Week 45: ABC claimed 3 of the week's Top 20 TV shows

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Overall: During the week of 7/25/11, ABC claimed 3 of the week’s Top 20 TV shows in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49:  The Bachelorette – #6/#10, Wipeout-THURS – #12/#15 and Extreme Makeover:  Weight Loss Edition – #16/#15.  In addition to finishing as a Top 10 show with viewers and young adults, ABC’s The Bachelorette qualified as the week’s #2 TV show for the 2nd week running with Women 18-49. 


Monday: ABC’s Monday lineup of The Bachelorette and Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition led the night in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, topping second place Fox by 2.6 million and by 5% in the key young adult demo.  In Total Viewers, ABC has been the #1 network on every regular Monday of Summer 2011 (excluding only July 4th).   Further, ABC ranked #1 in Total Viewers on the night in 19 of the last 20 weeks.   Despite being interrupted for the presidential address on the East Coast during the middle of the program for 26 minutes, the penultimate telecast of ABC’s The Bachelorette saw week-to-week increases by 3% in Total Viewers and 4% in Adults 18-49.  In fact, The Bachelorette drew its 2nd-largest audience since its season premiere (5/23/11).  The Bachelorette qualified as Monday’s #1 TV show in Total Viewers, standing as Monday’s most-watched show overall for its 8th straight regular telecast.  In the 10 o’clock hour, the freshman season finale of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition scored the show’s largest audience in 4 weeks – since 6/27/11.  Furthermore, although it had a late start, the program turned in the series’ 3rd-most-watched telecast ever.  On average during its run, EM: Weight Loss Edition improved ABC’s performance in the hour by 13% in Total Viewers, by 10% in Adults 18-49 and by 13% in Adults 18-34 over the comparable nights last year with originals of True Beauty. 

Tuesday: Exhibiting consistently strong lead-in retention during its freshman season run against stiff unscripted competition at 9pm on NBC (America’s Got Talent/The Voice), ABC’s 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show substantially improved its time period year to year, surging over the gamer Downfall in the in the hour last summer by 21% in Total Viewers and by 29% in Adults 18-49.  At 10 o’clock, ABC’s Combat Hospital was up week to week in Total Viewers (+3%) and Adults 18-49 (+13%), marking its best numbers in three weeks – since 7/5/11.  In addition, the new ABC drama jumped over the prior week by 33% in Adults 18-34 to equal a series-best.

Wednesday: With 4 comedy repeats leading into Primetime Nightline: Celebrity Secrets, ABC was up over the same Wednesday last year (7/28/10) by 10% in Adults 18-49. In addition, the Net delivered its largest audience on the night in 3 weeks – since 7/6/11. At 9pm., ABC’s replay Modern Family grew week to week by 7% in Total Viewers, generating the show’s largest repeat audience in the half-hour in 5 weeks – since 6/22/11. In addition, the ABC sophomore comedy was up over its year-ago rebroadcast by 7% in viewers. In the 9:30pm half-hour, ABC’s encore Happy Endings grew over the prior week’s repeat by 12% in Total Viewers to produce its 2nd-most-watched-ever repeat telecast. At 10 o’clock, the ABC special Primetime Nightline: Celebrity Secrets improved on the previous week’s performance in the hour (Primetime Nightline: Beyond Belief) by 9% in Total Viewers, by 11% in Adults 18-49 and by 8% in Adults 25-54. On average this summer to date, Primetime Nightline is improving ABC’s performance in the hour by 11% in Total Viewers, by 38% in Adults 18-49 and by 25% in Adults 25-54 over the comparable nights last year. 

Thursday: ABC took second on Thursday to a Big Brother-driven CBS in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. ABC was up week to week by 7% in Adults 18-49 and by 17% in Adults 18-34, posting its best numbers on the night in 3 and 5 weeks, respectively – since 7/7/11 and 6/23/11.  ABC’s Wipeout won the 8 o’clock hour in Total Viewers for the 6th straight week and in Adults 18-49 for the 5th time in the last 6 weeks, topping its unscripted time period competition on Fox (So You Think You Can Dance) by 1.2 million viewers and by 12% in young adults. The broad-appealing ABC series qualified as Thursday’s top-rated broadcast show in Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11 for the 5th week in a row. Wipeout generated its largest audience in 3 weeks – since 7/7/11.  From 9-10pm, ABC’s freshman Expedition Impossible took second in the hour in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, behind only CBS veteran Big Brother 13. Surging 23% week to week in Adults 18-49, Expedition Impossible posted its highest young adult number in 3 weeks – since 7/7/11. In addition, the ABC unscripted series grew over the prior week by 40% in Adults 18-34 and by 63% in Men 18-34 to hit its 2nd-best-ever numbers on both Nielsen measures.  ABC’s Rookie Blue beat its network rivals in the 10 o’clock hour among Adults 18-49 and finished #1 with key Women (W18-34/W18-49) for the 5th time in 6 telecasts. Rookie Blue built on ABC’s performance in the hour on the same night last year (an original airing of Boston Med on 7/29/10) by 4% in viewers and by 8% in young adults. The sophomore ABC drama soared 18% over the prior week in Adults 18-34 to deliver a season-high performance.

Friday: ABC was #1 on Friday among the major nets in Adults 18-49 for the 4th consecutive week, defeating CBS by 20% and Fox by 71%. Growing 9% week to week in young adults, ABC matched its 2nd-best Friday of the summer to date. ABC’s encore Shark Tank tied CBS’ original Flashpoint for #1 in the 8 o’clock hour against the major nets among Adults 18-49, leading its repeat competition on both NBC (Who Do You Think You Are?) and Fox (Bones) by 71%. Shark Tank grew over the prior week’s replay by 8% in Total Viewers and by 20% in Adults 18-49 to equal a best-ever repeat number in young adults. Shark Tank built on ABC’s performance in the hour over the same night last year (7/30/10) by 38% in viewers and by 33% in Adults 18-49 (an original airing of Wife Swap). 

Sunday: From 9-11pm, ABC’s The Bachelorette:  The Men Tell All special finished as the most-watched TV show in its 2-hour time period, defeating original series programming on both CBS (Same Name) and NBC (Marriage Ref).  Building sharply on its lead-in and gaining viewers throughout its broadcast, ABC’s The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All beat out CBS’ Big Brother-boosted Same Name by 20% in Total Viewers and by 14% in Adults 18-49 from 9-10pm, and then towered over NBC’s Marriage Ref by 100% in Total Viewers and by 89% in Adults 18-49 from 10-11pm.  The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All produced ABC’s biggest summertime entertainment numbers in the time period in nearly 5 years among Total Viewers, and in more than 3 years among Adults 18-49 – since 8/27/06 and 7/6/08, respectively.  The Bachelorette special generated enormous year-to-year improvement over original drama programming on the same night last year, boosting the 2-hour time period for ABC by 77% in Total Viewers and by 113% in Adults 18-49.

(source: ABC)