Beating Out its Non-Sports Driven Competition on CBS, ABC Hits Sunday Season-Highs in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49
“America’s Funniest Home Videos” Draws its Biggest Audience Since March
At 8pm, ABC’s “Home Edition” Beat CBS’ “Amazing Race” Across Key Adults, Equaling the Series’ Biggest Overall Audience in the Hour in More Than 1 Year
Generating its Biggest Audience in 6 Weeks, ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” Stands as Sunday’s Most-Watched Entertainment Show for 8 Weeks Running
Marking its Most-Watched Telecast in Nearly 8 Months, “Brothers & Sisters” Tops CBS’ “Cold Case” at 10pm by 1 Million Viewers and by 52% in Adults 18-49
Sunday Night (7:00-11:00 p.m.)
Hitting Sunday season highs up against substantial sports competition on the evening, with Fox’s big NFL overrun (Dallas-Green Bay) into the 7 o’clock hour and another huge turnout for NBC’s down-to-the-wire Sunday Night Football game (Patriots-Colts), ABC beat its non-sports driven competition on CBS by 7% in Total Viewers (11.1 million vs. 10.4 million) and by 52% in Adults 18-49 (3.5/9 vs. 2.3/6).
ABC drew its biggest non-sports audience on the night (excluding the Oscars) in nearly 1 year and its best Adult 18-49 number in 6 months – since 11/30/08 and 5/17/09, respectively.
“America’s Funniest Home Videos” (7:00-8:00 p.m.)
In the 7 o’clock hour against Fox’s NFL overrun, ABC’s “America’s Funniest Home Videos” drew its biggest audience (8.5 million) since the beginning of March (since 3/1/09), while posting its second-highest Adult 18-49 number (2.2/6) this season.
“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
In the 8 o’clock hour, ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” defeated its CBS unscripted competition in the time slot (“Amazing Race”) across each of the key Adult demos: AD18-34 (2.6/7), AD18-49 (3.6/9) and AD25-54 (4.5/10).
Earning season highs in Total Viewers (11.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.6/9), ABC’s “Home Edition” equaled its biggest audience in the hour in more than 1 year and its highest young adult number since early January – since 10/26/08 and 1/4/09, respectively.
“Desperate Housewives” (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” once again finished as Sunday’s No. 1 non-sports television program in Total Viewers (14.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.9/12), qualifying as the night’s most-watched entertainment program on all 8 weeks this season and for 6 straight weeks among Adults 18-49.
Growing week to week in Total Viewers (+4%) and Adults 18-49 (+11%), “Desperate Housewives” drew its biggest audience in 6 weeks, its 2nd biggest this season – since 10/4/09.
“Housewives” is generating an even bigger increase this season than last over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback, picking up an average 1.7 million viewers and 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.
“Brothers & Sisters” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Surging week to week in viewers (+12%) and young adults (+10%), ABC’s “Brothers & Sisters” continued to dominate its drama competition in the 10 o’clock hour, topping CBS’ “Cold Case” by 1 million viewers (10.2 million vs. 9.2 million) and by 52% in Adults 18-49 (3.2/8 vs. 2.1/5).
Producing its biggest audience this season, “Brothers & Sisters” generated its most-watched telecast in nearly 8 months – since 3/22/09.
Like its lead-in, “Brothers & Sisters” is seeing a sizeable uptick this season over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback (also bigger than last season), picking up an average 1.3 million viewers and 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.
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: data and information provided by ABC. Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 11/15/09. DVR Playback = 9/21-11/1/09)
