Overall: ABC won the week (w/o 02/18/13) by strong margins over its nearest competition in Total Viewers (+18% – CBS) and Adults 18-49 (+62% – Fox). ABC’s The Oscars finished as the week’s #1 TV program in viewers and across all key demographic measures. In fact, it was the 2012-13 season’s top entertainment telecast in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 and TV’s most-watched entertainment broadcast overall in 3 years. The Net delivered 8 of the Top 20 TV shows in Adults 18-49, with its Oscar night programming, Modern Family, Grey’s Anatomy, The Bachelor and Scandal. In addition, ABC’s Thursday hit, Scandal, finished as the week’s #1 10 o’clock show in Adults 18-49. ABC’s 20/20 was the week’s #1 newsmagazine for the 2nd week running with key Adults (AD18-49/AD25-54). ABC was the only major net up over the same week last year in viewers (+6%) or young adults (+6%). The Net produced its most-watched week overall and top in-season Adult 18-49 rating since the week of March 1, 2010.
Monday: Building on the night, ABC was Monday’s most-watched TV network and ranked #1 in Adults 18-49 (tied w/CBS). In Adults 18-49, the Net earned a Monday season high with series programming on the night to its best number since March 26, 2012. Earning season bests for the 2nd week in a row, ABC’s The Bachelor defeated NBC’s The Biggest Loser 14 by its biggest margins yet in Total Viewers (+63%) and Adults 18-49 (+43%). Up week to week in Total Viewers (+9%) and Adults 18-49 (+11%), The Bachelor achieved new season highs with the franchise’s top non-finale numbers in nearly 2 years – since 3/7/11. Continuing to improve year to year, The Bachelor was up over the same night last year by 1.1 million viewers and by 20% in Adults 18-49. ABC’s Castle won the 10 o’clock hour, beating CBS’ Hawaii Five-0 by 9% in Total Viewers and by 15% in Adults 18-49. It was Monday’s most-watched drama overall. Increasing 15% in Adults 18-49 and up for the 2nd week in a row, Castle achieved a new season high. The ABC drama also posted a new season best with Adults 18-34 for the 2nd week running to its best number in nearly 1 year – since 2/27/12.
Tuesday: ABC beat Fox on Tuesday night by 13% and NBC by 64%. The Net grew over the year-ago night (also an all-original lineup) by 12% in Total Viewers and by 6% in Adults 18-49. During the 8 o’clock hour, ABC’s The Taste was up week to week in Total Viewers (+4%) and Adults 18-49 (+7%). During the 9 o’clock hour, ABC’s The Bachelor: Sean Tells All took second to CBS’ NCIS: LA in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, nearly catching the CBS drama with young adults (pacing within 1-tenth of a rating point and tied in audience share). The ABC unscripted series ranked #1 in the hour with key Women (W18-34/W18-49). The Bachelor: Sean Tells All was up over the year-ago Tell All by 4% (3/5/12) in Adults 18-49 and tied ABC’s best number in the hour since November – since 11/27/12. At 10pm, the season premiere of Body of Proof defeated NBC’s Smash by 3.5 million viewers and by 33% in Adults 18-49. Body of Proof increased its overall audience from the same night last year (+3%).
Wednesday: Up for the 2nd straight week, ABC’s Modern Family once again finished as Wednesday’s #1 scripted TV show across all key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54). In addition, Modern Family matched its most-competitive finish ever against American Idol in Adults 18-49, coming within 1-tenth of a rating point of catching the Fox show on the night, while tying in audience share. Against the opening half-hours of Idol and Survivor at 8pm, ABC’s The Middle nearly tied Survivor in Adults 18-49 (pacing within 1-tenth of a rating point and tied in audience share), while increasing its advantage over the CBS unscripted series in Adults 18-34 to 42% (up from 18% the prior week). In addition, the ABC comedy outdelivered NBC’s Whitney by a best-ever 5.2 million viewers and by 109% in Adults 18-49. Up over the prior week by 8% in Total Viewers and by 21% in Adults 18-49, The Middle grew to its best numbers since January 23, 2013. In addition, the show surged 31% in Adults 18-34 to equal its best number since the beginning of November – since 11/7/12. Also improving week to week at 8:30pm, ABC’s The Neighbors took full control of its comedy competition, defeating NBC’s Guys with Kids by its biggest margins ever of 125% in Total Viewers and 90% in Adults 18-49. Increasing week to week in viewers (+7%) and young adults (+12%), The Neighbors posted its best results in 1 month – since 1/23/13. The new ABC family comedy earned its 2nd-highest rating ever with Kids 2-11. More than doubling its Adult 18-49 lead-in at 9pm (+111%), ABC’s Modern Family beat its nearest scripted competition the half-hour by 54% (CBS’ Criminal Minds). The ABC comedy ranked as the #1 TV show of the night across all key Men demos (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54). Up for the 2nd week running, Modern Family gained 6% in Total Viewers and 5% in Adults 18-49. In the 9:30pm half-hour, ABC’s Suburgatory beat out NBC’s L&O: SVU by 18% Adults 18-49. Improving its slot year to year, Suburgatory drew 6% more viewers for ABC to the half-hour this year. During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s A Special Edition of 20/20: Mad About Oscar with Katie Couric was up over the year-ago ABC Oscar special in the hour by 4% in Total Viewers.
Thursday: Up against Idol and CBS’ top-rated comedies (The Big Bang Theory/Two and a Half Men), ABC’s Zero Hour drew 2.3 million more viewers than NBC’s comedies (Community/Parks and Recreation). Zero Hour held 100% of its week-ago series debut numbers in both Adults 18-34 and Men 18-34. Shooting up from its lead-in at 9pm (+182%) against the second hour of Idol, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy moved up to rank as the top scripted show in its slot among Adults 18-49 and as Thursday’s #1 drama. During the 9 o’clock hour, Grey’s outdelivered CBS’ Person of Interest by 7% and NBC’s comedies by 158% (Parks and Recreation/1600 Penn). Although facing Idol in the hour this week, Grey’s was up by 1% in Adults 18-49 over the prior week to match its best number in 6 weeks – since 1/10/13. Holding steady week to week, ABC’s Scandal led the 10pm hour in Adults 18-49 by 13% over CBS’ Elementary to finish as the #1 series in its slot for its 9th telecast in a row. In its last eight original broadcasts, Scandal has earned the series’ 8 highest-rated airings in Adults 18-49 and 7 of its most-watched overall. Consistently one of the most active shows on Twitter each Thursday, Scandal has generated 2.287 million tweets this season. Spiking 13% week to week, the hit ABC drama captured its 3rd-highest number of tweets for any airing this season. For its 6th straight telecast, the sophomore drama improved its hour year to year in Total Viewers (+22%) and Adults 18-49 (+29%).
Friday: ABC won the final Friday of the February Sweep over its network rivals in Adults 18-49, leading CBS by 7%, NBC by 15% and Fox by 67%. The Net’s Shark Tank was the #1 TV show of the evening in the key young adult sales demo. Season to date, ABC is Friday’s top-rated network in Adults 18-49, gaining over the comparable weeks last year by 21% to its strongest performance on the night in 4 years – since the 2008-09 season. During the 8 o’clock hour, ABC’s Last Man Standing and Malibu Country outdelivered Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares by 2.5 million viewers and by 9% in Adults 18-49. Building on its lead-in by 73% and growing week to week (+6%), ABC’s Shark Tank won the 9 o’clock hour in Adults 18-49, outdelivering the second hour of NBC’s 2-hour Dateline by 27%, CBS’ CSI: NY season finale by 58% and Fox’s Touch by 171%. On average, Shark Tank is up by 17% with young adults, marking its best season ever. For the 2nd week in a row, ABC’s 20/20 finished as Friday’s #1 newsmagazine in the key Adult 25-54 news demo, defeating both NBC’s 2-hour Dateline and Rock Center with Brian Williams. Head to head from 10-11pm, 20/20 beat NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams by wide margins in Total Viewers (+29%), Adults 25-54 (+36%) and Adults 18-49 (+40%). 20/20 took viewers on a candid, inspiring and intimate journey inside Robin Roberts’ challenging fight against myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a rare blood disorder. Up for the 2nd week, the ABC newsmagazine earned its most-watched telecast since December 14, 2012.
Sunday: With its broadcast of The Oscars, ABC more than tripled its combined network competition on Sunday evening in young adults. During primetime, ABC outdrew the other networks combined (CBS, NBC and Fox) by 21.1 million viewers and by 216% in Adults 18-49. The Net produced its most-watched Sunday in 3 years and equaled its top Adult 18-49 number in 6 years – since 3/7/10 and 2/25/07, respectively. From 7-8:30pm all 3 segments of ABC’s Oscar’s Red Carpet Live pre-show were up year to year among young adults, with the final half-hour pulling in 25.5 million viewers and a 7.3/20 in Adults 18-49. ABC’s broadcast of The Oscars drew an average audience of 40.4 million Total Viewers and delivered a 13.0 rating, 31 share among Adults 18-49. The 2013 Oscars is TV’s most-watched entertainment telecast in 3 years – since 3/7/10. The Oscars grew its overall audience for the 2nd straight year (+1.1 million) and surged 11% in Adults 18-49 to its best numbers since 2010. Overall, it was the Oscars’ 2nd-most-watched telecast since 2005. In addition the Seth MacFarlane-hosted show scored big gains year to year with Adults 18-34 (+19%), hitting its highest number in 6 years – since 2007. In addition the show posted strong double-digit year-to-year growth across all key Men: M18-34 +34%, M18-49 +16% and M25-54 +11%. TV’s biggest awards show, The Oscars towered over other awards shows this year, outdrawing the 2013 Golden Globe Awards by 20.7 million viewers and 103% in Adults 18-49 and the 2013 Grammy Awards by 12.0 million viewers and 29% in Adults 18-49. ABC’s Oscar programming on Sunday reached 80.748 million unique television viewers across the U.S. – unduplicated Viewers 2+ watching 6-minutes or more during the broadcast.
Oscar.com and the Oscar App generated substantial year-over-year growth. The number of visitors to Oscar.com since the nomination announcement (15.8 million) surged 28% over 2012, and the Oscar App was downloaded 432,000 times, representing a 16% jump over last year. On Oscar Sunday alone, 4.6 million people visited Oscar.com or used an Oscar App and consumed over 33.4 million minutes of digital content. According to Social Guide, there were 6.4 million tweets with 1.6 million unique users, as overall Oscar activity outpaced last year by 68%.
