TV’s No. 1 Non-Sports Net on Wednesday, ABC Scores its Highest Adult 18-49 Rating on the Night in 4 Weeks, Opposite the World Series.
“Modern Family” and “Cougar Town” Are the Night’s Top 2 Series in Key Adults.
Achieving a Best-Since-Premiere Adult 18-49 Rating, “The Middle” Finishes As the No. 1 Non-Sports Program at 8:30pm in Viewers and Young Adults.
Opposite the World Series, “Modern Family” Hits its Top Adult 18-49 Number.
In 4 Weeks and Marks Series Highs with Adults 18-34, Key Men, Teens and Kids. Building Week to Week Among Viewers and Young Adults, “Cougar Town” Tallies a Best-Since-Premiere Number in Men 18-34
At 10pm, ABC’s “Eastwick” Beats “NBC’s “Jay Leno” by 20% in Adults 18-49, Growing by 13% Over the Prior Week in the Key Young Adult Sales Demo
Wednesday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC finished as the No. 1 non-sports network on Wednesday night among Adults 18-49 (2.5/6).
* Despite going up against Game 1 of the 2009 World Series (NY Yankees-Philadelphia Phillies) on the night, ABC posted its highest-rated Wednesday in 4 weeks (since 9/30/09) among Adults 18-49, surging by 14% over the prior week (2.5/6 vs. 2.2/6). In fact each of ABC’s Wednesday series increased week to week in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.
* With “Modern Family” and “Cougar Town,” ABC delivered the Top 2 series telecasts on Wednesday across the key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54).
“The Middle” (8:30-9:00 p.m.)
Building on its lead-in at 8:30 p.m. (a replay of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”), ABC’s “The Middle” finished as the No. 1 non-sports TV show in its half-hour among Total Viewers (6.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.2/6).
* “The Middle” was up week to week by 10% in Adults 18-49 (2.2/6 vs. 2.0/6), to post a best-since premiere number. The new comedy hit series-highs with Men 18-34, Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11.
“Modern Family” (9:00-9:30 p.m.)
Shooting up from its lead-in by 68% in Adults 18-49, ABC’s “Modern Family” beat out its non-sports competitors at 9:00pm to qualify as the No. 1 TV series of the night (3.7/9). The ABC series won its hour, beating the World Series, among key Women: W18-49 (4.2/10) and W25-54 (4.8/11).
* “Modern Family” was up week to week in Total Viewers (+6%) Adults 18-49 (+9%), hitting its best young adult number in 4 weeks – since 9/30/09. Although it faced the World Series, the freshman ABC comedy achieved series-high numbers in Adults 18-34, key Men (M18-34/M18-49), Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11.
* “Modern Family” is exhibiting big increases over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback, jumping by 1.2 million viewers and by an additional 7-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.
“Cougar Town” (9:30-10:00 p.m.)
Following its lead, ABC’s “Cougar Town” defeated its non-sports competition at 9:30 p.m. and finished as the No. 2 TV series on Wednesday in Adults 18-49 (3.2/8).
* “Cougar Town” gained week to week in viewers and young adults, while hitting a best-since-premiere number with Men 18-34.
* Like its lead-in, “Cougar Town” is producing gains over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback, increasing by 1.1 million viewers and by an additional 5-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.
“Eastwick” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC’s “Eastwick” continued to beat NBC’s “Jay Leno” in the 10 o’clock hour, leading by 20% this week among Adults 18-49 (1.8/5 vs. 1.5/4).
* “Eastwick” built its Adult 18-49 audience by 13% over the prior week (1.8/5 vs. 1.6/4), tallying its best number in 3 weeks.
* “Eastwick” is seeing bumps from the first-reported numbers through DVR playback, surging by 1.0 million viewers and by an additional 4-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.
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 33% currently, from 28% at the same point in 2008. 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 and Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 10/28/09.
