Overall: Based on Nielsen’s non-sports averages for the week of 9/27/10, ABC finished #2 in Adults 18-49, outdelivering Fox by 12% and NBC by 40%. For the 2nd week in a row, the Net took second place overall (all programming) among Total Viewers, while ranking #1 with key Women (W18-34/W18-49). ABC aired 4 of the Top 10 TV shows for the week in Adults 18-49 (more than any other network), delivering the 4 of the Top 6 non-sports programs. Dancing with the Stars – #5 (#2 non-sports show), Modern Family and Grey’s Anatomy tied at #7 (tied as #4 non-sports shows) and Desperate Housewives – #9 (#6 non-sports show). For the 2nd consecutive week this season, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars stood as America’s most-watched TV show overall.
Monday: ABC finished as the most-watched network for the second straight Monday of the 2010-11 TV Season. During prime, ABC outdrew CBS by 6.7 million viewers and by 8% in Adults 18-49. Growing its Monday results year to year for the 2nd week in row, ABC was up over the same night last season by 3.5 million viewers and by 28% in Adults 18-49 (14.5 million and 3.2/8 on 9/28/09). ABC’s Dancing with the Stars won its 2-hour time period for the 2nd consecutive week with Total Viewers and across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). DWTS outperformed CBS’ original comedy block by 10.7 million viewers and by 23% in Adults 18-49. DWTS stood as Monday’s #1 TV program for the second week in a row in Total Viewers and across all key Women demographics. Dancing registered its most-watched-ever Week 2 ever in the Fall and 3rd-highest second week in Adults 18-49, its best young adult number in 3 years (since 10/1/07). In addition, for the 1st time ever in-season, DWTS grew its overall audience from Week 1 to Week 2. In the 10pm hour, ABC’s Castle grew from its week-ago season premiere in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, delivering the program’s best numbers since April – since 4/12/10. Castle beat CBS’ high-profile reboot, Hawaii Five-0, among Women 18-34 and Women 18-49. The ABC drama was up sharply over its performance in the hour on the same night last year for the 2nd straight week, jumping by nearly 2 million viewers and by 27% in Adults 18-49.
Tuesday: With its new Tuesday line up in place ABC posted huge year-to-year improvement, soaring over the year-ago night (9/29/09) by nearly 4 million viewers and by 50% in Adults 18-49. Despite debuting against fierce established competition in Tuesday’s 8 o’clock hour (opposite Fox’s Glee, CBS’ NCIS and NBC’s The Biggest Loser), No Ordinary Family was highly competitive, gained audience throughout its premiere and generated enormous year-over-year time-period improvement for ABC. In the opening hour of the evening, No Ordinary Family debuted with an impressive 10.7 million viewers and a 3.2/9 in Adults 18-49, beating out NBC’s first hour of The Biggest Loser by 3.8 million viewers and by 28% in Adults 18-49. Building audience throughout its premiere telecast, the new series gained 1 million viewers and 10% in Adults 18-49 from its first half-hour to its second half-hour. More than doubling ABC’s year-ago performance in the hour, No Ordinary Family improved the time period by +123% in Total Viewers and by +113% in Adults 18-49 from the same night last year. Building on its lead-in and gaining audience throughout its telecast against stiff competition, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars: The Results ranked #1 in the 9 o’clock hour for the 2nd week in a row with viewers and Adults 18-49. DWTS: The Results towered over its unscripted competition in the time period, topping the second half of NBC’s The Biggest Loser by 9.8 million viewers and by 28% in Adults 18-49. Grammy-winner Michael Bolton was the second celebrity dancer to be eliminated from the competition this season. DWTS: The Results marked its most-watched-ever Episode 2 in the Fall and its 2nd-highest Adult 18-49 number. Opposite the season premiere of CBS’ The Good Wife, ABC’s Detroit 1-8-7 defeated NBC’s time-period established Parenthood in the 10 o’clock hour in both Total Viewers (+81%) and Adults 18-49 (+5%), outdrawing the NBC sophomore by an even wider margin on their second match-up. The ABC freshman also ranked #2 in the hour for the 2nd straight week with Adults 25-54, outdelivering Parenthood by 25%. Detroit 1-8-7 improved the hour for ABC year to year, boosting the time period over the same night last year by 16% in Total Viewers and by 5% in Adults 18-49 (Week 2 of The Forgotten on 9/29/09). Detroit 1-8-7 exhibited strong retention of its week-ago series debut with Total Viewers (94%) and Adults 18-49 (91%). In fact the new ABC police drama retained 100% of its debut audience among Men 18-49 and grew from its premiere among Men 25-54.
Wednesday: Leading off Wednesday night for ABC, The Middle qualified as the second-most-watched TV show in the 8pm half-hour to CBS’ Survivor: Nicaragua, outdrawing NBC’s Undercovers by 18% and Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen by 45%. The Middle showed impressive retention of its week-ago debut in its new time period among viewers (95%) and young adults (93%). The sophomore comedy also generated strong year-to-year time period improvement for ABC, growing the half-hour by 19% in Adults 18-49 over the same night a year ago. Continuing to deliver solid lead-in retention for ABC at 8:30pm (89%) on its second telecast, Better with You beat its freshman competition in the half-hour among Adults 18-49, NBC’s Undercovers, by an even wider margin of 29% on their second matchup (up from a 19% advantage the first week). The new ABC comedy held a strong 89% of its week-ago debut audience overall and 88% in Adults 18-49. Standing as Wednesday’s definitive #1 TV show for the 2nd week in a row, ABC’s Modern Family once again dominated its 9pm half-hour, beating second-place CBS’ Criminal Minds by 31% in Adults 18-49. Modern Family rose sharply from its year-ago performance, adding on 1.9 million viewers and 21% more Adults 18-49. Modern Family pulled in the series’ 3rd-largest-audience-ever (behind only its two season premieres), its 2nd-highest-ever Adult 18-49 number (behind only last week’s season opener) and achieved a new series high with Teens 12-17. At 9:30pm, Cougar Town exhibited solid retention of its week-ago season opener, pulling in the series’ 2nd-highest Total Viewer number since January and since early February in Adults 18-49 (behind only the last week’s premiere) – since 1/20/10 and 2/3/10, respectively. Opposite stiff competition in the final hour of the night from NBC’s highly-promoted debut of Law & Order: Los Angeles, ABC’s The Whole Truth retained a noteworthy 94% of its week-ago series debut audience.
Thursday: ABC ran a competitive second on Thursday among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, while finishing #1 on the evening for the 2nd week in a row in Adults 18-34 and key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49). Surging from its lead-in (+229% in Total Viewers/+318% in Adults 18-49), self-starter Grey’s Anatomy jumped to the top of the 9 o’clock hour to finish as the #1 TV show on Thursday for the 2nd week running in Adults 18-49. Widening its winning advantage in the time period week to week, Grey’s outdelivered runner-up NBC’s comedies by +39% (The Office/Outsourced), CBS’ CSI by +48% and Fox’s Fringe by +142%. In the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Private Practice ranked a close second to CBS’ The Mentalist among Adults 18-49, while topping NBC’s The Apprentice by 113%. For the 2nd consecutive week, Private Practice dominated The Mentalist with Adults 18-34, leading its CBS drama competition by an even wider margin of 39% on Week 2 of the season.
Sunday: Despite facing heavy sports-driven competition on the evening, ABC was up over the prior week’s season premiere Sunday in both Total Viewers (+3%) and Adults 18-49 (+7%). Building on its lead-in at 8pm, ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition grew from its week-ago season opener with Total Viewers, Adults 18-34, Adults 25-54 and Kids 2-11. Against stiff competition on the night, including another big Sunday Night Football contest on NBC (Chicago Bears-NY Giants), a sports-fueled Fox with an NFL primetime overrun and CBS with its time period premiere of Undercover Boss and season opener of CSI Miami at 10pm, ABC’s Desperate Housewives registered as Sunday’s #1 non-sports television program among Adults 18-49. Housewives also finished #1 against non-sports competition in its 9 o’clock time slot in Adults 18-49, beating CBS’ slot premiere of Undercover Boss by 10% and Fox’s comedies (Family Guy/American Dad) by 26%. For the 2nd week in a row, Housewives qualified as Sunday’s #1 TV program overall across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). For the 2nd year in a row, Housewives built its audience from Week 1 to Week 2 of the season in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. In fact on both counts, the ABC drama posted its best results since early January – since 1/10/10. Opposite the conclusion of the NFL game, ABC’s Brothers & Sisters ranked as the #1 non-sports program in the 10 o’clock hour, beating CBS’ season premiere of CSI: Miami by strong margins in Adults 18-34 (+24%) and among key Women demos: W18-34 (+48%) and W18-49 (+11%). Despite facing increased drama competition in the time period, Brothers & Sisters was up over its week-earlier season premiere in Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34. In fact the ABC drama posted its highest young adult numbers since early January and its top Women 18-34 number since early December – since 1/10/10 and 12/6/09, respectively.
(source; ABC)
