Overall: Delivering its most-watched non-Oscar week since November, ABC was the #2 TV net to CBS, leading Fox by 1.6 million viewers and NBC by 3.3 million viewers. Among Adults 18-49, ABC ran within 1-tenth of a rating point of an Idol-led Fox, while beating NBC by 50%. The Net finished #1 for the 2nd week in a row with Women 18-49. ABC claimed 4 of the Top 20 TV shows for the week in Adults 18-49, placing 2 in the Top 7: DWTS – #5, Grey’s Anatomy – #7, Scandal – #13 and Splash – #16. In addition, Dancing was TV’s most-watched unscripted show of the week, topping both installments of Idol. The Net delivered 5 of the Top 20 most-watched programs overall, with DWTS, Castle, DWTS: Exclusive First Look, Grey’s and Splash. Grey’s was the week’s #1 TV show in Women 18-49. In viewers and young adults, ABC’s Splash opened as TV’s biggest unscripted series debut since September 2011 with the launch of The X-Factor. ABC was the only net up over the same week last year in both Total Viewers (+9%) and Adults 18-49 (+6%). The Network grew week to week in viewers and young adults, and excluding only the week of the Academy Awards, drew its biggest overall audience in 16 weeks – since w/o 11/26/12.
Monday: With the Season 16 premiere of DWTS and Castle, ABC won Monday over original lineups on the other nets, beating runner-up CBS by 7.0 million viewers and by 21% in Adults 18-49. The Net won the night for the 4th time in 5 weeks. Hitting a season high with viewers, ABC marked its most-watched Monday since April 23, 2012. Up sharply over its Season 15 premiere in Total Viewers (+21%) and in Adults 18-49 (+28%), ABC’s Dancing with the Stars Season 16 premiere dominated its 2-hour time period, beating CBS’ comedy block, NBC’s The Biggest Loser finale and Fox’s dramas (Bones/The Following). DWTS was Monday’s #1 TV series in viewers and young adults. In fact, it stands as TV’s 2nd-most-watched unscripted telecast this season, topping every installment of Idol since its Wednesday premiere telecast in January (on 1/16/13). Dancing was Monday’s most-social entertainment program, as its number of tweets spiked 66% over its Fall 2012 premiere. ABC’s Castle led the 10 o’clock hour for its 3rd straight original telecast over its CBS (Hawaii Five-0) and NBC (Deception finale) drama competition in viewers and young adults, standing Monday’s most-watched scripted TV show. In fact, Castle more than tripled the overall audience of the Deception season finale (+232%). Castle delivered its biggest audience this season.
Tuesday: Up against all-original competition on Tuesday, ABC finished #2 to CBS in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, beating both Fox and NBC. The Net marked its most-watched Tuesday since November – since 11/27/12. At 8pm, opposite CBS’ top-rated NCIS, ABC’s Splash opened way ahead of its unscripted competition in the hour, beating Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen by 4.0 million viewers and by 30% in Adults 18-49. It ranked #1 in the hour with Women 18-34 (tying NCIS) and was the top-rated broadcast with Kids 2-11. The new show gained audience throughout its premiere, building in viewers (+5%) and young adults (+8%) from its first half-hour to its second half-hour. Splash was broadcast TV’s most-social program on Tuesday night. Among Adults 18-49, Splash stands as ABC’s biggest unscripted series debut in more than 2 years and the highest on any net since The X-Factor opened in September 2011 – since 3/6/11 and 9/22/11, respectively. In addition, Splash posted ABC’s top Adult 18-49 rating in the time period with series programming in nearly 1-1/2 years – since 10/18/11. At 9pm, ABC’s special DWTS: Exclusive First Look pulled in a strong Adult 18-49 number, taking second to NCIS: LA and beating first-run comedies on Fox by 5% (New Girl/The Mindy Project) and on NBC by 133% (Go On/The New Normal). During the 10pm hour, ABC’s Body of Proof jumped week to week in Total Viewers (+27%) and Adults 18-49 (+25%) to earn season highs. Building its overall audience for its 3rd straight telecast, Body of Proof delivered ABC’s biggest audience in the hour with scripted programming since April 10, 2012.
Wednesday: ABC’s repeat The Middle beat an original of NBC’s Whitney in the 8pm half-hour by 1.7 million viewers and by 20% in Adults 18-49. In the 9 o’clock half-hour, an encore telecast of ABC’s Modern Family topped NBC’s first-run Law & Order: SVU by 4% in Total Viewers and by 20% in Adults 18-49.
Thursday: With the season opener of Wife Swap, Grey’s and the return of Scandal (first original since 2/21), ABC ranked #1 on Thursday in Adults 18-49 (tying Fox with American Idol and Glee). Among Adults 18-49, ABC earned its top-rated Thursday with series programming since October 4, 2012. Up sharply over its last season premiere (on 4/2/10) in Total Viewers (+43%) and Adults 18-49 (+42%), ABC’s Wife Swap opener topped all of the telecasts in its previous season to earn its best numbers since April 2009 – since 4/17/09. From start to finish the ABC unscripted show gained 8% in viewers and 13% in young adults, despite facing Idol in the hour. Wife Swap delivered ABC’s highest Adult 18-49 rating in the time period with series programming in 5 months – since 10/18/12. Shooting up from its lead-in at 9pm (+76%), ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy emerged as Thursday’s #1 TV show in Adults 18-49, topping Idol on the night for the first time ever. Grey’s won the 9 o’clock hour in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. Gaining week to week in viewers (+15%) and young adults (+15%), Grey’s delivered its most-watched telecast since October – since 10/18/12. On its return, ABC’s Scandal won the 10 o’clock hour in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. In fact, Scandal has been the #1 show in the hour in Adults 18-49 on 7 of its last 8 original telecasts. In addition, Scandal nearly caught up to Idol on the night in Adults 18-49 and beat the Fox show with Adults 18-34. Scandal ranked as the #1 broadcast program in primetime with 191k tweets, topping American Idol by 68% (113k). Building its overall audience by 11% from its last original 4 weeks ago, Scandal marked the series’ most-watched telecast ever.
Friday: ABC was the most-watched net on Friday and led its net rivals on the night in Adults 18-49 for the 2nd week in a row. The Net’s season finales of Last Man Standing and Malibu Country stood as Friday’s Top 2 most-watched TV shows overall. Season to date, ABC is Friday’s #1 network in Adults 18-49, gaining 13% year to year with its strongest delivery on the night in 4 years – since the 2008-09 season. Friday’s #1 TV show, ABC’s season closer of Last Man Standing built week to week by 22% in viewers and by 14% in Adults 18-49. Earning best-since premiere numbers, Last Man Standing drew its biggest audience and matched its highest Adult 18-49 rating since its season opener on November 2, 2012. Last Man Standing also topped its year-ago Tuesday finale by 18% in Total Viewers (on 5/8/12) and was within 1-tenth of a rating point in Adults 18-49. TV’s most-watched new comedy this season, ABC’s season finale of Malibu Country ranked #1 in the 8:30pm half-hour, surging week to week by 25% in Total Viewers and by 27% in Adults 18-49. Malibu Country closed out with its most-watched telecast since November 9, 2012 (series’ 3rd largest audience ever) and equaled its top Adult 18-49 rating since November 30, 2012. In the 9pm hour among Adults 18-49, ABC’s repeat Shark Tank tied NBC’s original Grimm and doubled the number for Fox’s first-run Touch (+100%). In addition for the 2nd week in a row, ABC’s encore Shark Tank finished as the most-watched TV program in the 9 o’clock hour, pacing well ahead of its original competition. Shark Tank delivered its 2nd-most-watched repeat telecast ever. Spiking week to week, ABC’s 20/20 won the 10 o’clock hour in Total Viewers, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54. The ABC newsmagazine defeated Rock Center with Brian Williams by 2.5 million viewers, by 88% in Adults 18-49 and by 83% and Adults 25-54, winning every head-to-head matchup in the time period in the two key adult demos. 20/20 reported on the Steubenville, Ohio court case. Building week to week in Total Viewers (+13%), Adults 18-49 (+7%) and Adults 25-54 (+10%), 20/20 delivered its best numbers in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 since December 14, 2012.
Sunday: In the 7 o’clock hour opposite CBS’ approximate 45-minute basketball overrun, ABC’s America’s Funniest Home Videos earned second place with viewers and young adults. AFHV drew its biggest audience since mid-February – since 2/17/13. Building on its Adult 18-49 lead-in by 69% at 8pm, ABC’s Once Upon a Time finished a strong second to CBS’ basketball-fueled combo of 60 Minutes and Amazing Race among the broadcast nets in viewers and young adults. The ABC drama was #1 in the hour across all key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54), and once again stood as Sunday’s top-rated broadcast series in Women 18-49. Please Note: Once Upon a Time is seeing considerably larger ratings increases after day of air as compared to last Fall and the year-ago Spring. The Adult 18-49 increases for Once Upon a Time from L+SD to L+7 have gone from 42% last Fall up to 48% this Spring, and are also showing a much larger gain than the same point last Spring (39%). At 9pm, ABC’s Revenge beat out the opening hour of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice by 21% in Total Viewers and by 13% in Adults 18-49. On average, Revenge has grown its Adult 18-49 audience this season by 10% over the same point in its freshman season. During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Red Widow grew by 20% week to week in Adults 18-49 to hit a best-since premiere number. From 10-11pm, Red Widow won among Women 18-34 over the second hour of Celebrity Apprentice and CBS’ drama combo (The Good Wife/The Mentalist). Based the most recent Live + 7 Day ratings (for the 3/10/13 telecast), Red Widow jumped over its Live +Same Day numbers by 2.2 million viewers and spiked 55% in Adults 18-49.
