Driven by continued strong returns from both The Bachelorette and True Beauty, ABC once again earned first place on Monday in both Total Viewers (8.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.7/8), hitting summer-highs on the night with its top summer performance since 7/27/09.  In fact the Network ranked #1 in Adults 18-49 for its 4th straight Monday, beating second-place CBS by 50% (1.8/5), third-place Fox by 69% (1.6/5) and fourth-place NBC by 93% (1.4/4). 

Gaining overall audience year to year for the 5th week in a row, ABC built its Monday numbers over the same night last year (6/29/09) by 1.2 million viewers and 13% in Adults 18-49 (6.9 million and 2.4/7).

The time-period leader, ABC’s The Bachelorette finished #1 for the 5th week in a row, overpowering its nearest 8-10pm competition (CBS) by 3.0 million viewers (9.7 million vs. 6.7 million) and by 60% (3.2/10 vs. 2.0/6).  The veteran unscripted series gained overall audience during each half-hour of its 2-hour broadcast.

The Bachelorette finished as Monday’s #1 television program in Adults 18-49 for the 3rd week in a row, and for the 5th week running was the night’s dominant #1 TV show across all key Women demographics (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).
 

The Bachelorette achieved season-highs in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.  In fact excluding season finales, the series drew its biggest audience since February 2004 (since 2/18/04 during Season 2) and its highest Adult 18-49 rating since February 2005 (since 2/21/05 during Season 3). 

On average, The Bachelorette is up over its performance at the same point last year by 1.2 million viewers and by 7% in  Adults 18-49.   

ABC’s True Beauty ranked #1 in the 10 o’clock hour across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). 

On average, True Beauty is improving its time period year to year for ABC by 8% in Total Viewers.

(source: ABC)