ABC is Up Year to Year in Viewers and Young Adults, Building Over the Year-Ago Frame in Adults 18-49 on 16 of the Last 17 Weeks. ABC Airs 3 of the Week’s Top 20 Entertainment Series in Adults 18-49.
ABC’s Labor Day Grows Year to Year by 17% in Viewers and 100% in Young Adults. Season’s Penultimate Telecast of ABC’s “Bachelor Pad” Leads in Young Adults And Key Women, While Hitting Series Highs in Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34.
ABC Takes Second on Tuesday in Adults 18-49, Up on the Same Night Last Year for the 9th Straight Week and on 14 of the Last 15 Weeks in Viewers and Young Adults. Building Week to Week by 1.3 Million Viewers and 17% in Young Adults, ABC’s “Wipeout-TUES” is No. 1 at 8pm in Adults 18-49 for the 3rd Telecast in a Row.
Gaining Momentum Heading into the New Season with its Repeat Comedies, ABC Scores its Strongest Wednesday with Regular Programming Since May. Closing Out its Freshman Season as TV’s No. 1 New Scripted Series This Summer, “Rookie Blue” Generates Triple-Digit Year-to-Year Time Period Gains for ABC. “20/20: A Barbara Walters Special” is No. 1 on Friday in Key Adult Demos, as the ABC Newsmagazine Hits a 7-Week High with its Most-Watched Telecast Since July.
WEEK No. 51:
During the week of September 6, 2010, ABC was up from the same week last year in both Total Viewers (+12% – 4.8 million vs. 4.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (+8% – 1.4/4 vs. 1.3/4). Consistently topping year-ago results, the Net was up over the same week last summer for the 16th time in 17 weeks among Adults 18-49 (15 of 17 weeks in Total Viewers).
Rankings: ABC claimed 3 of the week’s Top 20 entertainment series among Adults 18-49: “Wipeout-TUES” – No. 6, “Wipeout SP-9/7” – No. 17 and “Bachelor Pad SP-9/6” – No. 20.
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 38% currently, from 32% at the same point in 2009. 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.
Monday
ABC’s Labor Day lineup of “Bachelor Pad” and “Dating in the Dark” ranked No. 1 among the major networks on Monday in Adults 18-49 (1.8/5). In addition, ABC was No. 1 on Monday across all key Women demographics [Women18-34 (2.5/7), Women 18-49 (2.5/7) and Women 25-54 (2.7/7)], taking the top spot for the 16th Monday in a row.
ABC improved on the year-ago Labor Day Monday (9/07/09) by 17% in Total Viewers (4.8 million vs. 4.1 million) and by 100% in Adults 18-49 (1.8/5 vs. 0.9/3).
“Bachelor Pad SP-9/6” (8:00-10:01 p.m.)
The season’s penultimate telecast of ABC’s “Bachelor Pad” led its 2-hour time period in Adults 18-49 (2.0/5). In addition, the freshman program won its time-slot and stood as Monday’s No. 1 program across each of the key Women demos: W18-34 (2.9/8), W18-49 (2.9/8) and W25-54 (3.1/8). “Bachelor Pad” led its time period for the 5th week in a row among Women 18-49 and Women 25-54.
“Bachelor Pad” matched a series high among Adults 18-34 (1.9/6), while hitting a series-high among Women 18-34 for the 2nd consecutive week.
“Dating in the Dark SP 9/6” (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
ABC’s “Dating in the Dark” ranked No. 1 against its CBS and NBC competition in the hour among Women 18-34 (1.6/5) and Women 18-49 (1.7/4-tie).
ABC’s “Dating in the Dark” was up over the Net’s year-ago performance in the hour by 9% in Adults 18-49 (1.2/3 vs. 1.1/3).
Tuesday
ABC placed second on Tuesday in Adults 18-49 (2.0/6), topping Fox by 33% (1.5/5) and CBS by 54% (1.3/4).
Improving on the night for the 9th straight week, ABC grew solidly over the year-ago Tuesday (9/8/09) in Total Viewers (+36% – 5.7 million vs. 4.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (+25% – 2.0/6 vs. 1.6/4). The Net has been up year to year on Tuesday evening on 14 of the last 15 weeks.
“Wipeout-TUES” (8:00-9:02 p.m.)
ABC’s “Wipeout” won the 8:00-9:00 p.m. hour among Adults 18-49 (2.8/9) for the 3rd telecast in a row. “Wipeout” saw week-to-week increases of 1.3 million viewers (8.2 million vs. 6.9 million) and 17% in Adults 18-49 (2.8/9 vs. 2.4/8).
“Wipeout” finished as Tuesday’s No. 2 TV show among Adults 18-49, behind only NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.”
“Wipeout” (9:00-10:01 p.m.)
A repeat telecast of ABC’s “Wipeout” delivered the Net’s strongest performance in the 9 o’clock hour in Total Viewers (5.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.1/6) in 6 weeks – since 7/27/10.
“Wipeout” turned in its second-best numbers ever for a repeat telecast Adults 18-34 (1.8/5).
Wednesday
Building momentum heading into the new season, ABC posted its best Wednesday since May with its summer comedy repeats on the night among Adults 18-49 (1.2/4) – since 5/19/10.
Thursday
Up against the record-setting NFL regular-season opener (Minnesota Vikings-New Orleans Saints) on NBC, ABC still delivered solid double-digit increases from the year-ago night (9/10/09) in Total Viewers (+26% – 4.9 million vs. 3.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (+18% – 1.3/3 vs. 1.1/3). The Net posted its 14th straight Thursday of year-to-year primetime improvement.
“Rookie Blue” (9:00-11:00 p.m.)
Delivering strong year-to-year time-period improvement throughout its freshman season, “Rookie Blue” boosted its hour for ABC by huge margins over last year. On average during its run, “Rookie Blue” more than doubled its Thursday 9 o’clock time slot year to year in Total Viewers (+134% – 6.8 million vs. 2.9 million) and increased by 125% in Adults 18-49 (+125% – 1.8/5 vs. 0.8/2).
“Rookie Blue” finished out its freshman season as the summer’s No. 1 new scripted series among Adults 18-49.
Friday
“20/20: A Barbara Walters Special – Seven Going on Seventy” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC News’ “20/20: A Barbara Walters Special” built sharply on its lead-in at 10:00 p.m. to finish No. 1 in its hour among key Adults: Adults 18-49 (1.3/5-tie) and Adults 25-54 (1.8/5-tie). In fact, the ABC newsmagazine qualified as the No. 1 regular television show in its time slot with Adults 18-49 for the 9th time in 10 weeks. In addition, “20/20” ranked as Friday’s top newsmagazine, outdelivering NBC News’ 2-hour “Dateline” (9:00 – 11:00 p.m.) by solid margins in Total Viewers (+8% – 5.4 million vs. 5.0 million), Adults 18-49 (+8% – 1.3/5 vs. 1.2/4) and Adults 25-54 (+6% – 1.8/5 vs. 1.7/5). The program featured a Barbara Walters report on Kaylee Halko and Lindsay Ratcliffe, two vibrant young girls who suffer from a rapid-aging disease called progeria, a fatal condition that currently affects only 68 known children in the world. The disease causes children to age at 10 times the normal rate.
“20/20: A Barbara Walters Special” stood as Friday’s highest-rated program on the major nets among Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54.
Hitting a 7-week high, the ABC newsmagazine marked its most-watched telecast since July – since 7/23/10.
Saturday
With coverage of “NASCAR Sprint Cup Series,” ABC led Saturday among the major nets, outpacing runner-up Fox with its mostly original lineup by 1.5 million viewers (5.3 million vs. 3.8 million) and by 25% in Adults 18-49 (1.5/5 vs. 1.2/4).
WEEK NO. 51: ADULTS 18-49 TOTAL VIEWERS
No.1 NBC 3.8 No.1 NBC 11,410,000
No.2 FOX 2.2 No.2 CBS 6,090,000
No.3 ABC 1.4 No.3 FOX 5,820,000
No.3 CBS 1.4 No.4 ABC 4,760,000
No.5 CW 0.8 No.5 CW 1,990,000
(Source: ABC – The Nielsen Company (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 9/6/10, unless stated otherwise)
