pm half-hour, ABC’s Happy Endings ran a strong second in Adults 18-49.  In addition, Happy Endings ranked #1 in its time slot with Women 18-34.  ABC’s Happy Endings built on its last first-run telecast in viewers (+10%), attracting its biggest audience since the beginning of the year – since 1/4/12.  From 10-11pm, ABC freshman drama Revenge ran #1 in its hour among Adults 18-49, beating NBC’s L&O: SVU by double digits in viewers (+18%) and young adults (+25%).  In addition, the Disney-owned drama finished #1 in the hour with Adults 18-34 and across all key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).  ABC’s Revenge matched a 12-week high in Adults 18-49 – since 11/16/11.  Revenge produced substantial year-over-year improvement for ABC in Wednesday’s 10 o’clock hour, surging by 2.1 million viewers and by 32% in Adults 18-49 over first-run drama programming on the year-ago evening (Off the Map on 2/9/11).

Thursday: During the 8 o’clock hour against CBS’ top-rated The Big Bang Theory and Rob, as well as American Idol, ABC’s Winter Wipeout outdrew NBC’s 1-hour 30 Rock by 1.3 million viewers.  Wipeout’s audience surged by double digits from its first half-hour to its second half-hour in Total Viewers (+10%) and Adults 18-49 (+31%).  More than doubling its lead-in (+167%) to dominate the 9 o’clock hour in Adults 18-49, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy beat out CBS’ Person of Interest by 21%, Fox’s Idol-driven The Finder by 82% and NBC’s comedies (The Office/Up All Night) by 82%. ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy finished as Thursday’s #1 drama in the key young adult sales demographic for its 13th consecutive first-run airing this season.  Building for its 2nd straight telecast in Total Viewers (+6%) and Adults 18-49 (+11%), Grey’s Anatomy drew its biggest audience in 4 weeks and its top young adult number in 5 weeks – since 1/12/12 and 1/5/12, respectively. During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Private Practice stood as the #1 drama for its 13th consecutive first-run broadcast this season in Women 18-34.  In the hour, ABC’s Private Practice beat CBS’ The Mentalist by 7% in Adults 18-34 and by 67% in Women 18-34.  Among Adults 25-54, ABC’s Private Practice equaled its strongest performance since the beginning of January – since 1/5/12.

Friday: Emerging as Friday’s #1 broadcast show in Adults 18-49, ABC’s Shark Tank dominated the 8 o’clock hour by double-digit percentages over all-original competition. From 8-9pm in the key young adult sales demo, ABC’s Shark Tank beat out Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares by 20%, NBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? by 38% and CBS’ A Gifted Man by 38%. The broad-skewing ABC unscripted series also finished #1 in its hour with Men 18-49, Women 18-49, Adults 25-54, Men 25-54, as well as standing as the top-rated broadcast show on Friday night with Teens 12-17. Achieving its highest-ever Friday rating and equaling the series’ 2nd-strongest-ever number in Adults 18-49, Shark Tank surged 20% week to week to produce ABC’s best non-sports performance in the time period in over 3 years – since 2/6/09.

Sunday: ABC earned second place on Sunday to CBS with its Grammy Awards telecast in viewers and young adults, leading by wide margins over NBC (+21%/+27%) and Fox (+78%/+12%). During the 7 o’clock hour, ABC’s America’s Funniest Home Videos grew over its last original in viewers (+7%) and young adults (+5%) to achieve season highs. In fact the ABC video-clip show drew its biggest audience in nearly 1 year and hit its highest Adult 18-49 number since last January – since 3/6/11 and 1/30/11, respectively. On its return to original against the opening of one of the biggest-ever Grammy Awards, ABC’s Once Upon a Time surged over its lead-in (+12% in viewers/+50% in young adults) to stand as Sunday’s #1 broadcast series among Adults 18-49.  During the 8 o’clock hour, ABC’s Once Upon a Time  paced well ahead of its nearest non-Grammy competition, outdrawing NBC’s Dateline by 3.5 million viewers and Fox’s animated comedies by 58% in Adults 18-49 (The Simpsons/Napoleon Dynamite).  Greatly improving ABC’s performance year to year against the Grammys in Total Viewers (+36%) and Adults 18-49 (+88%), Once Upon a Time scored the Net’s top numbers in the hour opposite the annual music awards show in 3 years – since 2/8/09. During the 9pm hour, ABC’s Desperate Housewives outdrew Fox’s comedies (Family Guy/American Dad) by 2.1 million viewers and NBC’s Fear Factor by 3.1 million viewers.

(Source: ABC)