ABC Takes Second to a “Grammy”-Fueled CBS on Sunday Evening. Posting its 2nd Strongest Numbers This Season in Viewers and Young Adults, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” Wins the 7pm Hour Among Adults 18-49
Growing its Overall Audience from its Last Airing, “Housewives” Dominates its Non-“Grammy” Competition at 9pm and Stands as Sunday’s No. 1 Series in Adults 18-49
Sunday Primetime (7:00-11:00 p.m.)
Opposite a “Grammy”-fueled CBS, ABC took a solid second place on Sunday, beating out third-place Fox by 4.8 million viewers (9.1 million vs. 4.3 million) and by 35% in Adults 18-49 (2.7/6 vs. 2.0/5).
“America’s Funniest Home Videos” (7:00-8:00 p.m.)
Opposite original competition including CBS’ “60 Minutes,” NBC’s “Dateline” and Fox’s comedies (“’Til Death”/”’Til Death”), ABC’s “America’s Funniest Home Videos” ranked No. 1 during the 7 o’clock hour among Adults 18-49, beating runner-up CBS by 9% (2.4/7 vs. 2.2/6).
In Total Viewers (8.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.4/7), “AFV” turned in the series’ 2nd-highest numbers of this season.
“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
Against the opening hour of CBS’ “Grammy Awards,” ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” outdrew its nearest non-awards-show competition in the hour by 3.6 million viewers (8.5 million vs. 4.9 million – NBC’s “Dateline”).
“Desperate Housewives” (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Sunday’s No. 1 series telecast among young adults, ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” defeated its nearest non-“Grammy” competition in the 9 o’clock hour (Fox’s “Family Guy”/”American Dad”) by 5.8 million viewers (11.4 million vs. 5.6 million) and by 32% in Adults 18-49 (3.7/8 vs. vs. 2.8/6).
Despite airing against the “Grammys,” ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” grew its overall audience from its most-recent telecast (11.4 million vs. 11.3 million on 1/17/10).
“Brothers & Sisters” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Holding second to the “Grammys” in the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s “Brothers & Sisters” outdelivered the final hour of NBC’s original special (“Saturday Night Live Sports All-Stars”) by 4.6 million viewers (7.7 million vs. 3.1 million) and 85% in Adults 18-49 (2.4/6 vs. 1.3/3).
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 35% currently, from 29% at the same point in 2009. 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), 1/31/10.)
