Overall: During the week of 11/1/10, ABC earned second place to an NFL overrun-boosted CBS in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, beating out NBC and Fox on both Nielsen measures. Making ABC’s strong competitive position even more impressive, please note that professional sports continued to have a big impact on the weekly averages. CBS’ 67-minute Sunday NFL overrun added 4-tenths of a rating point to its Adult 18-49 number for the week, NBC’s results were driven by another big Sunday Night Football NFL game (Dallas-Green Bay) and Fox got a big boost from carriage of the deciding Game 5 for the 2010 World Series. ABC ranked #1 for the 2nd straight week across all key Women demographics (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54), holding the #1 position with Women 18-34 for the 7th week running this season. For the 5th consecutive week, ABC’s Modern Family qualified as the #1 scripted TV program in Adults 18-49, while Dancing with the Stars landed as the #1 unscripted series for the 7th time in 7 weeks this season. ABC claimed 5 of the Top 10 TV shows for the week in Adults 18-49, more than any other network: Modern Family – #3 (#1 scripted show), Grey’s Anatomy – #6 (#1 drama), Desperate Housewives – #8 (#2 drama), DWTS – #9 (#1 unscripted series), Private Practice – #10 (#1 10 o’clock show). ABC’s Dancing with the Stars finished as America’s most-watched television series overall for the 6th time in 7 weeks this season. In fact ABC delivered 2 of the Top 3 biggest viewer draws for the week with DWTS and DWTS: The Results. Building its overall audience for the 4th week running, the Net marked its most-watched week since season-premiere week in September – since w/o 9/22/10.
Monday: Standing as the most-watched Net on the opening Monday of the November sweep, ABC ranked #1 on the night in Total Viewers for the 7th week in a row, topping CBS by 6.4 million viewers. In fact, ABC attracted its largest Monday audience during any sweeps period in nearly 3 years – since 11/19/07. Growing its Monday results year to year for the 7th consecutive week, ABC was up over the same night last season (11/2/09) by 2.8 million viewers and by 20% in Adults 18-49. Celebrating the show’s 200th episode, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars led its 2-hour time period in Total Viewers for the 7th week running. DWTS defeated CBS’ original comedy block in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. DWTS stood as Monday’s #1 show in Total Viewers, Women 18-49 and Women 25-54 for the 7th week in a row. DWTS improved substantially over its year-ago telecast for the 7th straight week, up by 3.2 million viewers and by 18% among Adults 18-49. Ranking as the top scripted program in the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Castle drew a bigger overall audience than CBS’ Hawaii Five-0 for the 3rd straight week. In addition, Castle beat the CBS drama for the 4th consecutive week across all key Women demographics: W18-34/W18-49/W25-54. Building on its performance on the same night last year for the 7th time in 7 weeks this season , Castle is up over its year-ago telecast by 1.9 million viewers and by 13% in Adults 18-49.
Tuesday: ABC finished as the clear winner on midterm election night, defeating its nearest competitors on Tuesday by 2.7 million viewers (CBS) and by 14% in Adults 18-49 (NBC). The Network generated its most-watched Tuesday since September. Towering over its competition during its 90-minute time period from 8:00-9:30 p.m., ABC’s Dancing with the Stars: The Results stood as Tuesday’s #1 TV show in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. Former Los Angeles Lakers’ star Rick Fox was the seventh celebrity to leave the ABC dance competition this season. Despite shifting into an earlier time period, DWTS: The Results attracted its biggest audience in 5 weeks – since 9/28/10. In addition, the show outdrew its year-ago telecast for the 7th consecutive week this season. ABC News: Vote 2010, anchored by Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos, was the viewers’ choice for election night coverage on broadcast television. Drawing an average audience of 6.8 million viewers from 9:30-10:55pm, ABC News’ election night coverage topped second-place NBC News’ special by 6% (Decision 10 Prime from 9-10:54pm), third-place CBS News’ special by 15% (Campaign 2010: Election from 10-11pm) and fourth-place Fox News’ special by 143% (Fox News Election Coverage-11/2 from 9-10pm).
Wednesday: ABC finished a solid second on Wednesday night in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, while winning the night in Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34. Posting strong year-over-year gains in viewers (+37%) and young adults (+33%), ABC grew over the year-ago Wednesday for the 5th straight week. The Net tallied its top Wednesday this season in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, posting its best performance on the evening in 11 months – since 12/9/09. ABC’s 8-10pm comedy block continued to build year to year, surging by 2.5 million viewers and by 38% in Adults 18-49 from the same night a year ago. Hitting a series-high for the 2nd week in a row in Adults 18-49, ABC’s The Middle continued to run a competitive second at 8pm to CBS’ Survivor: Nicaragua among viewers and young adults, holding wide advantages over programming on NBC and Fox. The Middle won its slot in Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34 (2nd week in a row), beating out Survivor by 5% and 22%, respectively. In addition, the ABC sophomore rose sharply from its year-ago performance (when it aired at 8:30pm) and also improved the 8pm half-hour for ABC year to year. The Middle matched its highest-ever Adult 18-49 number (tying the previous week), while also hitting series-best ratings with Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-34. Posting a series-best for the 2nd straight week in Adults 18-49, Better with You earned a solid second place at 8:30pm with viewers and young adults. The ABC freshman comedy once again towered over its freshman competition in the half-hour, topping NBC’s Undercovers by 28% in Total Viewers and by a best-ever margin of 92% in Adults 18-49. Better with You improved its half-hour for ABC from the same night last year in both Total Viewers (+28%) and Adults 18-49 (+32%). The new ABC comedy equaled series-highs in Adults 18-49, Adults 25-54 and Women 18-49, while achieving new highs in Women 18-34 and Teens 12-17. Standing as Wednesday’s #1 TV show for the 7th straight week this season, ABC’s Modern Family posted a convincing victory in the 9pm half-hour, beating second-place CBS’ Criminal Minds by 23%. Modern Family bettered its year-ago performance for the 7th week running this season, jumping over the same night last year by 3.4 million viewers and by 37% in Adults 18-49. ABC’s Cougar Town took second place in 9:30pm half-hour among young Adults (AD18-34/AD18-49) and delivered the #1 position with Women 18-34 for the 5th straight week. Cougar Town was up from its performance on the same night last year by 7% in Total Viewers and by 7% in Adults 18-49. As a lead-up to next week’s broadcast of the 44th Annual CMA Awards, ABC’s In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts: All Access Nashville produced season-highs for the Net in Wednesday’s 10pm hour with Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. In fact the program attracted the ABC’s biggest overall audience in the time period since last December (12/9/09).
Thursday: ABC won Thursday in Adults 18-34 by a margin of +21% over its nearest competition (NBC), qualifying as the highest-rated non-sports net on the evening for the 7th week in a row. The Net also finished #1 overall with key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49) for the 7th week running this season. Growing its viewer and young adult numbers for the 2nd week in a row, ABC marked its strongest performance on the night since season-premiere Thursday 6 weeks ago (on 9/23/10). Launching over its lead-in (+177% in Viewers/+258% in Adults 18-49), ABC self-starter Grey’s Anatomy soared to the top of Thursday’s 9 o’clock hour in Adults 18-49, standing as the #1 series in the slot for the 7th week in a row. Taking full control of its time period, Grey’s topped second-place CBS’ CSI by 30%, third-place NBC’s comedies (The Office/Outsourced) by +34% and fourth-place Fox’s Fringe by +139%. Jumping week to week by 1.1 million viewers and by 10% in Adults 18-49, Grey’s Anatomy posted its best results in 3 weeks – since 10/14/10. Showing impressive lead-in retention in the 10pm hour, ABC’s Private Practice posted a dominant first-place finish in Adults 18-49, beating out CBS’ The Mentalist by a best-ever margin +30% and NBC’s The Apprentice by +179%. The ABC medical drama also dominated the hour with Adults 18-34, registering as the #1 scripted show in the slot for the 7th straight week. The episode gained critical appraise for its handling of a character’s sexual assault. In Total Viewers (86%) and Adults 18-49 (91%), Private Practice exhibited its best-ever non-crossover retention of an original Grey’s lead-in. In addition, Private Practice retained 97% of its Women 18-49 lead-in and held 100% with Women 25-54. Hitting season-highs as it shot up week to week in viewers (+32%) and young adults (+44%), Private Practice achieved the series’ best numbers in nearly 10 months – since 1/14/10.
Friday: ABC posted a solid second-place finish against its network rivals on Friday in Viewers and Adults 18-49 , while ranking #1 on the night with Women 18-34. Among Adults 18-49, ABC led NBC by 36% and Fox by 67%. ABC posted its 2nd-highest Friday numbers this season with viewers and young adults. Growing year to year, the season opener of ABC’s Supernanny earned second place among the major nets in the 8 o’clock hour with viewers and young adults. Supernanny was up from its year-ago season opener (on 10/23/09) in Total Viewers (+4) and Adults 18-49 (+9%). The veteran unscripted series also generated strong time-period improvement for ABC, boosting the hour by 33% in viewers and by 20% in Adults 18-49 over the Net’s season-to-date averages. Building its overall audience by 6% from its week-ago season premiere (5.7 million vs. 5.4 million) in the 9 o’clock hour, ABC’s Primetime: What Would You Do? ranked as the #2 show among the broadcast networks in its time slot to CBS’ slot-regular CSI: NY. Among Adults 18-49, ABC’s What Would You Do? defeated the opening hour of NBC’s Dateline by 38%) and Fox’s The Good Guys by 125%. Drawing a younger audience in the hour, the ABC hidden-camera show topped CBS’ CSI: NY in Adults 18-34 for the 2nd week in a row. Primetime: What Would You Do? attracted ABC’s biggest audience in the time period in nearly 6 months – since 5/14/10. In the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s 20/20 defeated the second hour of NBC’s 2-hour Dateline by 21% in Adults 18-49 and paced within 1-tenth of a rating point of tying CBS’ Blue Bloods for the lead in the slot. 20/20 ranked #1 in the hour with key Women (W18-34/W18-49). The ABC newsmagazine hit its 2nd-highest numbers this season in key Adults (AD18-49/AD25-54) and tied a season-high with Women 18-49.
Sunday: Opposite sports-driven competition on the night on CBS (NFL overrun) and NBC (Sunday Night Football), ABC saw solid increases week to week in both Total Viewers (+1.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (+23%). At 7pm, ABC’s America’s Funniest Home Videos improved on its week-ago performance by 1.8 million viewers and by 14% in Adults 18-49, drawing the show’s largest audience in over 8 months – since 2/28/10. Building on the previous week in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition registered its largest audience of the season and saw its best young adult performance in 5 weeks – since 10/3/10. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition also marked season-highs in Adults 25-54 and Women 18-49. ABC’s Desperate Housewives stood as Sunday’s #1 entertainment TV show in both viewers and young adults for the 4th consecutive week, turning in its top numbers in 5 weeks (since 10/3/10). Additionally, Housewives stood as Sunday’s #1 TV program overall across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). ABC’s Brothers & Sisters was up week to week by 7% in Total Viewers and by 9% in Adults 18-49, drawing its biggest audience in 3 weeks (since 10/17/10). In addition, Brothers & Sisters beat its CBS competition in the hour (Amazing Race/Undercover Boss) by strong margins across each of the key Women demographics: W18-34/W18-49/W25-54.
(source: ABC)
