ABC's 'Dancing with The Stars' danced to victory

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Featuring the semi-finals of DWTS and the 3rd-season finale of Castle, ABC towered over its competitors for the 3rd straight Monday of the 2011 May Sweep, more than doubling runner-up CBS with its season finales in Total Viewers and outrunning second-place Fox by 52% in Adults 18-49. 


For the 2nd week in a row, the Net defeated its broadcast competition in all 6 half-hours of the night with viewers and young adults.  In fact, ABC stood as Monday’s most-watched television network for the 10th week in a row and delivered the #1 position on the evening in Adults 18-49 for the 9th time in 10 weeks.
 
In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, ABC generated its best Monday results in 7 weeks –  since 3/28/11.

For the 3rd straight Monday, the Net substantially improved its year-to-year May Sweep returns, surging by 4.4 million viewers and by 28% with young adults over the same night a year ago (5/17/10). 

Building week to week in viewers (+3%) and young adults (+7%), ABC’s Dancing with the Stars once again won each of its half-hours in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 finish #1 in its time period for the 9th time in as many weeks. 

The ABC dancing performance program continued to register as Monday’s #1 TV show in Total Viewers (9 of 9 telecasts) and Adults 18-49 (8 of 9 telecasts). 

DWTS built over the same night last year by 2.4 million viewers and by 7% in Adults 18-49.  On average, Season 12 of DWTS is up over the same point in Season 11 by 1.1 million viewers and by 7% in Adults 18-49, standing as the franchise’s most-watched-ever season overall. 

Hitting season-highs, ABC’s 3rd-season closer of Castle won the 10 o’clock hour, dominating CBS’ season finale of Hawaii Five-0 by 3.4 million viewers and by 32% in Adults 18-49, as the ABC drama won in their 5th straight head-to-head original matchup. 
In addition, on both counts Castle was the #1 TV series in its time period for 7th time in its past 8 original airings.  On each of its final 7 first-run broadcast this season, ABC’s Castle finished as Monday’s most-watched scripted TV program. 

Building its viewer and young adult numbers for the 3rd week in a row, Castle scored its best results in nearly 14 months (since 3/29/10, with the conclusion of a high-rated 2-part episode), qualifying as the series’ 2nd-highest numbers ever. 

Posting its strongest finale ever, Castle was up sharply over its year-ago season closer in Total Viewers (+3.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (+38%).  In fact ABC’s Castle marked its strongest season ever, building over its sophomore season averages in both Total Viewers (+8%) and Adults 18-49 (+4%). 

(source: ABC)