Overall: During the week of 10/15/12, ABC finished as the 2nd-most-watched network for 3rd time in 4 weeks this season, outdrawing an NFL-fueled NBC by 7% and Fox by 36%. In fact, ABC won the week in the non-sports Adult 18-49 averages, leading CBS by 5%, NBC by 10% and Fox by 29%. The Net delivered 5 of the Top 20 TV shows for the week in Adults 18-49: Modern Family – #6, Grey’s Anatomy – #12, Once Upon a Time – #14, while Suburgatory and Revenge tied at #20. Based on its 2.3 rating point increase this season in the L+7 data, ABC’s Modern Family is projected to finish as the week’s definitive #1 comedy in Adults 18-49. The Network claimed 3 of the Top 10 most-watched programs overall, including the #1 unscripted series with DWTS: DWTS – #5, DWTS: Results Show – #8 and Modern Family – #10. Building its overall audience for the 2nd straight week and gaining 5% in Adults 18-49, ABC marked its best performance since season-premiere week – since w/o 9/24/12.
Monday: DWTS and Castle boosted ABC to the front of the pack on Monday for the 4th straight week this season, topping each half-hour and outdrawing runner-up NBC by 1.2 million viewers (The Voice/Revolution), CBS by 4.5 million viewers (HIMYM/Partners/2 Broke Girls/Mike & Molly/Hawaii Five-0) and Fox by 7.3 million viewers (2012 MLB National League Championship). In addition among Adults 18-49, ABC paced well ahead of Fox’s post-season baseball coverage on the night. Gaining week to week, ABC drew its biggest audience on the night since season-premiere Monday (9/24/12). Growing steadily in each half-hour against strong competition, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars finished as Monday’s most-watched TV series for the 2nd week running and outdrew NBC’s The Voice in head-to-head competition in the time period by 5%. In addition, the ABC unscripted series beat out Fox’s MLB Playoffs in the slot by 50% in Adults 18-49. Monday’s most-watched scripted TV show for the 4th week in a row, ABC’s Castle topped the 10 o’clock hour by sizeable margins, beating out NBC’s Revolution by 2.3 million viewers and CBS’ Hawaii Five-0 by 2.2 million viewers. In addition, the ABC drama ranked as the #2 series in the hour with Adults 25-54. Building its audience for the 2nd week in a row, Castle scored its most-watched telecast this season.
Tuesday: Shifting back into its new 8pm slot, ABC’s DWTS: All-Stars – The Results Show finished as the most-watched TV show of the night, beating NBC’s The Voice by 8% in head-to-head competition and ranking as Tuesday’s top unscripted series for the 4th week in a row. In addition, the ABC dancing results program earned 2nd place in the hour among key Adults (AD18-49/AD25-54). Bristol Palin was the next celebrity dancer to be eliminated from the competition this season. From 8-9pm, ABC’s DWTS: The Results Show beat out Fox’s comedy block (Raising Hope/Ben & Kate) by a resounding 43% in Adults 18-49. Additionally, Dancing outdelivered Fox’s “young skewing” comedies among Adults 18-34 (+8%). Despite its earlier time slot with lower overall TV usage levels, The Results Show exhibited strong retention of its week-ago 9pm telecast in Total Viewers (97%), Adults 25-54 (97%), Adults 18-49 (91%) and Adults 18-34 (100%). DWTS: All Stars – The Results Show drew ABC’s largest audience in the hour in over 1 year and its top Adult 18-49 rating in 8 months – since 10/11/11 and 2/7/12, respectively.
Wednesday: ABC finished a strong second on Wednesday in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 (pacing within 1-tenth of a rating point for the lead), while ranking #1 on the evening with Adults 18-34 and key Women (W18-34/W18-49). For its 3rd straight telecast this season, ABC’s Modern Family stood as Wednesday’s #1 TV show in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. At 8pm, ABC’s The Middle ran in a near-tie with CBS’ Survivor for #1 in Adults 18-49. In addition the ABC comedy won its half-hour in Adults 18-34, key Women (W18-34/W18-49) and Teens 12-17. Up for the 2nd straight week, ABC’s The Middle grew over its week-ago telecast in viewers (+6%) and Adults 18-49 (+4%). At 8:30pm, ABC’s The Neighbors once again dominated its freshman comedy competition, beating NBC’s Guys with Kids by 2.1 million viewers and by 36% in Adults 18-49. Building its overall audience week to week (+2%), The Neighbors was also up in Adults 18-34 (+8%), Teens 12-17 (+25%) and Kids 2-11 (+25%), for its best numbers yet in its time period. The ABC family comedy hit a series high with Kids 2-11, even topping its post-Modern Family opener. Shooting to the top of its 9pm slot in viewers and young adults, ABC’s Modern Family defeated runner-up CBS’ Criminal Minds by 52% in Adults 18-49. Modern Family saw its overall audience grow from the previous week (+2%), also increasing with Adults 25-54 (+4%), Teens 12-17 (+14%) and Kids 2-11 (+33%). In the 9:30pm half-hour, ABC’s sophomore season opener of Suburgatory earned second in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, while winning its slot with Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34. In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, Suburgatory scored its highest numbers in over 9 months – since 1/11/12. Holding a strong 89% of its Total Viewer lead-in during the 10pm hour opposite CBS’ time period veteran CSI, ABC’s Nashville continued to dominate its freshman drama competition in the slot. For the 2nd week in row, Nashville beat out NBC’s Chicago Fire by wide margins, leading by 16% in viewers and by 33% in Adults 18-49. In addition, the new ABC drama defeated its broadcast competition in the hour for the 2nd week in row with Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34. Nashville retained a solid 75% of its big week-ago debut audience coming out of Modern Family. ABC’s Nashville is a big gainer in DVR playback. Based on Live + 3 Day data for last Wednesday (10/10/12), Nashville shot up over its Live + Same Day numbers by +2.7 million viewers on average and spiked by +1.1 rating points (+39%) in Adults 18-49.
Thursday: ABC earned second place on Thursday night in viewers, while ranking #1 with Women 18-34. ABC was up over the year-ago night by 7% in Total Viewers. Growing week to week in the 8 o’clock hour against CBS’ top-rated comedies (The Big Bang Theory/Two and a Half Men), ABC freshman Last Resort took second place among the broadcasters in viewers and young adults, finishing well ahead of Fox’s MLB National League Championship, and continued to dominate NBC’s comedies (30 Rock/Up All Night). The biggest percentage gainer via DVR playback for any 8pm show, ABC’s Last Resort shot up by 2.7 million viewers and by 46% (+1.0 rating) in Adults 18-49 from the next-day L+SD numbers to the final L+7 numbers. Improving the hour year to year for ABC for its 4th straight telecast, on average Last Resort is boosting its time period by double digits in Total Viewers (+13%) and Adults 18-49 (+20%) over the same point last season with original drama programming. Last Resort was up over the prior week by 3% in Total Viewers, by 5% in Adults 25-54, by 6% in Adults 18-49 and by 10% in Adults 18-34. Coming off a pre-emption the previous week for the Vice Presidential debate, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy doubled its lead-in among Adults 18-49 (+100%) at 9pm to dominate its competition in the hour and stand as Thursday’s #1 drama for its 3rd consecutive telecast this season. Leading by double digits in the 9 o’clock hour, ABC’s Grey’s outpaced CBS’ Person of Interest by 21%, NBC’s comedies by 79% (The Office/Parks and Recreation) and Fox’s post-season baseball by 113%. Spiking in DVR Playback, Grey’s adds 3.3 million viewers and a 1.5 Adult 18-49 rating points from its next-day numbers to its L+7 finals. Retaining nearly all of its Adult 18-49 audience from its last telecast two weeks ago, ABC’s Scandal continued to close the gap with CBS’ Elementary (pacing within 1 share) in the 10 o’clock hour, while overshadowing NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams in Total Viewers (+77%) and Adults 18-49 (+111%). In addition, Scandal beat Elementary to stand as the #1 scripted TV show in its slot in Adults 18-34 and across all key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). A big beneficiary of DVR playback, the 10 o’clock drama built by 2.6 million viewers and by 43% in young adults over its first-reported L+SD numbers to its Live + 7 Day results.
Friday: Featuring Shark Tank, What Would You Do? and 20/20, ABC ranked #1 on Friday versus its network rivals in Adults 18-49. The Net hit season highs on the evening in viewers and young adults. Shark Tank qualified as Friday’s #1 TV series for the 3rd straight week across all key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54). At 8pm, ABC’s Shark Tank jumped to the top of its hour in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, leading the pack for the 6th consecutive week in the key young adult sales demo. ABC’s Shark Tank scored new series highs in Total Viewers (2nd week in a row) and Adults 18-49. On average, Shark Tank is up by 13% in Total Viewers and by 17% in Adults 18-49 over its prior season average, marking its strongest season ever. From 9-10pm, ABC’s What Would You Do? tied NBC’s Grimm, while defeating CBS’ CSI: NY by 25%. The ABC newsmagazine was Friday’s #2 TV series in Adults 18-49 on the major networks, behind only ABC’s Shark Tank. Up over the prior week by 2% in viewers and by 7% in Adults 18-49, What Would You Do? posted its best results since its season premiere – since 9/14/12. During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s 20/20 ranked as the #1 series in Adults 18-49, outdelivering CBS’ Blue Bloods and NBC’s competing newsmagazine. 20/20 beat out Dateline in Total Viewers (+8%), Adults 18-49 (+8%) and Adults 25-54 (+5%). ABC’s 20/20 featured Chris Cuomo’s exclusive interview with Victim #1 in the Penn State sex abuse scandal. ABC’s 20/20 earned its highest numbers in 5 weeks with Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 – since 9/14/12. On average this season, 20/20 is growing over the comparable weeks last year in Total Viewers (+2%), Adults 18-49 (+7%) and Adults 25-54 (+5%).
Saturday: With coverage of Saturday Night Football (Florida State at Miami/Baylor at Texas), ABC easily won the night in Adults 18-49, outperforming Fox with its college football coverage by 143%. Hitting a season high on the night, the Net was up week to week by 31% among young adults to equal its strongest Saturday night in 7 weeks – since 9/1/12. Saturday Night Football stood as the definitive #1 TV show on Saturday among Adults 18-49. Growing over the prior week’s game by 20% with young adults, Saturday Night Football matched in its best young adult number since the beginning of September – since 9/1/12. Saturday Night Football shot up over coverage on the year-ago night by 37% in Total Viewers and by 64% in Adults 18-49.
Sunday: Despite another Sunday of big sports competition from NBC’s Sunday Night Football contest (Pittsburgh Steelers-Cincinnati Bengals) and an NFL-fueled CBS from a monster Jets-Patriots overrun into the first hour of prime, as well as Fox with MLB Playoffs (National League Championship Game 6), ABC built its numbers week to week in Total Viewers (+3%) and Adults 18-49 (+5%). ABC beat out Fox’s MLB post-season baseball coverage on the night in both viewers and young adults. Catapulting over its lead-in by 154% in Adults 18-49 and building from start to finish, ABC’s Once Upon a Time registered as Sunday’s #1 scripted broadcast series for the 4th week running. From 8-9pm, Once Upon a Time ranked #1 in its hour with key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54) and Teens 12-17. Season to date based on L+7 ratings, Once Upon a Time spikes by 3.0 million viewers and by 1.3 Adult 18-49 rating points (+35%) over its initially-reported Live + Same Day ratings. Once Upon a Time grew week to week in Total Viewers (+5%) and Adults 18-49 (+10%), while delivering a best-since-premiere number with Teens 12-17. Exhibiting strong lead-in retention in the 9 o’clock hour, ABC’s Revenge finished #2 against its broadcast competition among young adults (AD18-34/AD18-49). A big gainer in DVR playback, on average this season Revenge leaps from its L+SD to L+7 numbers by 2.8 million viewers and by 1.2 Adult 18-49 rating points (+41%). Marking its strongest results since its season premiere, ABC’s Revenge was up over the prior week in both viewers (+5%) and young adults (+8%). In addition, Revenge was up nicely over its year-ago Wednesday telecast (on 10/19/11), increasing by 9% in Total Viewers and by 12% in Adults 18-49. During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s 666 Park Avenue beat out CBS’ veteran drama The Good Wife in Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34. In fact, the new ABC drama qualified as the #1 entertainment broadcast series in its time slot for the 4th week in a row with Women 18-34. Ranking among the biggest freshman series this season in DVR playback, on average 666 Park Avenue sees its Live + 7 Day Adult 18-49 rating jump by 53% (+1.0 rating) and adds on another 2.3 million viewers over its Live + Same Day numbers. Building week to week in Adults 18-49 (+13%) and Adults 18-34 (+8%), ABC’s 666 Park Avenue equaled its highest numbers since its series debut telecast.
