ABC #1 Net on Monday night in Total Viewers for 8th week

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Overall:  During the week of 11/8/10, ABC posted a strong second-place finish in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, while ranking #1 in Adults 25-54 and across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).  The Network registered #1 with Women 18-34 for the 8th straight week this season.   Please note that the NFL continued to have a substantial impact on the weekly averages, as Fox’s 48-minute Sunday NFL primetime overrun padded its weekly Adult 18-49 number by 4-tenths of a rating point and NBC’s numbers were inflated by another huge Sunday Night Football contest (New England-Pittsburgh).  In fact excluding the NFL overrun from Fox’s average, ABC won the week in Adults 18-49.  The Net also marked its most-competitive finish this season in Total Viewers to first-place CBS. ABC’s broadcast of The 44th Annual CMA Awards emerged as TV’s #1 entertainment program in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic.  It represented the first-time ever for the CMA Awards to stand as the top-rated entertainment show during the week in which it aired. Dancing with the Stars finished as the #1 unscripted series for the 8th week running this season with young adults.  ABC delivered 4 of the Top 10 non-sports TV programs of the week in Adults 18-49, more than any other net:  CMA Awards – #1, DWTS and Grey’s Anatomy tied at #5 and Desperate Housewives – #9.  For the 2nd time in 3 weeks, ABC’s Primetime: What Would You Do? qualified as TV’s #1 newsmagazine in Adults 18-49.   The Net claimed 3 of the Top 5 most-watched TV shows overall, with DWTS, DWTS: The Results and the CMA Awards.  ABC’s DWTS stood as television’s most-watched non-sports show for the 7th time in 8 weeks this season.  Growing its overall audience for the 5th consecutive week, ABC marked its most-watched non-Oscar week in 1-year – since w/o 11/9/09.


Monday: ABC stood as the #1 Net on Monday night in Total Viewers for the 8th week in a row.   ABC defeated CBS by 6.7 million viewers and by 3% in Adults 18-49.  Improving on its Monday numbers year to year for the 8th straight week, ABC was up over the same night last season (11/9/09) by 1.9 million viewers and by 13% in Adults 18-49.  ABC’s Dancing with the Stars won its 2-hour time slot in Total Viewers for the 8th week in a row.  DWTS defeated CBS’ original comedy block in Total Viewers (+9.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (+11%).  At 9pm, featuring the show’s first-ever “Instant Dance,” in which the couples had to master a Latin number to music they were given for the first time and after the show’s broadcast had begun, DWTS saw its audience surge by 2.7 million viewers and by 19% in Adults 18-49 from its first hour to its second hour.  DWTS stood as Monday’s #1 show in Total Viewers, Women 18-49 and Women 25-54 for the 8th week running.  DWTS built substantially over its year-ago telecast for the 8th week in a row, up by 2.4 million viewers and by 18% among Adults 18-49.  Qualifying as the top scripted program in the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Castle outperformed CBS’ high-profile reboot, Hawaii Five-0, in Total Viewers and across all key Women demographics (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54) for the 4th consecutive week.  In addition, for the 3rd time in the last 5 weeks, Castle beat Hawaii Five-0 among Adults 18-34.  Building on its performance on the same night last year for the 8th time in as many weeks this season, Castle was up over its year-ago telecast in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

Tuesday:  Finishing #2 on the evening to CBS, ABC drew its biggest overall audience on the night with its regular line up since 10/5/10.  Up over its most-recent telecast two weeks ago in viewers (+7%) and young adults (+10%), ABC freshman No Ordinary Family outdrew time-period veteran, the first hour of The Biggest Loser, by 1.3 million viewers and matched the NBC unscripted series in Adults 18-49.  The ABC freshman series also topped The Biggest Loser by solid margins in Adults 25-54, across all key Men (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54) and among Teens 12-17.  No Ordinary Family gained audience throughout its broadcast during Tuesday’s highly-competitive 8 o’clock hour against Fox’s original Glee and CBS’ top-rated NCIS, building by 7% in Total Viewers and by 10% in Adults 18-49 from its first half-hour to its second half-hour.  No Ordinary Family drew its biggest audience in 5 weeks – since 10/5/10.  Winning its 9 o’clock time period in viewers and young adults, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars: The Results attracted its largest audience in the hour in 6 weeks and posted its top Adult 18-49 rating in 4 weeks – since 9/28/10 and 10/12/10, respectively.  Former NFL star Kurt Warner was the eighth celebrity to be eliminated from the ABC dance competition this season.  DWTS: The Results registered as the 2nd-most-watched TV show on Tuesday, behind only CBS’ NCIS.  The ABC dancing results show continues to trend ahead of its year-ago performance, up on average this season by 2.6 million viewers and by 16% in Adults 18-49 from the same point a year ago. Returning after it preemption the prior week for election coverage, ABC’s Detroit 1-8-7 once again ranked as the 2nd-most-watched TV show in the 10 o’clock hour, outdrawing NBC’s sophomore drama, Parenthood, for the 7th consecutive telecast (+2.6 million viewer advantage).  The ABC drama also topped its NBC drama competition with Adults 25-54 for the 6th time in 7 telecasts this season, including each of the past 3 match-ups.  Detroit 1-8-7 is bringing more viewers to ABC in the time period, up on average this season by 6% in Total Viewers from the same point a year ago.

Wednesday:  With the Net’s broadcast of The 44th Annual CMA Awards, ABC towered over Wednesday’s prime, beating out second-place CBS on the evening by 5.7 million viewers and by 74% in Adults 18-49.   In fact ABC’s Adult 18-49 winning advantage on the night with the CMA Awards increased noticeably year to year (74% vs. 66% in 2009).  ABC ranked #1 in all 6 half-hours of the night in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.  In fact it was a clean sweep on the evening, as the Net finished #1 on Wednesday across all key Adult, Men and Women demographics (18-34/18-49/25-54), as well as standing as the top-rated broadcaster with Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11.  In viewers and young adults, ABC posted its strongest Wednesday results in 1 year – since 11/11/09.  The Network hit its best Adult 18-49 number on any night this season, while delivering the top non-sports rating for any network on any evening this season.  Marking its 2nd most-watched telecast since 2005, the CMA Awards posted its highest Men 18-34 number in 4 years and its best number with Kids 2-11 in 5 years – since 2006 and 2005, respectively. ABC’s 2010 telecast of the CMA Awards bested CBS’ 2010 telecast of the ACM Awards in April by 3.5 million viewers and by 47% in Adults 18-49.  An estimated 33.8 million viewers watched at least some portion of The 44th Annual CMA Awards on ABC during its 3-hour broadcast – unduplicated Viewers 2+ that watched 6 minutes or more of the telecast.

Thursday: ABC took second place on Thursday in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, while finishing #1 on the night for the 8th straight week among Women 18-34 and Women 18-49.   Surging on its lead-in (+178% in Viewers/+300% in Adults 18-49), ABC self-starter Grey’s Anatomy led Thursday’s 9 o’clock hour in Adults 18-49, qualifying as the #1 series in the time period for the 8th consecutive week.  In its time period, Grey’s outperformed second-place NBC’s comedies (The Office/Outsourced) by +29%, third-place CBS’ CSI by +43% and fourth-place Fox’s Fringe by +135%.  At 10pm, ABC’s Private Practice led its time-slot in Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34 for the 2nd week in a row.  In addition, the show attracted the program’s second-largest audience since its season premiere, behind only the prior week’s season-high telecast.   

Friday: ABC ran a strong second on Friday in Viewers and Adults 18-49, finishing in a virtual-tie for #1 in the key young adult sales demo (pacing within 1-tenth of a rating point and tied in audience share with CBS).  Among Adults 18-49, ABC led NBC by 25% and Fox by 67%.  ABC marked its most-watched Friday of the season and was also up over the year-ago night.  Building on its week-ago season premiere by 11%, the ABC’s Supernanny finished as the 2nd-most-watched TV show in the 8 o’clock hour to CBS’ veteran Medium.  The ABC unscripted show ranked #1 in the hour against its network rivals among Women 18-34.  For the 2nd week running, Supernanny grew its overall audience from the same night last year.  In addition, Supernanny drew ABC’s biggest audience in the time period with regular programming in more than 9 months – since 2/5/10.  Up for the 2nd-straight week in viewers and young adults, ABC’s Primetime: What Would You Do? stood as Friday’s #1 TV show on the major nets in Adults 18-49.  In the 9 o’clock hour, WWYD? beat out CBS’ CSI: NY by 12%, NBC’s Dateline by 58% and Fox’s The Good Guys by 171%.  In addition, the ABC hidden-camera show bested CBS’ CSI: NY in Adults 18-34 for the 3rd week running.  Hitting season-highs in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, Primetime: What Would You Do? generated ABC’s best results in the time period since March – since 3/26/10.   ABC’s 20/20 ranked #1 in the 10 o’clock hour against its network rivals with Adults 18-34.  The ABC newsmagazine also led its time slot for the 2nd week in the row with Women 18-34.  20/20 generated its most-watched telecast in 5 weeks (since 10/8/10) and equaled its 2nd-highest rating this season with Adults 25-54.

Sunday: ABC’s Desperate Housewives ranked as the top non-sports program in the hour in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 for the 6th week in a row.  In head-to-head competition at 9pm, Housewives outperformed CBS’ Undercover Boss by its widest-ever margins of 1.5 million viewers and by 41% in Adults 18-49.  In addition, Desperate Housewives topped Fox’s animated comedies (Family Guy/American Dad) in the hour by 5.6 million viewers and by 27% in Adults 18-49.  In addition, Housewives finished as Sunday’s most-watched entertainment TV show overall for the 5th consecutive week.  During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Brothers & Sisters beat CBS’ CSI: Miami by 9% among Adults 18-49.  In addition, Brothers & Sisters topped its CBS drama competition by substantial margins across each of the key Women demographics: Woman 18-34 (+33%), Women 18-49 (+42%) and Woman 25-54 (+22%).     

(source: ABC)