Overall: During the week of 2/11/13, ABC claimed 5 of the Top 20 TV programs in Adults 18-49 with Modern Family, Grey’s Anatomy, The Bachelor, Scandal and Once Upon a Time. ABC’s 20/20 was the week’s #1 newsmagazine in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54. In one of the closest races this season for #1 in Adults 18-49, just 3-tenths of a rating point separated ABC, CBS and Fox for the week. ABC beat NBC by wide margins in Total Viewers (+39%) and Adults 18-49 (+38%), leading for the 3rd straight week and for the 4th time in 5 weeks.
Monday: Up over the prior week in viewers (+5%) and young adults (+14%), ABC took second place on Monday night, beating Fox and NBC. The Net won Monday in Adults 18-34, Women 18-49 and Women 18-34 (5th consecutive week). In Adults 18-49, ABC posted its top Monday with regular programming since May 21, 2012. Hitting season highs, ABC’s The Bachelor beat out NBC’s The Biggest Loser 14 in Adults 18-49 for the 4th straight week, leading by a best-yet 35% (up from 14% the prior week). The ABC unscripted series won its 2-hour time slot for the 4th time in its last 5 telecasts in Adults 18-34, Women 18-34 and Women 18-49. Building week to week in Total Viewers (+8%) and Adults 18-49 (+13%), The Bachelor posted its strongest numbers this season, and excluding only season finales marked the franchise’s top telecast since March 2011 – since 3/7/11. In addition, the program tied the Net’s best Adult 18-49 number in the time period since April 30, 2012. The Bachelor improved on its year-ago telecast (2/13/12) by 5% in Total Viewers and by 8% in Adults 18-49. ABC’s Castle finished a strong second in the 10 o’clock hour in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, while holding the #1 position against its drama competition on CBS (Hawaii Five-0) and NBC (Deception) in Adults 18-34 and in key Women (W18-34/W18-49). Gaining 11% in Adults 18-49, Castle equaled its highest rating since October 29, 2012. The ABC drama earned season highs with Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34.
Wednesday: ABC earned second place on Wednesday in Adults 18-49 to Fox’s 2-hour American Idol, leading CBS with the 90-minute Survivor: Caramoan premiere by 5% and NBC’s first-run lineup by 47%. Modern Family continued to run as Wednesday’s #1 scripted TV show across all key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54). At 8pm against the opening half-hours of Idol and Survivor, ABC’s The Middle defeated its NBC comedy competition (Whitney) by 4.1 million viewers and by 58% in Adults 18-49. In addition, the ABC comedy beat the Survivor premiere in the half-hour by 18% in Adults 18-34. Like its lead-in at 8:30pm, ABC’s The Neighbors dominated its comedy competition, outdelivering NBC’s Guys with Kids by 103% in Total Viewers and by a best-ever 70% in Adults 18-49. Opposite increased competition, The Neighbors held all of its Adult 18-49 number week to week. More than doubling its Adult 18-49 lead-in at 9pm (+124%) and building week to week (+3%), ABC’s Modern Family topped the final half-hour of the Survivor opener by 65%. Based on the most recent week of Nielsen playback data released on Monday, Modern Family picked up +2.5 Adult 18-49 rating points and +5.11 million viewers in the Live + 7 Day numbers – finishing out at 15.9 million and a 6.7 rating – TV’s largest increases for any series telecast of 2012-13. The hit ABC sitcom has been the top gainer in young adults on all 12 weeks of original telecasts this season. In the 9:30pm half-hour, ABC’s Suburgatory was up for the 2nd straight week in Adults 18-49 (+5%), ranking as the #1 scripted TV show in its slot with a 24% advantage over the second half-hour of NBC’s L&O: SVU. At 10pm, ABC’s Nashville won its hour in Adults 18-34 and led for its 5th consecutive original telecast in Women 18-34. Up over the prior week in Total Viewers (+8%) and Adults 18-49 (+6%), Nashville delivered its most-watched telecast since January 16, 2013. Jumping 68% over its L+SD rating in the most recent week of L+7 data, ABC’s freshman Nashville stood as the biggest percentage gainer during the week, building to a 3.2 AD18-49 rating in the final playback numbers.
Thursday: Please Note: On Valentine’s Day, overall Adult 18-49 primetime TV usage levels were down -6% week to week. During the 8 o’clock hour opposite Idol and CBS’ top-rated comedies (Big Bang Theory/Two and a Half Men), ABC’s debut of Zero Hour outdrew NBC’s established comedies (Community/Parks and Recreation) by 3.4 million viewers and by 8% in Adults 18-49. Zero Hour drew ABC’s largest series audience in the hour in 16 weeks (since 10/25/12) and was TV’s 2nd-most-watched regular series debut of 2013, behind only The Following. More than doubling its lead-in (+108%) at 9pm, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy moved up to 2nd in the hour with Adults 18-49, beating Fox’s Idol-driven Glee by 65% and NBC’s comedies by 40% (The Office/1600 Penn). The ABC veteran drama continued to dominate its slot with Adults 18-34 and across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). Despite airing on Valentine’s Day with lower viewing levels, Grey’s grew its overall audience from the same night last year (+4%). Continuing to deliver its best-ever retention of its Grey’s lead-in (96%), ABC’s Scandal won the 10 o’clock hour in Adults 18-49 by 17% over CBS’ Elementary to rank as the #1 series in its time period for its 8th straight broadcast. Over its last seven first-run airings, Scandal has delivered the series’ Top 7 highest-rated telecasts in Adults 18-49 and its Top 6 most-watched episodes overall. The sophomore drama improved its hour year to year by 13% in viewers and by 4% in young adults. Scandal is consistently one of the most active shows each Thursday on Twitter, and so far this season has generated 2.065 million tweets.
Friday: On Friday among Adults 18-49, ABC held strong advantages over NBC (+25%), CBS (+36%) and Fox (+67%). Shark Tank once again finished as the #1 TV show of the night in Adults 18-49 on the major nets. Season to date, ABC is Friday’s #1 network in Adults 18-49, building over the comparable weeks last year by 21% to its strongest delivery on the night in 4 years – since the 2008-09 season. Please Note: On the Friday leading into the holiday weekend, overall Adult 18-49 TV usage levels were down by -7% week to week. During the 8 o’clock hour among Adults 18-49, ABC’s Last Man Standing and Malibu Country beat out CBS’ The Job by 86% and Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares by 18%. Spiking over its lead-in (+63%), ABC’s Shark Tank beat its network rivals in Adults 18-49, dominating the second hour of NBC’s 2-hour Dateline by 38%, CBS’ CSI: NY by 50% and Fox’s Touch by 157%. Shark Tank grew over its telecast on the same night last year by 20% with young adults, continuing to deliver its best season ever. ABC’s 20/20 ranked #1 during the 10 o’clock hour in Adults 18-49, topping CBS’ Blue Bloods by 7% and NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams by 36%. Head to head from 10-11pm, 20/20 outdelivered NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams by 17% in Total Viewers, by 40% in Adults 25-54 and by 36% in Adults 18-49. 20/20 was Friday’s #1 newsmagazine in both Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54, beating both NBC’s 2-hour Dateline and Rock Center with Brian Williams. 20/20 reported on the crippled Carnival cruise ship Triumph and the eight-day trip to misery that ensued for the more than 4,000 passengers onboard. Up week to week in Total Viewers (+12%), Adults 18-49 (+15%) and Adults 25-54 (+17%), the ABC newsmagazine drew its biggest audience in 2 months – since 12/14/12.
Sunday: Although airing a mix of first-run and repeat programming against all original competition on CBS (with the Amazing Race opener) and mostly originals on Fox, ABC was competitive for the Sunday night lead in Adults 18-49. It was essentially a 3-way tie for #1 on the night, with just a tenth of a rating point separating ABC, CBS and Fox. Please Note: On the holiday weekend Sunday, overall Adult 18-49 TV usage levels were down by -6% from the prior week. During the 7 o’clock hour, ABC’s America’s Funniest Home Videos ranked #1 in Adults 18-49. At 8pm opposite the season premiere of CBS’ The Amazing Race XXII, ABC’s Once Upon a Time was up week to week in Total Viewers (+7%) and Adults 18-49 (+9%). From 8-9pm, Once Upon a Time ran neck-and-neck with Amazing Race as the entertainment leader among young adults (pacing within 1-tenth of a rating point and tied in audience share) and won the hour with key Women (W18-34/W18-49). During 9pm hour, ABC’s Revenge built week to week in Total Viewers (+15%) and Adults 18-49 (+29%) to its best numbers since January 13, 2013. ABC sophomore Revenge beat out CBS’ The Good Wife in the hour by 38% in Adults 18-49, outdelivering the CBS drama on every original matchup this season. During the 10 o’clock hour, a repeat of the Zero Hour pilot episode from Thursday picked up an additional 2.9 million viewers, bringing its 2-telecast Live + Same Day total to 9.3 million viewers sampling the new ABC drama.
