ABC tops for Late-Night in Q2

0

ABCDuring the 2nd Quarter 2012, ABC grew over the prior quarter by 6% in Total Viewers and by 8% in Adults 18-49 to deliver its best performance in late-night in 1 year – since 2Q11. In fact, ABC was the only broadcaster to see quarter to quarter gains in either viewers or young adults, as CBS was down -11%/-15%, respectively, and NBC was down -5%/-9%, respectively. ABC stood as the quarter’s most-watched network in late-night, beating CBS by 14% and NBC by 9%. In fact, ABC was the #1 network in Total Viewers in 12 of the 13 weeks of the quarter. ABC also qualified as the #1 network in late-night in Adults 18-49, holding double-digit advantages over CBS (+18%) and NBC (+17%). In fact, ABC was the top-rated network in all but two weeks during the quarter.


ABC’s Nightline ranked as the #1 program in late-night during 2nd Quarter 2012 in all target demos — Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 — taking the top spot in back-to-back 2nd quarters. Further, 2Q12 represented the 7th quarter in a row that Nightline stood as the most-watched late-night program versus NBC’s The Tonight Show and CBS’ The Late Show, while leading for the 6th time in the last 7 quarters in the key adult news demo. Impressively, Nightline ranked #1 in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 in all 13 weeks of 2Q12 and in 12 of 13 weeks in Total Viewers. Nightline scored its largest quarter margins over NBC’s The Tonight Show in Adults 25-54 (+180,000) and Adults 18-49 (+199,000) in 17 years, and largest Total Viewer lead (+333,000) over a Jay Leno-hosted The Tonight Show in 17 years – since 2Q95. Nightline turned in its largest quarter leads over CBS’ The Late Show in 13 years in Total Viewers (+989,000), Adults 25-54 (+328,000) and Adults 18-49 (+302,000) – since 3Q99, 2Q99 and 3Q99, respectively. For the 12th time in the last 13 weeks, ABC’s Nightline ranked as late-night’s #1 program in all 3 target demos during the week of June 18, 2012. Nightline has taken the #1 position in 28 weeks in Total Viewers, 33 weeks in Adults 25-54 and 32 weeks in Adults 18-49 of the 40 weeks of the season to date. Nightline built on the same week last year by double-digits in Adults 25-54 (+11%) and Adults 18-49 (+32%), standing as the only program to grow year to year in both measures versus NBC’s The Tonight Show (-25% and -30%, respectively) and CBS’ The Late Show (-7% and -6%, respectively). For the 3rd straight week of original competition, Nightline held the #1 late-night telecast of the week (Tuesday – 6/19/12) in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

During the 2nd Quarter, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live turned in its most-watched quarter in its 10-year history. Growing over the year-ago quarter in Total Viewers for the 9th quarter in a row, JKL was the only broadcast talk show in late-night to build year to year (+4%). JKL also stood as the only late-night talk show (broadcast or cable) to grow its overall audience over the 1st quarter, soaring 9% from the prior quarter. ABC’s JKL (M-F 12am) beat NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (M-F 12:35am) by 11% in Total Viewers and by 7% in Adults 18-49, topping the NBC late-night program on each of the 13 weeks of the quarter on both Nielsen measures. ABC’s JKL outperformed CBS’ Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (M-F 12:35am) during the quarter by its largest margins ever in both Total Viewers (+35%) and Adults 18-49 (+35%), marking its 5th straight victory over Ferguson in viewers and its 9th consecutive win among young adults. For the 2nd quarter in a row, JKL led the CBS program in all 13 weeks of the quarter. JKL scored its most competitive finish ever with NBC’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno and CBS’ Late Show with Dave Letterman during the quarter among Adults 18-49, pacing within 300k young adult viewers of the NBC program and within 200k of the CBS program. During the week of June 18, 2012, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live grew year to year for the 2nd week in a row, surging over the same week last year by 14% in Total Viewers and by 32% in Adults 18-49. ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live stood as the #1 broadcast talk show in late-night in Adults 18-34 during the week. ABC’s JKL (M-F 12am) led NBC’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno (M-F 11:35pm) for the 2nd straight week among Adults 18-34 (+38%). On Friday (6/22/12), a repeat telecast of JKL outdelivered an original telecast of Leno by an impressive 47% in the young adult demo. ABC’s JKL topped CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman (M-F 11:35pm) by 45% in Adults 18-34, marking its 2nd win in a row over the CBS late-night program. ABC’s JKL outdelivered NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (M-F 12:35am) in both Total Viewers (+8%) and Adults 18-49 (+35%) for the 13th straight week. JKL led Fallon on all 5 nights of the week among young adults. In fact, on all 3 of its repeat telecasts of the week, JKL beat original telecasts of Fallon: Monday (+19%), Wednesday (+5%) and Friday (+6%). ABC’s JKL outperformed CBS’ Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (M-F 12:35am) by an impressive 48% in Total Viewers and 77% in Adults 18-49. For the 4th time in the last 5 weeks, the ABC late-night program beat Ferguson in all 5 days of the week in both Nielsen measures.

(source: ABC)