ABC is No. 1 on Thursday Among Adults 18-49 for the 4th Week in a Row, Up Year to Year by 1.1 Million Viewers and by 19% in Adults 18-49.
ABC’s Thursday Premiere of “Wipeout” is No. 1 at 8pm in Viewers and Young Adults, Standing as the Night’s Top Program Among Adults 18-49.
“Rookie Blue” Stands as TV’s Top-Rated Scripted Summer Debut in Over 1 Year In Adults 18-49 and Marks ABC’s Best Summer Scripted Opener in Nearly 6 Years.
“Boston Med” Premiere Takes Second in its Slot in Viewers and Young Adults, Posting the Net’s Best Numbers at 10pm with Regular Summer Programming in Over 1 Year.
Thursday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC’s Thursday lineup ranked No. 1 on the night among Adults 18-49 (1.9/6), taking the Net to the top spot on the evening for the 4th week in a row and for the 5th time in the last 6 weeks. ABC beat Fox by 6% (1.8/6), CBS by 36% (1.4/5) and NBC by 138% (0.8/3).
ABC saw strong year-to-year (6/25/09) improvement in Total Viewers (+1.1 million viewers – 6.7 million vs. 5.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (+19% – 1.9/6 vs. 1.6/5), drawing the Net’s best non-sports summer numbers in nearly 4 years in Total Viewers and in over 3 years among young adults – since 8/24/06 and 5/31/07, respectively.
“Wipeout” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
The Thursday premiere of ABC’s “Wipeout” won its time period in both Total Viewers (7.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.6/10), standing as Thursday’s No. 1 program in the key young adult demo.
In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, “Wipeout” registered ABC’s strongest non-sports performance in the time period since November – since 11/19/09 and 11/12/09, respectively.
“Rookie Blue” (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
The series opener of “Rookie Blue” drew 7.3 million viewers and a 2.0 rating, 6 share among Adults 18-49, winning the 9 o’clock hour in Total Viewers.
“Rookie Blue” improved the hour year to year for ABC in Total Viewers (+1.6 million) and in Adults 18-49 (+18%) over original programming on the year-ago night (“20/20” special – 5.7 million & 1.7/5).
In Adults 18-49, “Rookie Blue” stands as TV’s top-rated summer scripted series debut in over 1 year and ABC’s highest in nearly 6 years – since 5/26/09 and 7/18/04, respectively.
“Boston Med” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
At 10:00 p.m., ABC’s series debut of “Boston Med” placed second in Total Viewers (5.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.3/4), turning in the Net’s best performance in the hour with regular summer programming in over 1 year – since 5/28/09.
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.
(Source: ABC – The Nielsen Company (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 6/24/10.)
