Overall: ABC won the week in viewers and young adults, finishing #1 in Adults 18-49 for the 3rd time in 4 weeks with a 33% advantage over runner-up NBC. ABC claimed 6 of the Top 20 TV shows in Adults 18-49, as the 2013 NBA Finals finished as the Top 2 programs. In addition, Game 2 and Game 1 of The Finals stood as the week’s Top 2 most-watched television shows overall, respectively. ABC’s What Would You Do? on Friday was TV’s #1 newsmagazine in Adults 18-49. The Net was up over the same week last year by 30% in Total Viewers and by 67% in Adults 18-49. ABC equaled its top-rated non-Oscar week since November in Adults 18-49 – since w/o 11/26/12.
Monday: Featuring The Bachelorette and the series debut of Mistresses, ABC finished second in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 among the broadcast nets on Monday to NBC with The Voice and the Revolution finale. Opposite The Voice, ABC’s The Bachelorette finished as the #2 series in its 2-hour time period with viewers. During the 10 o’clock hour opposite big competition from the deciding Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, ABC’s series debut of Mistresses beat the NBC’s The Voice-led Revolution finale by 17% with Women 18-34. The new ABC drama improved its hour from the year-ago night by double-digit percentages in Adults 18-49 (+33%) and Adults 25-54 (+23%). Mistresses was up over ABC’s summer debut of The Glass House in the hour last year by 10% in Total Viewers.
Tuesday: Opposite stiff competition from 8-10pm from NBC’s The Voice and the season opener of America’s Got Talent, as well as Fox’s 2-hour So You Think You Can Dance, ABC’s Extreme Weight Loss built Adult 18-49 audience from its first half-hour to its last, surging 50% from start to finish. The ABC unscripted series held 90% or more of its week-ago premiere in Total Viewers (90%), Adults 25-54 (100%) and Women 25-54 (95%).
Wednesday: With 100% retention of its week-ago series debut from 10-11pm, ABC’s The Lookout finished as Wednesday’s #1 new summer series for the 2nd straight week among Adults 18-49. In addition to holding all of its premiere Adult 18-49 audience, The Lookout spiked over its debut by 17% in Adults 18-34 and by 25% in Women 18-34. For the 2nd week in a row, ABC’s freshman newsmagazine outdelivered CBS’ freshman 10 o’clock news series on Tuesday (Brooklyn DA), leading by 57% in Adults 18-49 and by 27% in Adults 25-54. ABC’s The Lookout improved its hour across the board from the same night last year: Total Viewers (+65%), AD18-49 (+38%) and AD25-54 (+40%).
Thursday: With coverage of the 2013 NBA Finals Game 1 between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs, ABC dominated Thursday’s primetime, outrunning its nearest competitor by 3.7 million viewers (CBS) and beating the other nets’ combined delivery among Adults 18-49 (CBS, NBC, Fox and CW combined). The Net also took full control of the evening with Adults 18-34, Adults 25-54 and across all key Men (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54). Among Adults 18-49, the Net turned in its highest-rated Thursday in nearly 1 year – since 6/21/12. Airing around the NBA Finals in various time periods across the country, Jimmy Kimmel Live Game Night 1 produced broad exposure for the ABC late-night talker in primetime. On average, JKL Game Night was up by 58% in Total Viewers and by 71% in Adults 18-49 over the show’s 2012-13 season averages in late-night. Posting its 3rd consecutive season of growth in late-night, ABC’s JKL just wrapped its most-watched season ever. ABC’s JKL Game Night 1 spiked over last year’s start by 28% in viewers and by 20% in young adults to deliver the Game Night specials’ 2nd-most-watched telecast ever (on any night). Featuring the San Antonio Spurs at the Miami Heat, ABC’s 2013 NBA Finals Game 1 (9:00-11:39pm ET) towered over its primetime competition and finished as Thursday’s definitive #1 TV program in Total Viewers and across each of the key Adult demographics. San Antonio won the opening game of the series by a score of 92-88 to lead the best-of-seven series 1-0. Among Adults 18-49, the 2013 NBA Finals Game 1 stands as TV’s top-rated telecast since the early April – since 04/08/13. In viewers and young adults, it was the 3rd biggest start since 2004 for the NBA Finals and ABC’s best-ever Game 1 featuring a San Antonio series (this is the 4th appearance by the team since ABC began carriage in 2003). It was also the most-watched-ever Thursday opener for The Finals on ABC, out of 7 occasions in 11 years of broadcasting the series. In viewers and young adults, the first game of the San Antonio-Miami NBA Finals shot up by 54% over Game 1 the last time the Spurs played in the championship series.
Friday: With a repeat Shark Tank leading into originals of What Would You Do? at 9pm and 20/20 at 10pm, ABC stood as the #1 major network on Friday night with Adults 18-49, beating NBC’s all original line-up by 9%. In the 8 o’clock hour, a repeat telecast of ABC’s Shark Tank ranked as the #1 program among Adults 18-49, leading the first hour of NBC’s first-run Dateline by 30%. The replay ABC unscripted series dominated its unscripted repeat competition on CBS (The American Baking Competition) by 117% in the young adult demo. Shark Tank was up over the prior week by 22% in Total Viewers and by 18% in Adults 18-49 to deliver its best numbers this summer to date. ABC’s What Would You Do? was Friday’s #1 newsmagazine in Adults 18-49, beating NBC’s Dateline (8-10pm) and Rock Center With Brian Williams (10-11pm). From 9-10pm, the ABC newsmag outdelivered its network rivals in the key young adult demo, topping the second hour of NBC’s Dateline by 8%. What Would You Do? grew week to week by 5% in Total Viewers. From 10-11pm, ABC’s 20/20 ranked #1 in the key Adult 25-54 news demo, leading NBC’s competing newsmagazine (Rock Center with Brian Williams) head-to-head in the hour for the 6th time in 7 weeks (+7%). 20/20 also outdelivered Rock Center for the 7th straight week among Adults 18-49 (+10%).
Sunday: Featuring coverage of the 2013 NBA Finals Game 2 (Miami-San Antonio), ABC shot to the top of Sunday night, topping runner-up CBS with the Tony Awards by 3.5 million viewers (CBS) and outdelivering the other nets’ combined by 45% Adults 18-49 (CBS, NBC and Fox combined). In fact it was the ABC’s 2nd straight night to beat its combined competition with NBA Finals coverage among young adults. In viewers and young adults, ABC delivered its strongest non-Oscar Sunday in nearly 1 year – since 06/17/12. With the San Antonio Spurs at the Miami Heat, ABC’s 2013 NBA Finals Game 2 (8:00-10:31pm ET) was Sunday’s dominant #1 TV program in Total Viewers and across each of the key Adult demographics. Building from Game 1 to Game 2, it was the 2nd consecutive broadcast for the 2013 NBA Finals to finish as the #1 TV program of the night. Miami won the second game of the series by a score of 103-84 to tie the best-of-seven series 1-1.
