Overall: During another week where professional sports coverage boosted the other nets averages (w/o 10/18/10), ABC earned a solid second place in Total Viewers and ranked #1 with Women 18-34 for the 5th time in 5 weeks this season. For the 3rd week in a row, ABC’s Modern Family finished as TV’s #1 scripted show in Adults 18-49, while ABC’s Dancing with the Stars stood the #1 unscripted series for the 5th week running this season. The Net continued to deliver the most Top 10 TV shows (tying CBS) with 4 of the Top 10 in Adults 18-49: Modern Family – #3, Grey’s Anatomy and Dancing with the Stars tied at #8 and Desperate Housewives – #10. ABC generated its biggest overall audience in 3 weeks – since w/o 9/27/10.
Monday: ABC won Monday night in Total Viewers for the 5th consecutive week. During prime, ABC outperformed CBS by 6.2 million viewers and by 6% in Adults 18-49. Growing its Monday results year to year for the 5th week in a row, ABC was up over the same night last season (10/19/09) by 2.1 million viewers and by 9% in Adults 18-49. ABC’s Dancing with the Stars led its 2-hour time period in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, taking the top spot in viewers for the 5th time in as many weeks. DWTS defeated CBS’ original comedy block by 9.2 million viewers and by 14% in Adults 18-49. Season to date, DWTS is improving substantially over its year-ago averages by 3.3 million viewers and by 21% among Adults 18-49. ABC’s Castle outdrew CBS’s high-profile reboot, Hawaii Five-0, for the first-time ever in Total Viewers. In addition, Castle beat the CBS drama across all key Women demographics (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54) for the 2nd week in a row. ABC’s Castle topped NBC’s Chase for the 5th week in a row in both Total Viewers (+112%) and Adults 18-49 (+56%). Castle was up over its performance on the same night last year for the 5th straight telecast. In fact, compared to the same point last season, Castle is up by 1.4 million viewers and by 11% in Adults 18-49.
Tuesday: With its new Tuesday schedule, ABC took second on the night in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, turning in the Net’s most competitive Tuesday finish this season in the key young adult sales demo. For the 4th straight week, ABC built on the same night last year (10/20/09) in Total Viewers by nearly 1.0 million viewers. In fact, for the second straight week, ABC was the only net to see its Total Viewer count on the night improve year to year. In the Tuesday 8 o’clock hour, ABC’s No Ordinary Family placed second in its time period in Total Viewers, beating NBC’s The Biggest Loser and Fox’s rebroadcast Glee. Building audience in the opening hour of the evening, No Ordinary Family increased in Total Viewers (+3%) and Adults 18-49 (+10%) from its first half-hour to its second half-hour. Growing its time slot by wide margins year to year on all 4 of its telecasts, on average No Ordinary Family is improving the hour for ABC by 3.5 million viewers and by 59% in Adults 18-49 from the same point last season. Building on its lead-in and picking up audience throughout its telecast, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars: The Results finished second in its hour among Total Viewers. The ABC dance competition ranked #1 in its slot across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). DWTS: The Results held solid advantages over its unscripted competition in the time period, beating The Biggest Loser by 8.2 million viewers and by 19% in Adults 18-49. Television icon Florence Henderson was the fifth celebrity eliminated from the dance competition this season. The ABC dancing results show continues to trend ahead of its year-ago performance, up on average this season by 3.3 million viewers and by 23% in Adults 18-49 from the same point a year ago. ABC’s Detroit 1-8-7 generated increases of 13% in Total Viewers and 6% in Adults 18-49 over its week-ago performance. The freshman ABC drama was once again the 2nd-most-watched TV show in the 10 o’clock hour, outdrawing NBC’s sophomore drama Parenthood for the 5th straight week (+3.0 million).
Wednesday: Exhibiting year-to-year improvement on Wednesday for the 3rd consecutive week (despite facing an MLB Playoff game this year), ABC was up over the year-ago night (10/21/09) by 1.0 million viewers and by 14% in Adults 18-49. It was the Net’s 3rd time in 3 nights this week to build its overall audience from the same night last year. In addition, ABC’s 8-10pm comedy block surged over the same night last year by 1.6 million viewers and by 24% in Adults 18-49. Scoring its best results since its season opener in September, ABC’s The Middle qualified as the 2nd-most-watched TV series in the 8pm half-hour to CBS’ Survivor: Nicaragua, outdelivering NBC’s Undercovers by 2.8 million viewers and by 73% in Adults 18-49. The sophomore comedy greatly improved its 8pm slot for ABC from the same night last year in viewers (+2.7 million) and young adults (+73%). On average, The Middle is also up from its own performance at this point last year (when it had the added advantage of airing at 8:30pm, with higher overall viewing levels) in Total Viewers (+16%) and Adults 18-49 (+17%). Despite facing Fox’s post-season Major League Baseball Game, The Middle produced its 3rd-most-watched telecast ever, behind only its two season premieres. Building its overall audience week to week against the baseball game, Better with You continued to dominate its freshman competition in the half-hour among Adults 18-49, beating NBC’s Undercovers by 11% in Total Viewers and by 31% in Adults 18-49. The freshman comedy improved its half-hour year to year for ABC in both Total Viewers (+5%) and Adults 18-49 (+5%). Standing as Wednesday’s dominant #1 TV show for the 5th week running this season, ABC’s Modern Family jumped into the lead at 9pm, besting second-place CBS’ Criminal Minds by 34% in Adults 18-49. Modern Family outdelivered its year-ago performance for the 5th week in a row this season. In fact on average in its sophomore season, Modern Family’s numbers are up over the same point last season by 2.5 million viewers and by 29% in Adults 18-49. Modern Family posted the series’ 3rd-highest-ever numbers in viewers and young adults. Building its overall viewer count for the 3rd week in a row at 9:30pm, Cougar Town attracted its biggest audience since its season opener and generated its 2nd most-watched telecast since January – since 1/20/10. The ABC comedy won its half hour with Women 18-34 for the 3rd week in a row and finished #1 in Adults 18-34 for the 2nd week running. On its return to the 10 o’clock hour (after a pre-emption for an ABC News special the previous week), ABC’s The Whole Truth tied the series’ 2nd-highest Adult 18-49 rating.
Thursday: Up against MLB Playoffs during primetime on Fox, ABC stood as the #1 non-sports Net on Thursday for the 5th week in a row this season with Adults 18-34 and #1 overall with key Women demos: W18-34/W18-49. Surging from its lead-in (+156% in Viewers/+233% in Adults 18-49), ABC self-starter Grey’s Anatomy shot to the top of Thursday’s 9 o’clock hour to lead its time period for the 5th consecutive week in Adults 18-49. In its time period, Grey’s bettered Fox’s 2010 National League Championship Series – Game 5 by +14%, CBS’ CSI by +18% and NBC’s comedies by +38%. In the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Private Practice stood as the #2 series in viewers to CBS’ The Mentalist, beating out NBC’s The Apprentice by 4.1 million viewers and by 108% in Adults 18-49. For the 5th week in a row, Private Practice dominated The Mentalist with Adults 18-34, outdelivering the CBS drama by 22%.
Friday: Delivering its best Friday numbers season, ABC placed second against its network rivals on the night in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, outdelivering NBC (+8% and +33%, respectively) and Fox (+79% and +71%, respectively). Building on its lead-in (+7% in viewers/+44% in AD18-49), ABC’s rebroadcast Primetime: What Would You Do? posted increases for the network in the 9 o’clock hour, its 2nd straight week of gains in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. Primetime: What Would You Do? outperformed the first hour of NBC’s 2-hour Dateline by 44% in Adults 18-49 and by 22% in Adults 25-54. ABC’s 20/20 ranked as the #2 program in the 10 o’clock hour defeating the second hour of NBC’s Dateline by 4% in Total Viewers, by 25% in Adults 18-49 and by 12% in Adults 25-54. 20/20 featured a Brian Ross investigation of American fugitives accused of using new technology to scam thousands of senior citizens.
Saturday: Despite going up against Fox’s post-season baseball coverage during primetime (MLB NLCS Game 6), ABC’s Saturday Night Football, featuring Oklahoma at Missouri, drove the Network to season-highs on the night in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.
Sunday: Opposite sports-driven competition on the night on CBS (NFL overrun) and NBC (Sunday Night Football), ABC saw its overall audience grow over the previous week for the 2nd week in a row. At 7pm, ABC’s America’s Funniest Home Videos hit a season-high in Total Viewers, drawing the show’s largest audience since February – since 2/28/10. Building on the previous week in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition attracted its largest audience of the season and saw its best young adult performance in 3 weeks – since 10/3/10. Against another big Sunday Night Football match-up on NBC (Minnesota Vikings-Green Bay Packers), ABC’s Desperate Housewives registered as Sunday’s #1 entertainment TV show among Adults 18-49 for the 4th week in a row. Housewives also finished #1 against its non-sports competition in its 9 o’clock time slot in viewers and young adults for the 3rd week in a row. Opposite the conclusion of the strong NFL game on NBC, ABC’s Brothers & Sisters outperformed its CBS competition (Undercover Boss/CSI: Miami combo) by solid margins across each of the key Women demographics: W18-34/W18-49/W25-54.
(source; ABC)
