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 (+10% in viewers/+50% in young adults) to stand as Sunday’s #1 TV series in viewers and young adults. 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 3.4 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 (+34%) 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.
Finishing as the most-watched TV series in the 9pm hour, ABC’s Desperate Housewives outdrew Fox’s comedies (Family Guy/American Dad) by 2.0 million viewers and NBC’s Fear Factor by 3.0 million viewers.
(Source: ABC)
