ABC wins Monday with reality 'The Bachelorette'

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Kicking off the summer season with The Bachelorette and the series debut of Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition finishing as the Top 2 TV shows of the night, ABC won Memorial Day by wide margins, leading runner-up CBS by 1.6 million viewers and by 57% among Adults 18-49 during prime.  The Net once again ran #1 in each half-hour of the night among viewers and young adults. 


Carrying over its winning streak from the regular season, ABC qualified as Monday’s most-watched television network for the 12th straight week ranked #1 in Adults 18-49 for the 8th straight week (11 of the last 12 weeks).

ABC grew its overall audience from the same evening last year (5/31/10), when it aired The Bachelorette into the premiere of True Beauty, marking the Net’s most-watched Memorial Day in 5 years – since 2006.   

Coming off its week-earlier season premiere directly following the high-rated DWTS finale in the 10pm hour, ABC’s The Bachelorette shifted back to its regular 8pm start time and ranked #1 in its 2-hour time slot, topping second-place CBS by 34% in Total  Viewers and by 40% Adults 18-49. 

It was the ABC unscripted series’ 2nd week in a row to lead its time period on both counts.  ABC’s The Bachelorette tied lead-out EM: Weight Loss as the most-watched TV show on Monday.

Exhibiting impressive lead-in compatibility and building its audience from start to finish, ABC’s series debut of Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition won its time period, beating NBC’s original drama (L&O: LA) by 9% in viewers and by 64% in young Adults.  Impressively, EM: Weight Loss retained all of its viewer lead-in coming out of The Bachelorette and grew 10% among young adults, while building its audience from start to finish in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.  In a rare feat for a show on its premiere telecast, EM: Weight Loss debuted as the #1 TV show on the night in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

ABC’s EM: Weight Loss was up over the year-ago premiere of True Beauty in the hour by 1.8 million viewers and by 15% in Adults 18-49.
 
Among Adults 18-49, EM: Weight Loss stands as ABC’s top-rated summer series debut since August 2009 – since 7/20/09.

(source; ABC)