During the week of 1/28/13, with most of its Wednesday schedule in repeats and facing the Super Bowl on Sunday, ABC placed 4 of the week’s Top 20 TV programs in Adults 18-49, including Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, The Bachelor and Modern Family-R. ABC’s 20/20 finished as the week’s #1 newsmagazine in Total Viewers and key Adults (AD18-49/AD25-54). ABC outdelivered NBC for the week by 21% in Total Viewers and by 17% in Adults 18-49.
Monday: With The Bachelor and a repeat Castle, ABC earned second place on Monday in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, while ranking #1 on the night with Women 18-34 for the 3rd week in a row. In head-to-head competition, ABC’s The Bachelor beat NBC’s The Biggest Loser 14 in Adults 18-49 for the 2nd week running, increasing its lead to 9% (up from 4% the prior week). The Bachelor finished #1 in its 2-hour time slot in Adults 18-34 and across all key Women. Continuing to build its overall audience (up for 3rd consecutive broadcast), The Bachelor delivered its most-watched telecast this season and matched a season high in Adults 18-49. ABC’s repeat Castle ranked #1 in the 10pm hour versus its NBC and CBS competition among Adults 18-49, beating NBC’s original Deception by 17% and CBS’ repeat Hawaii Five-0 by 17. Marking its best repeat numbers this season, Castle delivered its most-watched encore since March 2012 and equaled its top Adult 18-49 encore since April 2011 – since 3/5/12 and 4/25/11, respectively.
Tuesday: Shifting back to a 1-hour format (after last week’s 2-hour debut) against CBS’ original NCIS in the 8pm hour, ABC’s The Taste tied Fox’s first-run installments of Raising Hope in Adults 18-49 and drew 33% more viewers overall. From 9-10pm, back-to-back episodes of ABC’s Happy Endings outdelivered NBC’s comedy combo of Go On and The New Normal by 8% in Adults 18-49. The 9:30pm episode of Happy Endings earned the series’ 2nd-highest Adult 18-34 rating this season. Gaining broad primetime exposure during the 10 o’clock hour, a special encore of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live, featuring Matt Damon hijacking Kimmel’s late-night show, improved the time period year to year by 20% in Adults 18-49.
Wednesday: In the 8pm half-hour, ABC’s rebroadcast The Middle tied its original comedy competition on NBC (Whitney) in Adults 18-49, while drawing nearly 2.0 million more viewers overall. At 8:30pm, ABC’s The Neighbors beat NBC’s freshman Guys with Kids by 83% in Total Viewers and by 45% in Adults 18-49. For the 3rd week running, ABC’s repeat Modern Family ranked as Wednesday’s #1 scripted program in Adults 18-49. In its half-hour, the repeat ABC sitcom outdelivered NBC’s first-run Law & Order: SVU by 29% and CBS’ encore Criminal Minds by 38%. From 10-11pm, ABC’s Nashville scored its highest-rated repeat in Adults 18-49.
Thursday: More than doubling its Adult 18-49 lead-in (+155% over a repeat Shark Tank) at 9pm, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy earned second place in its hour, beating Fox’s Idol-driven Glee by 33% and NBC’s 1-hour The Office by 40%. The ABC veteran drama won its time period in Adults 18-34 and across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). Grey’s was the only show in the hour to gain young adult audience from start to finish. Opposite greater competition, Grey’s held strong retention of its week-ago telecast in viewers (99%) and young adults (93%). Delivering its best lead-in retention ever out of an original Grey’s (91%/96%), ABC’s Scandal won the 10 o’clock hour in Adults 18-49 by 22% over CBS’ Elementary (biggest margin to date) and tripled NBC’s series debut of Do No Harm (+200%). Scandal was the #1 series in its slot for its 6th consecutive broadcast with young adults. Gaining over its last original in Adults 18-49 (+4%), Scandal marked its 2nd-highest rating ever. In fact over the course of its last 5 originals, Scandal has delivered the series’ Top 5 highest-rated telecasts. In addition, the ABC drama hit series highs with key Women (W18-34/W18-49). The ABC sophomore drama was up over an original Private Practice on the year-ago night by 23% in viewers and by 17% in young adults.
Friday: ABC ran in a virtual tie with CBS in Adults 18-49 (pacing within 1-tenth of a rating point and tied in audience share), while leading NBC’s original programming on the night by 67%. ABC’s Shark Tank ranked as the #1 TV show of the night on the major networks in Adults 18-49. From 8-9pm among Adults 18-49, ABC’s Last Man Standing and Malibu Country outdelivered Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares by 30% and the first hour of NBC’s NAACP Image Awards by 63%. Returning to original for the first time in 3 weeks, ABC’s Shark Tank built on its lead-in by 58% among Adults 18-49 to beat its net rivals in the 9 o’clock hour, holding a 27% advantage over runner-up CBS’ CSI: NY. ABC’s 20/20 ranked #1 during the 10 o’clock hour on the major nets among Adults 18-49. Head to head from 10-11pm, the ABC newsmagazine beat out NBC’s competing Dateline by strong margins in Total Viewers (+14%), Adults 25-54 (+40%) and Adults 18-49 (+36%). 20/20 featured reports on the kids of celebrities. Building by double digits week to week in Total Viewers (+11%) and Adults 25-54 (+17%), 20/20 posted its best numbers since December 14, 2012.
