Week 17: ABC big on comedy

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Overall: During the week of 1/9/12, ABC claimed 6 of the Top 20 TV shows in Adults 18-49, with each of its Wednesday comedies making the list and Once Upon a Time finishing as the #1 freshman drama:  Modern Family – #5, Grey’s Anatomy – #12, Once Upon a Time – #14, Happy Endings – #18, while The Middle and Suburgatory tied at #20.  In addition, Modern Family and Grey’s Anatomy qualified as the Top 2 scripted series with key Women (W18-34/W18-49). ABC’s 20/20 on Friday stood as the week’s #1 newsmagazine among key Adults (AD18-49/AD25-54). Continuing to grow the Monday-Friday 10 o’clock hour year over year as a lead-in to affiliates’ late-local newscasts, ABC posted double-digit increases from the same week last year with Total Viewers (+11%), Adults 18-49 (+18%) and Adults 25-54 (+17%).


Monday: Featuring The Bachelor and Castle, ABC led the network pack on Monday, beating runner-up CBS by 1.1 million viewers and by 5% in Adults 18-49.  ABC marked its most-watched Monday since November – since 11/21/11. ABC’s The Bachelor ran a strong #2 against regular competition from 8-10pm with Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, while finishing #1 among all key Women demographics (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).  In addition, The Bachelor beat out its original unscripted competition on NBC (Who’s Still Standing?/Fear Factor) during the 2-hour time period, leading by 1.4 million viewers and by 10% in Adults 18-49.  Building on its lead-in, ABC’s Castle finished as the #1 regular program during the 10 o’clock hour among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 to stand as Monday’s most-watched TV series overall.  In the hour, the ABC drama more than tripled the delivery of NBC’s Rock Center With Brian Williams in viewers (+227%) and young adults (+229%).  On its first original in 5 weeks (12/5/11), Castle jumped by double-digits over its last first-run telecast with Total Viewers (+21%) and Adults 18-49 (+15%).  Castle rose over its performance on the same night last year by 8% with viewers and by 10% with young adults.

Tuesday: For the 2nd week in a row with its new Tuesday night lineup, ABC scored strong gains over the same night last year (also an all-original schedule), surging by double digits in Total Viewers (+13%) and Adults 18-49 (+20%).  ABC finished as the 2nd-most-watched network on Tuesday evening. At 8pm against a first-run installment of CBS’ top-rated NCIS, ABC freshman Last Man Standing ranked #2 in its slot among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, topping NBC’s The Biggest Loser 13 by 1.2 million viewers.   The new ABC comedy boosted its time slot year to year by 38% in viewers and by 40% in young adults. Last Man Standing matched a 5-week high with Adults 18-34 and a 12-week high with Kids 2-11 – since 12/6/11 and 10/18/11, respectively. Jumping over its lead-in at 9pm among Adults 18-49 (+40%), ABC’s Celebrity Wife Swap improved its hour by 11% year to year over V last year.  The ABC unscripted series gained viewers and young adults from its first half-hour to its second half-hour.  Versus its premiere in the time period the prior week, Celebrity Wife Swap held 100% of its Adult 18-49 audience and increased over its premiere with Adults 18-34 (+14%) and Women 18-34 (+17%).  Building sharply on its lead-in at 10pm (+33%), ABC’s Body of Proof topped NBC’s Parenthood during the hour by 2.2 million viewers.  The ABC sophomore drama once again produced substantial year-to-year improvement in the time period, jumping by 35% in Total Viewers and by 60% in Adults 18-49 over Detroit 1-8-7 on the year-ago night.  Building week to week in Adults 18-49 (+7%) and Adults 18-34 (+13%), Body of Proof generated its strongest performance since November on both measures – since 11/29/11.

Wednesday: ABC dominated its 2nd consecutive Wednesday among Adults 18-49, leading runner-up CBS with its broadcast of the People’s Choice Awards by 35%.  In addition, ABC beat out NBC’s original lineup on the night by 1.1 million viewers and by 72% with young adults, which included the time-period premiere of Whitney and the highly-promoted series debut of Are You There, Chelsea?  ABC swept the evening, ranking #1 in all 6 half-hours with Adults 18-49.  In fact, the Net’s comedies placed as Wednesday’s Top 4 TV shows in the key young adult sales demo, with Modern Family, Happy Endings, The Middle and Suburgatory, respectively. At 8pm, ABC’s The Middle won its half-hour over NBC’s time-slot premiere of Whitney, leading its comedy competition by 3.7 million viewers and by 45% in Adults 18-49.  Like its lead-in, ABC’s Suburgatory took first place in its slot with young adults and defeated its NBC comedy competition at 8:30pm by wide margins.  ABC freshman Suburgatory outdelivered the high-profile series opener of NBC’s Are You There, Chelsea? by 40% in Total Viewers and by 26% in Adults 18-49.  Suburgatory matched its best Adult 18-49 number since early-November (since 11/2/11) and achieved a new series-high with Teens 12-17. At 9pm, ABC’s Modern Family towered over its time-period competition to finish as Wednesday’s #1 TV show in Adults 18-49 for its 11th straight first-run telecast this season.  The ABC comedy also qualified as Wednesday’s most-watched TV show overall.  Modern Family jumped over its year-ago telecast by 11% in viewers and by 21% in young adults. During the 9:30 p.m. half-hour, ABC’s Happy Endings ran a strong #1 over first-run competition in Adults 18-49, outdelivering CBS’ People’s Choice Awards by 11%, Fox’s Mobbed by 100% and NBC’s Harry’s Law by 150%. From 10-11pm, ABC freshman drama Revenge ranked #1 in its hour among Adults 18-49, beating CBS’ People’s Choice Awards (+4%) and NBC’s Law & Order: SVU (+20%).  It was the show’s 2nd week in a row to finish as the top-rated entertainment program in the hour.  Rising 6% over the prior week, ABC’s Revenge tallied an 8-week high among Adults 18-34 – since 11/16/11.

Thursday: ABC ranked a strong #2 on Thursday among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, while winning the #1 position on the night with Women 18-49.  Among Adults 18-49, ABC outdelivered original schedules with premieres on Fox by 40% (including the series debut of The Finder) and NBC by 56% (including the season premiere of 30 Rock and the time-period premieres of Up All Night and The Firm).  During the 8 o’clock hour opposite CBS’ top-rated The Big Bang Theory and the series debut of Rob and Fox’s Bones, ABC’s Winter Wipeout defeated NBC’s comedies (30 Rock/Parks and Recreation) by 2.8 million viewers and by 22% in Adults 18-49.   In addition, the broad-skewing unscripted series finished #2 in the time period with Men 25-54 and Teens 12-17, as well as making ABC the #1 broadcaster in the hour with Kids 2-11.  In fact it was the night’s highest-rated broadcast show with Kids 2-11. Despite facing stiff competition, Wipeout’s audience surged by 9% in viewers and by 26% in young adults from its first half-hour to its second half-hour.  Winning the 9 o’clock hour by wide margins in Adults 18-49, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy beat out CBS’ Person of Interest by 19%, NBC’s comedies (The Office/Up All Night) by 52% and Fox’s series debut of The Finder by 124%. ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy stood as Thursday’s #1 drama in the key young adult sales demo for its 10th consecutive original telecast this season.  During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Private Practice topped NBC’s time-period premiere of The Firm by 2.3 million viewers and more than doubled the NBC drama’s Adult 18-49 number (+130%).  ABC’s Private Practice qualified as the #1 drama in Thursday’s 10 o’clock hour for the 10th straight first-run airing this season with Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34. 

Friday: With the finales of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and 20/20, ABC ranked #1 on Friday in Adults 18-49, equaling a season-high on the evening. Building its numbers for the 2nd straight week, ABC drew its biggest Friday audience in 12 weeks (since 10/21/11) and matched its strongest young adult number on the night this season. ABC’s 8 o’clock finale of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition attracted its largest audience ever in the hour and tied its highest Adult 18-49 rating. Building on its lead-in at 9pm, the series finale of Home Edition finished as the #1 broadcast program in its hour with Adults 18-49, beating NBC’s Grimm by double digits (+21%) and towering over Fox’s Fringe (+55%). In its finale at 9pm, Home Edition generated its most-watched-ever Friday telecast and equaled its best-ever Adult 18-49 number on the night. During the 10pm hour, ABC’s 20/20 stood as Friday’s #1 newsmagazine, defeating NBC’s Dateline by strong margins in head-to-head competition with Total Viewers (+6%), Adults 25-54 (+22%) and Adults 18-49 (+31%).  ABC’s 20/20 featured a look at the underground world of women desperate to be moms, plus creative ways that some college girls are paying off the cost of higher education and an exclusive interview with pop icon Madonna. The ABC newsmagazine generated most-watched telecast in 2 months, while achieving a 12-week high with Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 – since 11/11/11 and 10/21/11, respectively.

Saturday: Up against CBS’ monster NFL AFC Divisional Playoff Game (Denver Broncos-New England Patriots) and an NFL playoff overrun-fueled Fox on Saturday night, ABC’s 9-11pm broadcast of The 2012 Miss America Pageant grew year to year and made it the dominant #1 non-sports network in the time period with Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. Building steadily throughout its 2-hour telecast, The Miss America Pageant’s audience jumped by 2.8 million viewers and by 47% from its first half-hour to its final half-hour. In fact during its final half-hour from 10:30-11pm, The Miss America Pageant drew an average audience of 8.1 million viewers and earned a 2.2 rating, 6 share with young adults.  Excluding only its high-rated 2011 New Year’s Eve programming, ABC equaled its best non-sports Adult 18-49 rating in the 2-hour time period in more than 1 year – since 12/25/10. Despite the big NFL competition, The Miss America Pageant increased its overall audience and surged by 13% in Adults 18-49 over last year’s broadcast, marking the program’s top numbers since 2004.

Sunday: Despite facing The 69th Annual Golden Globes on NBC and Fox’s monster NFL overrun-fueled programming from 8-9pm, ABC freshman drama Once Upon a Time catapulted over its lead-in and gained audience throughout its broadcast to beat CBS’ premiere of Undercover Boss by 10% in Adults 18-49 and by 35% in Adults 18-34. In addition, Once Upon a Time earned second place in the 8 o’clock hour to the Golden Globes in Women 18-49 and Teens 12-17. The Disney-owned drama soared 13% week to week in Kids 2-11 to achieve a 7-week high – best since 11/27/11. On average this season, Once Upon a Time is generating enormous year-over-year time period improvement for ABC, surging over original programming on the comparable nights last year by 40% in Total Viewers and by 71% in Adults 18-49. In fact, the new show qualifies as ABC’s most-watched regular series in the hour in 4 years – since Extreme Makeover: Home Edition during the 2007-08 TV Season. Season-to-date, Once Upon a Time is TV’s #1 new drama series across all key Adults (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54), all key Women, Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11.  ABC’s Desperate Housewives dominated its drama competition in the 9 o’clock hour among Adults 18-49, outdelivering The Good Wife by 35% to beat the CBS drama for the 11th straight telecast this season. In addition, Housewives finished second in the slot with key Women (W18-49/W25-54) to the Golden Globes.

(Source: ABC)