Overall: During season premiere week (w/o 9/23/13), ABC took second place in Adults 18-49 (moving up from 4th place a year ago), leading both Fox and CBS by 5%. In fact, the Net delivered the #1 TV show on 4 of 7 nights during premiere week (Tues/Wed/Fri/Sat). ABC was up over premiere week last year by 5% in Adults 18-49, while Fox was down -15% and CBS was down -8%. In viewers and young adults, ABC marked its highest in-season numbers since airing the Oscars on w/o 2/18/13.
Rankings: ABC aired 4 of the week’s Top 15 non-sports TV programs in Adults 18-49, including the #1 new series with Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – #5 (#1 freshman series), Modern Family – #7 (#2 regular comedy), Grey’s Anatomy – #12 and The Goldbergs – #13. (#2 new comedy). ABC’s Dancing with the Stars finished among the Top 10 most-watched TV shows overall in premiere week.
Premiere Week Social Activity: ABC had 4 of the Top 10 most social broadcast series of premiere week: Grey’s Anatomy – #4, Once Upon a Time – #6, S.H.I.E.L.D. – #7 and DWTS – #10.
Monday: On season premiere Monday, ABC finished as the 2nd-most-watched broadcast network, leading CBS by 4.5 million viewers and Fox by 5.2 million viewers. Growing year to year for the 2nd week in a row, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars was up over its second telecast last fall (10/1/12) by 1.2 million viewers and by 10% in Adults 18-49. Former NFL player Keyshawn Johnson was the first celebrity dancer to be eliminated from the competition this season. During the 10pm hour, ABC’s season premiere of Castle beat CBS’ debut of Hostages by 4.1 million viewers, by 22% in Adults 18-49 and by 21% in Adults 25-54. Castle grew over its year-ago season premiere by 10% in Total Viewers and by 5% in Adults 18-49. In addition, the show was up over last season’s finale in viewers (+3%) and young adults (+5%) to deliver its best numbers since April – since 4/22/13. A big gainer via TV playback, Castle’s numbers shot up last season by 3.6 million viewers and by 50% in Adults 18-49 from Live + Same Day to Live + 7 Day. Castle was the #1 most-tweeted series at 10pm, beating the debuts of NBC’s The Blacklist and CBS’ Hostages head-to-head in the hour. This year’s premiere of Castle, which had the cast live tweeting during the episode, was up 104% over last season’s premiere.
Tuesday: With its Tuesday debuts, ABC was up by 45% in Adults 18-49 over the year-ago night to deliver its strongest performance on the opening Tuesday of a season in 3 years – since 9/21/10. In the 8pm hour, ABC’s series debut of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. opened a strong #1 in the time period with Adults 18-49, defeating NBC’s Tuesday premiere of The Voice by 15% and CBS’ season premiere of NCIS by 31%, to qualify as TV’s highest rated drama debut in nearly 4 years – since 11/3/09. It was also Tuesday’s #1 TV show in Adults 18-49 (tie) and across all key Men demographics (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54). And despite the strong competition, the self-starting ABC drama gained young adults from its first half-hour to its second half-hour. The season’s #1 new comedy in Adults 18-49 and the top-rated comedy of the night, ABC’s series premiere of The Goldbergs at 9pm beat Fox’s New Girl by 48% and topped last fall’s premiere of Happy Endings in the half-hour hour by 72%. It ranked as TV’s top-rated comedy debut in over 1 year and ABC’s highest-rated in 2 years – since 9/11/12 and 10/11/11, respectively. In addition, The Goldbergs posted ABC’s strongest rating in the half-hour with entertainment programming since Fall 2011 – since 11/22/11. At 9:30pm among Adults 18-49, the debut of ABC’s Trophy Wife defeated Fox’s The Mindy Project by 53% and outdelivered the year-ago fall premiere of Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt 23 by 35%. During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s debut of Lucky 7 was up over the Net’s most-recent drama season premiere in the time period by 8% in Adults 18-49 (Body of Proof on 2/19/13).
Wednesday: ABC won the opening Wednesday of the season in Adults 18-49, leading by double digits over Fox +16%, NBC +21% and CBS +21%. ABC’s Modern Family was the dominant #1 TV show of the night across all key Adult demos. In viewers and young adults, ABC marked its strongest Wednesday since last October – since 10/10/12. Ranking #1 at 8pm in Adults 18-49, the season opener of The Middle was up from its season finale in May by 25%. The Middle delivered its biggest audience matched its best young adult number since November – since 11/07/12 and 11/14/12, respectively. Delivering strong Adult 18-49 lead-in retention in the 8:30pm half-hour (88%), ABC’s debut of Back in the Game was up over the year-ago premiere of The Neighbors in the slot by 27% in viewers and by 16% in Adults 18-49 to deliver ABC’s best series performance in the half-hour in 1 year – since the 1-hour season premiere of The Middle on 9/26/12. The season premiere of ABC’s Modern Family nearly doubled its Adult 18-49 lead-in and dominated the 9 o’clock hour over the season premiere of CBS’ Criminal Minds (+50%), Fox’s The X Factor (+62%) and NBC’s season premiere of L&O: SVU (+68%). Modern Family grew over its May finale in viewers (+17%) and young adults (+14%), drawing its largest audience and tying its highest Adult 18-49 number since January – since 01/09/13 and 01/16/13, respectively. Modern Family was TV’s most recorded and played-back show last season, gaining +4.5 million viewers and +2.2 Adult 18-49 rating points (+52%) from its first-reported Live + Same Day numbers. During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Nashville tied CBS’ CSI season premiere in Adults 18-49. Nashville was up over its May finale in Total Viewers (+8%) and Adults 18-49 (+5%), earning its most-watched telecast and its highest young adult number since January 16, 2013. During its freshman season, the show added +2.6 million additional viewers and +1.1 rating Adult 18-49 rating points (+61%) from L+SD to its final Live + 7 Day numbers, making it one of the top 15 biggest percentage gainers with young adults.
Thursday: With an encore of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Grey’s premiere, ABC finished #2 on season-premiere Thursday in viewers and young adults, defeating Fox and NBC. The 10th season 2-hour premiere of Grey’s Anatomy was Thursday’s dominant #1 drama in Adults 18-49, outdelivering the season premiers of Fox’s Glee (+70%), CBS’ Elementary (+62%) and NBC’s Parenthood (+113%). Grey’s opened ahead of its May finale in viewers and young adults. ABC equaled its highest rated Thursday with series programming in 1 year – since 9/27/12. Gaining additional exposure on its Thursday 8pm replay, through 2 telecasts ABC’s debut episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has delivered a combined 16.8 million viewers and a 5.9/18 in Adults 18-49. The ABC repeat drama drew 1.4 million more viewers in the hour than NBC’s Parks and Recreation premiere. Building sharply on its lead-in at 9pm, the season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy was up over its May finale (on 5/16/13) by 3% in Total Viewers and by 10% in Adults 18-49, with its largest audience since March (3/21/13) and its highest young adult number since October (10/4/12). The ABC drama won its 2-hour time period by 26% over runner-up CBS.
Friday: ABC took second place on Friday in Adults 18-49 and was up over the year-ago night by 8% (9/28/12). For the 2nd week in a row, ABC delivered the #1 TV show on Friday with Shark Tank. On the night, Shark Tank outdelivered season premieres on CBS (Undercover Boss/Hawaii Five-0/Blue Bloods), NBC (Dateline) and Fox (Masterchef Junior). At 9pm, Shark Tank doubled its lead-in (+100%) in Adults 18-49 to win the hour, beating runner-up CBS’ season premiere of Hawaii Five-0 by 25%. Among Adults 18-49, Shark Tank was up from its week-ago season premiere (+11%) and grew 33% over its telecast on the same night last year (1.5/6).
Saturday: With college football coverage (Wisconsin at Ohio State), ABC dominated Saturday in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, towering over Fox with college football coverage. Winning Saturday night for the 3rd week in a row, ABC beat the other networks combined by 5% in Adults 18-49 (CBS, NBC, and Fox). ABC was up over the year-ago night by 63% in Total Viewers and by 75% in Adults 18-49. Airing from 8:06-11:43pm, ABC’s Saturday Night Football easily qualified as the night’s #1 program in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, standing as the evening’s top-rated program among young adults on all 4 games so far this season. Saturday Night Football grew over the prior week’s game for the 2nd straight week in Total Viewers (+19%) and Adults 18-49 (+29%) to score its best performance in 1 month – since 8/31/13. ABC’s Saturday night game soared over the Net’s year-ago match-up by 51% in Total Viewers and by 62% in Adults 18-49.
Sunday: Opposite NBC’s Sunday Night Football and NFL overrun-boosted Fox and CBS, ABC beat CBS on Sunday night by 25% in Adults 18-49. ABC’s season premieres of Once Upon a Time and Revenge opened as Sunday’s top-rated broadcast dramas in Adults 18-49, leading by strong margins over CBS’ season openers of The Good Wife and The Mentalist. Building sharply on its lead-in at 8pm, ABC’s season opener of Once Upon a Time was the #1 entertainment program in the hour in Adults 18-49, leading season premieres of CBS’ Amazing Race (+30%) and Fox’s NFL-led comedies (+4% – The Simpsons/Bob’s Burgers). The ABC drama was the #1 most social broadcast series of the evening with 136,627 tweets, the highest number ever for the show. Topping its May finale (+13%), Once Upon a Time was also up 13% from its Jan-May average for originals in Adults 18-49. In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, Once Upon a Time earned its highest numbers since January – since 1/6/13 and 1/13/13, respectively. Retaining 88% of its lead-in at 9pm (2nd-best-ever), ABC’s Revenge opener beat out CBS’ The Good Wife opener in the hour by 53% in Adults 18-49. Like its lead-in, Revenge outdelivered its May finale (+35%) and was up 28% over its Jan-May average for originals. The ABC drama drew its biggest audience since October and its best young adult rating since January – since 10/28/12 and 01/06/12, respectively. In Adults 18-49, the series debut of Betrayal was up over ABC’s most-recent drama debut in the hour (+7% over Red Widow from 10-11pm on 3/3/13) and topped the drama’s average for originals during its run by 36%. In the 10 o’clock hour, the new ABC drama ran neck-and-neck with CBS’ season premiere of The Mentalist in Adults 18-49 (pacing within 1-tenth of a rating point and tied in audience share) and led with Adults 18-34 and key Women (W18-34/W18-49).
