WEEK 39: On Average, the 2010 NBA Celtics-Lakers Finals Finish as the Most-Watched Ever on ABC and the Biggest Overall Since 2001. ABC Wins its 3rd Straight Week in Viewers and All Key Adult Demos, Posting its Most-Competitive Start to Summer Since at Least 1992.
ABC Airs 4 of the Top 8 TV Programs for the Week in Adults 18-49, With Coverage of the 2010 NBA Finals and “The Bachelorette”.
On Average, the 2010 NBA Celtics-Lakers Finals Finish as the Most-Watched Ever on ABC and the Biggest Overall Since 2001.
“JKL Game Night” Specials Surge Year to Year by 13%, the Show’s Best ResultsIn its 3 Years on the Air, Increasing Exposure for the ABC Late-Night Talker.
ABC Wins its 2nd Consecutive Monday in Adults 18-49, Outdelivering CBS by 26%, Fox by 50% and NBC by 60%.
ABC’s “The Bachelorette” Tops its Slot for the 3rd Week Running in Viewers And Young Adults, Building its Audience Week to Week and Year to Year.
In Monday’s 10pm Hour, “True Beauty” Dominates NBC’s “Persons Unknown,” While Generating Strong Year-to-Year Time-Period Improvement for ABC.
With Coverage of the NBA Finals Game 6, ABC Towers Over its Tuesday Competition, Producing the Net’s Top Summer Numbers on the Night in 6 Years.
ABC Marks its Best-Ever NBA Finals Game 6 Results in Viewers and Adults 18-49.
With Coverage of the 2010 NBA Finals Game 7, ABC Outdelivers its Combined Competition on Thursday by 1.9 Million Viewers and by 58% in Adults 18-49.
ABC Scores its Strongest Summer Thursday in More Than 18 Years.
Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals Stands as the Biggest NBA Telecast in 12 Years.
Growing from its Lead-in and Building Throughout its Debut, “Scoundrels” Generates Double-Digit Time Period Gains for ABC and is Sunday’s Top Entertainment Show.
Building on its Lead-in to Win in Adults 18-49, ABC’s Debut of “The Gates” Posts The Net’s Top Summer Number with Regular Programming in the Slot Since 2006.
“The Gates” Qualifies as TV’s Top-Rated Scripted Summer Debut in 1 Year In Adults 18-49 and Marks ABC’s Best Summer Scripted Opener in 5 Years.
WEEK No. 39:
ABC finished as the No. 1 network for the 3rd consecutive week among Total Viewers (7.5 million) and across all key Adult demographics: AD18-34 (2.4/9), AD18-49 (2.6/9) and AD25-54 (2.8/8).
Winning in Adults 18-49 for the 4th time in 5 weeks, ABC (2.6/9) outpaced second-place Fox by 53% (1.7/6), third-place NBC by 63% (1.6/5) and fourth-place CBS by 100% (1.3/4).
For the 5th consecutive frame, ABC’s results built over the year-ago week (w/o 6/15/09), more than doubling year to year in Total Viewers (+103% – 7.5 million vs. 3.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (+136% – 2.6/9 vs. 1.1/4).
By taking first place during each of the first 3 weeks of summer, ABC marked its most competitive start to summer since at least 1992 – pre-dating the beginning of Nielsen’s electronic database, in September 1991.
Rankings: The Network claimed 4 of the week’s Top 8 TV programs in Adults 18-49, including the Top 2 with coverage of the 2010 NBA Finals: “NBA Finals on ABC – GM7” – No. 1, “NBA Finals on ABC – GM6” – No. 2, “GMC Sierra NBA Countdown-GM7” – No. 6 and “The Bachelorette” – No. 8. ABC’s NBA Finals games and “The Bachelorette” also finished among the week’s Top 10 most-watched programs overall. ABC News’ “20/20” finished as the TV’s No. 1 newsmagazine for the 2nd time in 3 weeks among Adults 18-49.
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 37% currently, from 32% 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.
Monday
With “The Bachelorette” and “True Beauty,” ABC won its 2nd straight Monday night among Adults 18-49 (2.4/7), beating second-place CBS by 26% (1.9/6), third-place Fox by 50% (1.6/5) and fourth-place NBC by 60% (1.5/5).
Growing its overall Monday audience year to year for the 3rd straight week, ABC was up over the year-ago Monday (6/15/09) by 1.5 million viewers (7.4 million vs. 5.9 million) and 14% in Adults 18-49 (2.4/7 vs. 2.1/6).
“The Bachelorette” (8:00-10:02 p.m.)
From 8:00-10:00 p.m., ABC’s “The Bachelorette” finished No. 1 in its 2-hour time period for the 3rd week running in both Total Viewers (8.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.6/8). “The Bachelorette” stood as Monday’s No. 1 TV program among Adults 18-49 (tie) and registered as the night’s dominant No. 1 show for the 3rd week in a row across all key Women demographics (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).
“The Bachelorette” grew its overall audience year to year for the 3rd week in a row. The show also built over the prior week by 6% (8.4 million vs. 7.9 million), rising for the 2nd straight week.
“True Beauty” (10:02-11:00 p.m.)
During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s “True Beauty” finished No. 1 against its network competition for the 2nd consecutive week in Adults 18-49. The ABC unscripted series defeated NBC’s original scripted series, “Persons Unknown,” by an even wider margin on their second match-up in the hour of 1.8 million viewers (5.4 million vs. 3.4 million) and 58% in Adults 18-49 (1.9/6 vs. 1.2/4).
“True Beauty” greatly improved its time period for ABC, over the year-ago night with original programming, by 1.3 million viewers and by 27% in Adults 18-49 (4.0 million and 1.5/4 on 6/15/09 w/”Here Come the Newlyweds”).
Tuesday
Airing Game 6 of the 2010 NBA Finals (Celtics-Lakers), ABC won its 2nd consecutive Tuesday in Total Viewers (14.7 million) and across all key Adult demos: AD18-34 (5.8/19), AD18-49 (5.7/17) and AD25-54 (5.8/16). Posting a dominant primetime victory, the Network topped its nearest competition by 6.1 million viewers (14.7 million vs. 8.6 million – CBS) and by 104% in Adults 18-49 (5.7/17 vs. 2.8/8 – Fox). It was ABC’s 6th straight primetime win with coverage of the 2010 NBA Finals.
In viewers and young adults, ABC produced its strongest summer Tuesday numbers in 6 years – since its broadcast of the series-clinching Game 5 of the 2004 NBA Finals (Pistons-Lakers) on 6/15/04.
“NBA Finals on ABC – GM 6” (9:04 – 11:43 p.m., ET)
The “NBA Finals on ABC – GM 6” overshadowed original network competition during prime, including NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” Fox’s 2-hour “Hell’s Kitchen,” to stand as Tuesday’s definitive No. 1 TV program in Total Viewers (18.0 million) and across each of the key adult demographics: A18-34 (7.3/24), A18-49 (7.1/21) and A25-54 (7.2/20). It was the 6th consecutive broadcast for the 2010 NBA Finals to finish as the No. 1 TV show of the evening in viewers and key adults. In a lopsided victory, the LA Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics by a score of 89-67, forcing a decisive Game 7 on ABC Thursday night (6/17/10).
Despite the one-sided nature of the contest, as the Lakers led by substantial margins throughout the game, it was ABC’s highest-rated-ever Game 6 in the eight years of broadcasting the NBA Finals (starting in 2003) in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. Additionally, it was the top-rated telecast for any NBA Finals game in 6 years among Adults 18-34 (7.3/24) and Teens 12-17 (5.6/20) – since the series-ending fifth game of the 2004 Pistons-Lakers NBA Finals on 6/15/04.
Thursday
With coverage of the deciding Game 7 for the 2010 NBA Finals (Celtics-Lakers), ABC towered over Thursday night, beating its combined network competition (CBS, NBC, Fox and CW) during primetime by nearly 2 million viewers (18.1 million vs. 16.2 million) and by 58% in Adults 18-49 (7.1/22 vs. 4.5/14). ABC won all 7 nights with its coverage of the 2010 NBA Finals.
In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, ABC posted its top summer Thursday in more than 18 years – pre-dating the start of Nielsen’s electronic database, in September 1991.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live Game Night 7” (Various Time Periods)
On average, ABC’s 2010 “JKL Game Night” specials jumped year to year by 13% in Total Viewers (3.6 million vs. 3.2 million) over 2009, earning the program’s biggest audience in its 3 years on the air.
During their run, the “Game Night” specials produced greatly increased sampling and exposure for “JKL,” more than doubling its results in Viewers (+112% – 3.6 million vs. 1.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (+120% – 1.1/4 vs. 0.5/3) over its late-night 2009-10 TV season averages.
“NBA Finals on ABC – GM 7” (9:04 – 11:59 p.m., ET)
The “NBA Finals on ABC – GM 7” towered over its primetime competitors to stand as Thursday’s
No. 1 TV program in Total Viewers (28.2 million) and across each of the key Adult demos: A18-34 (11.8/38), A18-49 (11.4/33) and A25-54 (11.2/30). It was the 7th consecutive broadcast for the 2010 NBA Finals to rank as the No. 1 TV show of the evening in viewers and key adults. Claiming their 16th NBA title, the LA Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics by a score of 83-79.
With Game 7, ABC scored its best-ever numbers in its eight years of broadcasting the NBA Finals (beginning in 2003) with Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. In fact on both Nielsen measures, Game 7 of the 2010 championship series registered as the biggest for any NBA Finals telecast in 12 years – since the series-clinching Game 6 of the 1998 Bulls-Jazz series on 6/14/98.
In viewers and young adults, Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals also qualified as TV’s top non-Olympics summer (Memorial Day-Labor Day) telecast in nearly 10 years – since 8/23/00.
On average, the 2010 NBA Finals produced the championship series’ biggest audience ever on ABC and its 2nd-highest Adult 18-49 numbers (18.1 million and 7.3/22). In fact it finished as the most-watched NBA Finals overall in 9 years – since 2001 (Philadelphia-LA Lakers). Versus the 5-game 2009 Lakers-Magic series, The Finals on ABC surged year to year by 3.8 million viewers and by 21% in Adults 18-49 (14.3 million and 5.9/17).
Sunday
“Scoundrels” (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Building on its lead-in against the conclusion of NBC’s high-rated U.S. Open Golf Tournament coverage on Father’s Day in viewers and young adults and gaining audience throughout its debut airing in the 9 o’clock hour, the series opener of “Scoundrels” (5.2 million) made ABC the second-most-watched network overall to a sports-driven NBC. In fact, “Scoundrels” qualified as Sunday’s most-watched entertainment program.
“Scoundrels” improved the hour year to year by double-digits for ABC in Total Viewers (+16% – 5.2 million vs. 4.5 million) and in Adults 18-49 (+18% – 1.3/4 vs. 1.1/3), over original programming on the year-ago night (“ABC Premiere Event – Impact Part 1” on 6/21/09).
“The Gates” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Growing from its lead-in at 10:00 p.m. by 15% in Adults 18-49, ABC’s series debut of “The Gates” (1.5/5) finished a strong No. 1 in the hour, beating CBS by 50% (1.0/3) and NBC by 50% (1.0/3 – season premiere of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”).
“The Gates” boosted the hour for ABC over the year-ago night by 25% in Adults 18-49 (1.5/4 vs. 1.2/4), pulling the Net’s top summer rating in the time slot since 2006 – since 9/3/06.
In Adults 18-49, “The Gates” stands as TV’s top-rated summer scripted series debut in 1 year and ABC’s highest in 5 years – since 6/24/09 and 6/28/05, respectively.
WEEK NO. 39: ADULTS 18-49 TOTAL VIEWERS
No.1 ABC 2.6 No.1 ABC 7,510,000
No.2 FOX 1.7 No.2 CBS 6,350,000
No.3 NBC 1.6 No.3 NBC 5,870,000
No.4 CBS 1.3 No.4 FOX 4,580,000
No.5 CW 0.4 No.5 CW 920,000
(Source: ABC – The Nielsen Company (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 6/14/10, unless stated otherwise)
