Overall: During the week of 3/25/13, ABC earned second place in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, beating both NBC (w/The Voice premieres) and Fox (w/Idol). The Net outdrew NBC by 1.7 million viewers and Fox by 1.9 million viewers, while holding a 6% advantage in Adults 18-49 over each net. ABC was #1 for the 3rd straight week with Women 18-49. ABC aired 5 of the Top 20 TV entertainment shows for the week in Adults 18-49, including the #1 comedy with Modern Family: Modern Family – #5, Grey’s Anatomy – #10, Scandal – #13, while DWTS and DWTS: The Results Show tied at #19. In addition, Dancing was once again TV’s most-watched unscripted series, topping both installments of Fox’s Idol and NBC’s The Voice. ABC placed 6 of the Top 20 most-watched TV programs overall, with DWTS, DWTS: The Results Show, Castle, Body of Proof, Modern Family and Grey’s.
Monday: Featuring Week 2 of DWTS Season 16 and Castle, ABC stood as Monday’s most-watched TV net (5th time in 6 weeks), beating runner-up NBC with The Voice premiere and the return of Revolution by 1.7 million viewers. For the 2nd week in a row, DWTS was the most-watched TV show overall on Monday and Castle was the night’s most-watched scripted program. Up over Week 2 of Season 15 by 2.1 million viewers and 14% in Adults 18-49, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars was the most-watched show in its 2-hour time period, outdrawing the season opener of The Voice by 7% in head-to-head competition. Among Adults 18-49, DWTS outdelivered Fox’s dramas in each hour (Bones/The Following), leading by 14% on average in its time period. ABC’s Castle was the most-watched TV show in 10 o’clock hour (5th straight telecast), topping CBS Hawaii Five-0 by 2.0 million viewers and the return of Revolution by a best-ever 3.6 million viewers. In addition, the ABC drama outdelivered Hawaii Five-0 in both Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54.
Tuesday: Opposite all-original competition, ABC earned #2 to CBS on Tuesday, outdrawing NBC with the premiere of The Voice by 3.3 million viewers and Fox by 5.8 million viewers. The Net delivered Tuesday’s most-watched unscripted series with the opener of DWTS: The Results Show, and Body of Proof topped the 10 o’clock hour over CBS’ Golden Boy for the first time in viewers and young adults. The Net posted its most-watched Tuesday in 4 months – since 11/27/12. Gaining viewers (+6%) and young adults (+12%) from start to finish in the 8pm hour against big competition from NBC’s The Voice Tuesday premiere and CBS’ top-rated NCIS, ABC newcomer Splash outdrew Fox’s veteran Hell’s Kitchen by 2.0 million viewers. Boosting ABC up to a strong second in the 9 o’clock hour, the 16th season opener of DWTS: The Results Show grew by double digits from its Season 15 premiere in Total Viewers (+14%) and Adults 18-49 (+14%). ABC’s dancing results show dominated original comedies in the hour among Adults 18-49 on both Fox (+26% over New Girl/Mindy Project) and NBC (+50% over The Voice-led Go On/New Normal). In addition, it finished #1 in its slot with key Women (W18-49/W25-54), while ranking as Tuesday’s most-watched unscripted show, holding a 1.0 million viewer advantage over NBC’s The Voice (8-9pm). Olympic Gold medalist Dorothy Hamill was the first celebrity to leave the competition in Season 16, removing herself on the advice of her spine surgeon. In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, it was the top non-finale delivery for any The Results Show telecast in Adults 18-49 since May 8, 2012. Posting new season highs for the 2nd straight week, ABC’s Body of Proof ranked #1 in the 10 o’clock hour over CBS’ Golden Boy and Smash in Total Viewers, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54. Up week to week in viewers (+14%) and young adults (+7%) to season-best numbers, Body of Proof grew its overall audience for the 4th straight week to deliver ABC’s most-watched scripted telecast in the hour in nearly 1 year – since 4/10/12.
Wednesday: Returning to an all-original Wednesday lineup for the first time in 4 weeks, ABC earned second place to Fox with a 2-hour Idol in Adults 18-49. ABC’s Modern Family tied American Idol in Adults 18-49 as the top-rated broadcast on Wednesday. Once TV playback is factored in, Modern Family gains 2.2 Adult 18-49 rating points on average and will likely be the sole #1 TV show on the night. Opposite the opening half-hours of Idol and CBS’ Survivor at 8pm, ABC’s The Middle outdelivered NBC’s Whitney by 4.0 million viewers and by 80% in Adults 18-49. Gaining week to week at 8:30pm in viewers (+15%) and young adults (+7%), ABC’s freshman season finale of The Neighbors dominated NBC’s sophomore season finale of Whitney by 2.6 million viewers and by 50% in Adults 18-49. More than doubling its Adult 18-49 lead-in at 9pm (+113%), ABC’s Modern Family held a 100% advantage over its nearest scripted competition in the half-hour (NBC’s Law & Order: SVU). In addition, Modern Family ranked #1 in the half hour across all key Men (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54) and Teens 12-17. In the 9:30pm half-hour, ABC’s Suburgatory stood as the #1 scripted show with Adults 18-49. The sophomore ABC sitcom surged week to week in viewers (+26%) and young adults (+27%) to deliver its best numbers in 1 month on both measures. Improving its slot over original programming on the same night last year, Suburgatory drew 29% more viewers to ABC in the half-hour year to year. In its first original airing since February 27th, ABC’s Nashville ranked as the #1 scripted show in the 10 o’clock hour with Women 18-34 for its 8th straight original. In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, the show was on par with its last original 4 weeks ago. Catapulting 81% (+1.3 rating points) over its initially reported Live + Same Day Adult 18-49 rating for its last original, ABC’s Nashville was that week’s biggest percentage gainer for any new series, growing from a 1.6 rating to a 2.9 rating in the final Live + 7 numbers.
Thursday: With Wife Swap, Grey’s and Scandal, ABC ranked #1 on Thursday in Adults 18-49 for the 2nd week in a row (tied with CBS’ NCAA Basketball Tournament coverage). In fact, ABC beat Fox by 15% in Adults 18-49, marking the Net’s first win over Fox on a Thursday in the three years with American Idol airing on the night. ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy outdelivered Idol to stand as Thursday’s #1 TV show for the 2nd straight week in Adults 18-49. In addition, ABC’s Scandal paced within 2-tenths of a rating point of Idol on the night, delivering its closest finishes ever on its last two telecasts. Please Note: Heading into the Easter holiday weekend, overall Adult 18-49 TV usage declined a notable -5% week to week. During the 8 o’clock hour, ABC’s Wife Swap ranked as the #2 series on the major nets to Idol among Adults 18-49 and, despite facing basketball coverage, retained 100% of its week-ago premiere Men 18-34 number.
More than doubling its Adult 18-49 lead-in at 9pm (+107%), ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy dominated its hour, beating NCAA Basketball Tournament coverage by 53% and Fox’s Idol-led 1-hour finale of Raising Hope by 123%. Up against strong competition from high-rated basketball coverage during the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Scandal was up week to week with Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34 to equal its highest ratings ever. In fact, Scandal held 100% of its Adult 18-34 lead-in from Grey’s and built for the first time ever with Women 18-34 to qualify as Thursday’s #1 TV show with young women. Scandal was once again Thursday’s #1 broadcast series based on total tweets (155k), delivering 2.7 million total tweets so far this season.
Friday: With the time period premiere of Happy Endings leading into originals of Shark Tank and 20/20, ABC defeated NBC by 30% in Adults 18-49 and Fox by 86%. In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, Shark Tank was Friday’s #1 TV series and 20/20 was the night’s top-rated newsmagazine. From 8-9pm, the Friday premiere of ABC’s Happy Endings defeated NBC’s Fashion Star in the hour by 14% in Adults 18-49. In its first original telecast in 3 weeks, ABC’s Shark Tank returned to rank as Friday’s #1 TV series in Adults 18-49 for the 3rd time in its last 4 original telecasts. Shark Tank was the #1 broadcast program in the 9 o’clock hour in the key adult demo, outpacing NCAA Tournament coverage on CBS by 6% and NBC’s Grimm by 29%, while more than tripling the performance of Fox’s Touch (+260%). In the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s 20/20 dominated NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams by 1.7 million viewers, by 75% in Adults 18-49 and by 73% in Adults 25-54 to rank as Friday’s top-rated newsmagazine in all 3 Nielsen measures. 20/20 has beaten Rock Center in all 8 head-to-head matchups in both key Adult demos and in 7 of 8 in Total Viewers. 20/20 reported on incredible tales of real relationships gone awry with “The Ultimate Betrayal.” Despite facing basketball coverage, 20/20 retained nearly all of its week-ago audience (95%) to draw its 2nd-most-watched telecast since December – since 12/14/12.
Saturday: With the 33rd replay of the 1956 Cecil B. DeMille classic, The Ten Commandments, ABC ranked as the #1 entertainment network on Saturday night in Adults 18-49, beating NBC by 50% and more than doubling Fox (+140%). ABC hit an 11-week high on the night with Adults 18-49 – since 1/12/13. In fact, the classic movie gave ABC its best Saturday performance with Teens 12-17 in 4 months – since 11/24/12. Airing from 7-11:22pm, The Ten Commandments finished as the most-watched entertainment program of the night.
