Improving the Time Period Against “American Idol,” ABC’s “Wipeout” Beats Out its Non-“Idol” Competition in the 8pm Hour.
ABC is the Only Net to Build Audience Opposite”Idol” from 8-9pm for the 2nd Week in a Row.
Drawing its 2nd-Biggest Repeat Audience of the Season, ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” Dominates Original Competition on NBC and Fox.
ABC’s “Private Practice” Generates Strongest Repeat Numbers This Season.
“Wipeout” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
At 8:00 p.m., ABC’s “Wipeout” defeated its non-“Idol” competition in Adults 18-49 (2.4/7), beating out NBC’s original comedies (“Community”/”Perfect Couples” = 1.9/5) by 26% and CBS’ comedies (“The Big Bang Theory”/”$#*! My Dad Says” = 2.3/6) by 4% in the young adult demo. “Wipeout” also took second in the hour to “Idol” with Men 18-49, Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11.
Despite facing “Idol” in the time period this year, “Wipeout” registered substantial year-to-year gains in the hour for ABC in Total Viewers (+25% — 7.6 million vs. 6.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (+33% — 2.4/7 vs. 1.8/5) over original drama programming on the year-ago night (“The Deep End” on 1/28/10).
Head to head against “Idol,” “Wipeout” was up over the previous week among key Men, gaining 6% in Men 18-34 (1.9/6 vs. 1.8/6) and 5% in Men 18-49 (2.3/7 vs. 2.2/6).
For the 2nd week in a row, ABC was the only net to build audience in the hour against “Idol,” as CBS, NBC and CW each lost viewers from 8:00-9:00 p.m. From its first half-hour to its second-half hour, “Wipeout” gained 3% in viewers (7.5 million to 7.7 million) and 9% in Adults 18-49 (2.3/6 to 2.5/7). In fact, during its second half-hour from 8:30-9:00 p.m., “Wipeout” ranked No. 2 to “Idol” in Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34, Women 18-49, Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11.
“Grey’s Anatomy” (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
At 9:00 p.m., ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” generated its 2nd-strongest repeat numbers of the season with Total Viewers (4.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.5/4), despite facing all-original competition on NBC and Fox.
“Private Practice” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Up against original episodes of NBC’s “30 Rock” and “Outsourced” in the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s “Private Practice” drew its best repeat numbers of the season in both Total Viewers (3.4 million), Adults 18-49 (1.0/3-tie) and Women 18-49 (1.7/4).
A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 39% currently, from 35% at the same point in 2010. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.
(Source: ABC – The Nielsen Company (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 1/27/11.)
