ABC News’ “20/20,” from 10:00 to 11:00 featuring the continuation of Barbara Walters’ headline-making interview with former Vice Presidential candidate and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, won the 10 o’clock hour in Total Viewers (7.9 million), Adults 18-49 (1.8/6) and Adults 25-54 (2.5/7). It was the 4th week in a row for the ABC news magazine to finish No. 1 in the hour among Adults 18-49.
“20/20” produced its 2nd-biggest audience in the last 8 months (since 3/27/09), behind only the two-weeks-ago telecast of the newsmagazine featuring Diane Sawyer’s exclusive interview with Rihanna.
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 33% currently, from 28% at the same point in 2008. 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: data from ABC. – Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 11/20/09)
