ABC scores five of top 20

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Overall: During the week of 11/11/13, ABC delivered 5 of the week’s Top 20 non-sports broadcasts in Adults 18-49: Modern Family – #2, Scandal – #9, Grey’s Anatomy – #12, The Middle – #16 (best-since-premiere rating) and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – #19. In addition, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars outdrew NBC’s The Voice as TV’s most-watched unscripted series for the 3rd straight week and finished among the Top 10 programs overall for the 8th consecutive week this season.


ABC is #1 season to date in Nielsen’s non-sports averages. Based on non-sports programming (8 Weeks Complete – Most Current), ABC ranks #1 for the season in Adults 18-49 (tied w/CBS), leading NBC by 4% and Fox by 18%. The Net also holds the #1 position in the non-sports ratings this season with Adults 18-34 (tied w/Fox), outdelivering NBC by 5% and CBS by 25%.

Monday: ABC was Monday’s most-watched broadcast network for the 2nd week in a row, leading NBC by 1%, Fox by 63% and CBS by 72%.  Topping the night, ABC’s Dancing continued to pull in a larger audience than NBC’s The Voice. ABC’s Dancing with the Stars ranked Monday’s most-watched entertainment show for the 3rd week running over NBC’s The Voice. Also, in its time period, Dancing outdrew CBS’ 2-hour comedy block by 4.6 million viewers and Fox’s dramas by 5.4 million viewers. Elizabeth Berkley was eliminated this week. Building on its Adult 18-49 lead-in (+18%) during the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Castle more than doubled the audience of CBS’ Hostages (+124%) and led by 82% with young adults.

Tuesday:  ABC beat Fox’s Tuesday comedy by 1.6 million viewers and by 7% in Adults 18-49. ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ranked a solid second in its hour among Adults 18-49 to CBS’ top-rated NCIS, leading NBC’s The Biggest Loser by 22% and Fox’s comedies by 69% (Dads/Brooklyn Nine-Nine). S.H.I.E.L.D. finished as the #1 series in the hour with Men 18-34 and Teens 12-17.  On average, the new drama is more than doubling the Net’s year-ago delivery with Adults 18-49 (+105%), ranking as its highest-rated series in the time slot since 2009.  With its best-yet lead-in retention, The Goldbergs topped Fox’s New Girl in the 9pm half-hour by 1.7 million viewers and tied the veteran comedy in Adults 18-49 to stand as Tuesday’s most-watched comedy for the 8th week running. The freshman ABC comedy was up week to week in viewers (+4%) and young adults (+13%), matching a 5-week high in Adults 18-49.  Continuing to improve its time slot for ABC, The Goldbergs was up 16% in Total Viewers and 31% in Adults 18-49 over Happy Endings on the year-ago night.  In the 9:30pm half-hour, ABC’s Trophy Wife outdrew Fox’s The Mindy Project by 1.0 million viewers. Trophy Wife was up week to week in Adults 18-49 (+9%).  Like its lead-in, Trophy Wife boosted its half-hour by 19% in Total Viewers and by 9% in Adults 18-49 over the year-ago night with an original comedy (B—- in Apt 23).

Wednesday: ABC’s regular Wednesday line-up returned after the prior week’s preemption to deliver a strong second place in Adults 18-49, beating Fox by 29% and NBC by 57%. On its first original telecast in 3 weeks, ABC’s Modern Family came back as Wednesday’s #1 TV show in Adults 18-49, finishing as the night’s top-rated series on each first-run telecast this season.  At 8pm, The Middle ranked #1 in its half-hour across all key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54).  The Middle was up 11% in Total Viewers and 9% in Adults 18-49 over its most recent telecast, hitting 7-week highs with best-since-premiere results – since 9/25/13. In addition, the show hit a new season high in Adults 18-34 to tie its highest rating in 1 year – since 11/7/12. In the 8:30pm half-hour, ABC’s Back in the Game grew 7% in viewers and 6% in Adults 18-49 from its last telecast.  More than doubling its lead-in at 9pm (+111%), ABC’s Modern Family dominated its slot in Adults 18-49, outdelivering runner-up CBS’ Criminal Minds by 41%.   Modern Family was up in Total Viewers (+4%) from its most-recent original (on 10/23/13). In the 9:30pm half-hour, ABC’s Super Fun Night took second in Adults 18-49, leading by double-digits over Fox’s The X Factor (+11%) and NBC’s L&O: SVU (+18%).  The ABC freshman comedy built over its last broadcast by 12% in Total Viewers and by 18% in Adults 18-49, with its most-watched telecast in 4 weeks – since 10/16/13. At 10pm, ABC’s Nashville finished #1 in its hour against its CBS and NBC competition with Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34.  The ABC drama increased from its last airing by 6% in Total Viewers and by 7% in Adults 18-49.  In addition, the show spiked 30% in Adults 18-34 to match a 5-week high – since 10/9/13.  Jumping 67% on average in the L+7 Adult 18-49 ratings, Nashville is ABC’s biggest percentage gainer this season and places among the Top 10 broadcast series overall.  The ABC sophomore drama gets a much bigger playback lift than its time-slot competitor CSI (67% vs. 50%), catching the CBS drama season to date at a 3.0 L7 rating.

Thursday: On Thursday night among Adults 18-49, ABC dominated both Fox (+50%) and NBC (+91%). In Adults 18-49, ABC’s Scandal continued to rank as Thursday’s #2 TV program, behind only CBS’ The Big Bang Theory. In addition, Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy were the dominant Top 2 dramas of the night. Season to date, ABC’s Thursday night Adult 18-49 delivery is up 3% year to year.  From 8-9pm, ABC’s freshman Once Upon a Time in Wonderland outdrew NBC’s 1-hour return of Parks and Recreation by 23% in Total Viewers. Once Upon a Time in Wonderland was up week to week in Total Viewers (+3%) and held even in Adults 18-49. Nearly tripling its lead-in at 9pm (+189%), ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy led by wide margins in Adults 18-49 over CBS’ comedies (+24% – The Crazy Ones/Two and a Half Men), Fox’s Glee (+86%) and NBC’s comedies (+189% – Sean Saves the World/The Michael J Fox Show). Grey’s paced within 1-tenth of its week-ago Adult 18-49 number. Growing week to week among Adults 18-49 (+4%), ABC’s Scandal beat the combined deliveries of CBS’ Elementary and NBC’s Parenthood during the 10 o’clock hour. The ABC drama was also the most-watched TV show overall at 10pm. Scandal was up sharply over the same night last year in Total Viewers (+50%) and Adults 18-49 (+45%). In fact Scandal is the fastest-growing returning series this season with young adults and is ABC’s top-rated program in the Thursday 10pm hour since Lost during the 2007-08 season.  Scandal once again registered as Thursday’s #1 most social TV series with 351,280 tweets, jumping 88% week to week to its 2nd-highest number this season.

Friday: ABC earned second place on Friday night, beating NBC and Fox. For the 9th week in a row, ABC’s Shark Tank was Friday’s #1 TV show on the major networks in Adults 18-49. ABC’s 20/20 continued its run as Friday’s #1 newsmagazine, outperforming NBC’s Dateline (8-9pm) in Total Viewers (+8%), Adults 18-49 (+18%) and Adults 25-54 (+13%). Growing over its lead-in by 113% at 9pm in Adults 18-49, ABC’s Shark Tank once again led over CBS’ Hawaii Five-0 (+6%), NBC’s Grimm (+6%) and Fox’s comedies (+113%). During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s 20/20 more than doubled the audience of NBC’s Dracula (+113%), while leading by 44% in Adults 18-49 and by 50% in Adults 25-54. 20/20 featured a look into the real estate business, including landlords from hell, selling a hoarder’s home and moving companies. 20/20 was up 7% week to week in Total Viewers to deliver its 3rd-biggest audience this season.

Saturday: With college football coverage (Stanford at USC), ABC ranked as the #1 broadcaster on the night, beating Fox with college football (from 8-10pm) by 1.3 million Total Viewers and by 10% in Adults 18-49. ABC’s Saturday Night Football was the evening’s #1 program in Adults 18-49 and across all key Men demos (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54). Saturday Night Football was up over the prior week by 2.0 million Total Viewers and by 133% in Adults 18-49.

Sunday: In the 7 o’clock hour, America’s Funniest Home Videos was up 8% week to week in Adults 18-49 to match a season high.  At 8pm, against Fox’s NFL-overrun boosted debut of Almost Human, ABC’s Once Upon a Time surged 36% over its lead-in with young adults, holding steady with its week-earlier Total Viewer count and pacing within 2-tenths of a rating point in Adults 18-49.  In addition, the ABC drama retained 100% week to week in Women 18-49 and was up 7% in Teens 12-17. Once Upon a Time ranked as Sunday night’s most-social broadcast series with 63,941 tweets, up 13% from the previous week’s episode.  In the 9pm hour, ABC’s Revenge grew over the prior week by 5% in Total Viewers and by 15% in Adults 18-49.  During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Betrayal built week to week by 6% in Total Viewers and by 13% in Adults 18-49.