ABC Grows its Overall Audience Week to Week And Increases 9% from the Same Week Last Year
ABC’s “The Bachelor” Finishes in the Weekly Adult 18-49 Top 10 for the First Time This Season, and “Castle” Marks the Series’ Highest-Ever Ranking
ABC Grows in Adults 18-49 for the 6th Consecutive Monday to a Season High And Leads the Night Among Key Women Demos for the 4th Week in a Row
“The Bachelor” Tops NBC’s Original Dramas from 8-10pm and Beats Fox’s “24” at 9pm in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49
“The Bachelor” Sees Increases for the 3rd Week Running, Posting Season Highs in Total Viewers and Young Adults
At 10pm, ABC’s “Castle” Hits Series Highs in Key Adult and Men Demos
Leading Up to its Final Season Opener, a Repeat of the “Lost” Season 5 Finale From 9-11pm on Tuesday Draws the Net’s Top Numbers in the Slot in 7 Weeks
Prior to the State of the Union Address on Wednesday from 8-9pm, Repeats of ABC’s “Modern Family” and “The Middle” Stand as the No. 1 Scripted Shows
Taking Second in its Hour, “The Deep End” Retains 100% of its Week-Earlier Debut with Adults 18-49 and Builds on its Premiere Numbers in Key Men
ABC’s “Shark Tank” Beats Fox’s Season Premiere of “Kitchen Nightmares”
Generating the Newsmagazine’s Biggest Audience in Nearly 3 Months, ABC News’ “20/20” Marks its 2nd-Most-Watched Telecast of the Season
ABC Earns a Solid Second to a “Grammy”-Fueled CBS on Sunday Evening
Posting its 2nd-Highest Adult 18-49 Number this Season, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” Ranks No. 1 Against Regular Original Competition Sunday at 7pm
Growing its Overall Audience from its Last Airing, “Housewives” Dominates its Non-“Grammy” Competition and Stands as Sunday’s No. 1 TV Series in Adults 18-49
WEEK NO. 19: ADULTS 18-49 TOTAL VIEWERS
No.1 FOX 3.5 No.1 CBS 12,020,000
No.2 CBS 3.3 No.2 FOX 9,710,000
No.3 ABC 1.9 No.3 ABC 6,320,000
No.4 NBC 1.6 No.4 NBC 5,140,000
No.5 CW 0.8 No.5 CW 1,860,000
WEEK No. 19:
During the week of January 25, 2010, ABC grew its overall audience week to week (6.32 million vs. 6.31 million) and was up 9% over the same week last year (w/o 1/26/09 = 5.82 million).
Rankings: ABC aired 3 of the week’s Top 20 television shows in both Adults 18-49 and Total Viewers: “The Bachelor” (No. 8/No. 12), “Desperate Housewives” (No. 11/No. 13) and “Castle” (No. 17/No. 16).
In fact, “The Bachelor” (hitting a season-high) moved in to the weekly Adult 18-49 Top 10 for the first time this season and “Castle” (hitting a series-high) posted the drama’s highest-ever weekly ranking. Please note: ABC’s Wednesday comedies were in repeat during the week for the State of the Union Address, while on Thursday both “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice” aired rebroadcast episodes.
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.
Monday
Marking its 6th straight week of Monday Adult 18-49 audience growth with a season-high number (3.6/9), ABC took second place on the night to Fox with originals of “House” and “24.” ABC won the night among Women 18-34 (4.9/13) and Women 18-49 (5.3/13), taking the top spot for the 4th week in a row among key Women demos.
For the 2nd week in a row, ABC increased its overall audience from the year-ago night, gaining +1.8 million viewers (11.2 million vs. 9.4 million on 1/26/09).
“The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love” (8:00-10:00 p.m.)
From 8:00-10:00 p.m., ABC’s “The Bachelor” earned second place in viewers and young adults to Fox’s original dramas (“House”/”24”), beating NBC’s original dramas (“Chuck”/”Heroes”) by 5.9 million viewers (11.5 million vs. 5.6 million) and by 77% in Adults 18-49 (3.9/10 vs. 2.2/6). In fact as it gained audience from its first to second hour, ABC’s “The Bachelor” defeated Fox’s high-profile drama “24” in head-to-head competition from 9:00-10:00 p.m. by 1.3 million viewers (12.1 million vs. 10.8 million) and by 26% in Adults 18-49 (4.3/10 vs. 3.4/8), leading the hour in both measures.
“The Bachelor” won its 2-hour time period and stood as Monday’s No. 1 TV program among Women 18-34 (5.7/15) for the 4th consecutive telecast.
“The Bachelor” notched another season-high, marking its 3rd consecutive week of growth in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.
“Castle” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Matching a series high and building its Adult 18-49 audience for its 3rd straight original telecast, ABC’s “Castle” won the 10 o’clock hour in Total Viewers (10.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.0/8).
“Castle” improved ABC’s performance in the hour over the same night last year by 3.6 viewers (10.6 vs. 7.0 million) and by 3% in Adults 18-49 (3.0/8 vs. 2.9/7 – an original “True Beauty” on 1/26/09).
“Castle” achieved series-high ratings in young Adults (AD18-34/AD18-49) and key Men (M18-34/M18-49).
Tuesday
“Lost” (9:00-11:00 p.m.)
One week before its sixth-season premiere, a replay of the fifth-season finale of ABC’s “Lost” drew 3.4 million viewers and a 1.4 rating, 4 share in Adults 18-49. The ABC drama delivered the Net’s best young adult rating from 9:00-11:00 p.m. with regular programming in 7 weeks – since 12/8/09.
Wednesday
“Modern Family” (8:00-8:30 p.m.)
A repeat of ABC’s “Modern Family” ranked as the No. 1 scripted program in its half-hour, beating CBS’ veteran comedy “The New Adventures of Christine” by 1.1 million viewers (5.9 million vs. 4.8 million) and by 43% in Adults 18-49 (2.0/6 vs. 1.4/4). In fact, “Modern Family” saw its second-highest Adults 18-49 rating ever for a repeat telecast.
The Middle” (8:30-9:00 p.m.)
Similar to its lead-in, an encore of ABC’s “The Middle” topped its comedy competition, CBS’ “Gary Unmarried,” in both Total Viewers (+13% – 5.1 million vs. 4.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (+23% – 1.6/4 vs. 1.3/4), standing as the top scripted program in its half-hour in the key young adult demo.
Thursday
“The Deep End” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
Week 2 of “The Deep End” saw 100% retention in Adults 18-49 from its week-ago series debut, while building on its premiere numbers among Men 18-49 (+8%) and Men 25-54 (+6%). The freshman drama finished second in the hour in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, beating its CBS competition in the hour, “Live for the Moment,” by 1.6 million viewers (6.1 million vs. 4.6 million) and by 80% in Adults 18-49 (1.8/5 vs. 1.0/3).
“The Deep End” built its audience from its first half-hour to its second half-hour across each of the key Adult demographics: Adults 18-34 (+7%), Adults 18-49 (+6%) and Adults 25-54 (+5%).
Friday
“Shark Tank” (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
ABC’s “Shark Tank” outperformed its unscripted competition in the hour, the season premiere of Fox’s “Kitchen Nightmares,” by 1.1 million viewers (4.4 million vs. 3.3 million) and by 7% in Adults 18-49 (1.5/5 vs. 1.4/4).
“20/20” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Growing over the previous week’s telecast for the 2nd week in a row, ABC’s “20/20” beat out its Friday newsmagazine competition, NBC’s “Dateline” (9:00-10:00 p.m.), by 9% in Total Viewers (8.1 million vs. 7.4 million), 13% in Adults 18-49 (1.7/5 vs. 1.5/4) and by 14% in Adult 25-54 (2.4/7 vs. 2.1/6). “20/20” attracted its largest audience on the night in nearly 3 months (since 11/06/09), the newsmagazine’s second largest Total Viewer count this season.
ABC News’ “20/20,” featured ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff’s exclusive interview with Andrew Young, a former longtime aide and trusted friend of Senator John Edwards and his upcoming memoir, The Politician, An Insider Account of John Edwards’ Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal that Brought Him Down. In his interview with Woodruff, Young chronicled his time with Senator Edwards, including his efforts to hide the secret that would eventually shock the American public.
Sunday
Opposite a “Grammy”-fueled CBS, ABC took a solid second place on Sunday, beating out third-place Fox by 4.9 million viewers (9.1 million vs. 4.2 million) and by 30% in Adults 18-49 (2.6/7 vs. 2.0/5).
“America’s Funniest Home Videos” (7:00-8:00 p.m.)
Opposite original regular 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 5% (2.3/6 vs. 2.2/6).
In Adults 18-49 (2.3/6), “AFV” tied the series’ 2nd-highest number 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 3.5 million viewers (8.5 million vs. 5.0 million – NBC’s “Dateline”).
“Desperate Housewives” (9:00-10:01 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” (10:01-11:00 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).
(Source: data and information provided by ABC. – The Nielsen Company (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 1/25/10, unless stated otherwise)
