ABC Outdraws NBC by 12% and Fox by 18% in Total Viewers. “Skating with the Stars” Tops Fox by 9% in Viewers in its Time Period. Skating not as strong as ‘Dancing with The Stars’ but one can never tell with reality TV.
Building on its Lead-in in Viewers, “CMA Country Christmas” Beats Fox by 1.0 Million and NBC by 1.4 Million from 9:30-11pm.
“CMA Country Christmas” is Up Over ABC’s Year-Ago Performance in its Time Slot by 1.0 Million Viewers.
Monday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)
With the second week of “Skating with the Stars” in its new time period and the “CMA Country Christmas” special, ABC (6.7 million) outdrew NBC on Monday night by 12% (6.0 million) and Fox by 18% (5.7 million).
“Skating with the Stars” (8:00-9:30 p.m.)
Leading off the night from 8-9:30 p.m., ABC’s “Skating with the Stars” defeated Fox’s programming in the 90-minute time slot by 9% in Total Viewers (6.0 million vs. 5.5 million – “House”-R/”Lie to Me”).
“CMA Country Christmas” (9:3-11:00 p.m.)
Building sharply on its lead-in (+22%), ABC’s “CMA Country Christmas” special drew an average audience of 7.3 million viewers during its 90-minute telecast, topping original competition on NBC and Fox by wide margins. At 9:30 p.m., “CMA Country Christmas” bested the final half-hour of Fox’s “Lie to Me” by 1.0 million viewers (7.3 million vs. 6.3 million) and from 9:30 – 11:00 p.m. beat out NBC’s “The Event”/”Chase” by 1.4 million viewers (7.3 million vs. 5.9 million).
“CMA Country Christmas” improved its time period for ABC over the same night last year (11/30/09) by 1.0 million viewers (7.3 million vs. 6.3 million).
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 38% currently, from 34% 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: The Nielsen Company (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 11/29/10)
