ABC Earns No. 2 in Adults 18-49 with its Top-Rated Week in Over 3 Months
Up Over the Same Week Last Year in Viewers and Young Adults, ABC Builds its Overall Audience Year to Year for the 5th Time in 6 Weeks
ABC’s “Bachelor Pad: The Final Challenge” Stands as Monday’s Most-Watched Entertainment Program
“Bachelor Pad” Season Closer Builds on its Year-Ago Finale in Viewers and Young Adults, Improving its Overall Audience Year to Year in All 6 Telecasts in Season 2
ABC’s “Wipeout” Beats its Network Rivals in Adults 18-49 for the 4th Week Running
The “ABC News Special – Jacqueline Kennedy: In Her Own Words” Draws the Network’s Biggest Post-Season Non-Sports Audience in the Time Slot in 5 Years
ABC’s Season Finale of “Wipeout” Wins its 2-Hour Slot in Adults 18-49, Posting the Series’ Strongest Number Since its Season Premiere in June
ABC’s “Saturday Night Football” Overshadows the Night, Generating the Franchise’s Biggest Game Since Fall 2008 with Viewers and Young Adults
Building Sharply Week to Week Against the “Emmys,” “Sunday 20/20: The Sixth Sense” Delivers Strong Year-Over-Year Time-Period Gains for ABC During its Run
WEEK No. 52:
During the week of September 12, 2011, ABC finished No. 2 among Adults 18-49 (1.7/5-tie), scoring its highest-rated week in more than 3 months – since w/o 6/6/11. In fact, ABC’s numbers jumped week to week by 1.1 million viewers (5.9 million vs. 4.8 million) and by 21% in Adults 18-49 (1.7/5 vs. 1.4/4).
Continuing its forward momentum heading into the new season, the Network was up over the same week last year (w/o 9/13/10) in viewers (+13% – 5.9 million vs. 5.2 million) and young adults (+6% – 1.7/5 vs. 1.6/5), building its overall audience year to year for the 4th straight week and for the 5th time in 6 weeks.
Monday
With “Bachelor Pad: The Final Challenge” leading into the 2-hour second season finale of “Bachelor Pad,” ABC defeated its network rivals on Monday night in Total Viewers (6.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.9/5).
ABC built its overall Monday audience year over year for the 6th week in a row, and was also up solidly over year-ago night among Adults 18-49 (5.0 million and 1.6/4 on 9/13/10).
“Bachelor Pad: The Final Challenge” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
From 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. opposite ESPN’s season opener of “Monday Night Football,” ABC’s “Bachelor Pad: The Final Challenge” finished as Monday’s most-watched entertainment program (6.4 million).
“Bachelor Pad” (9:00-11:00 p.m.)
From 9:00 – 11:00 p.m. in direct competition, ABC’s 2-hour season closer of “Bachelor Pad” beat out NBC’s “2011 Miss Universe Pageant” by double-digit percentages in Total Viewers (+13% – 6.0 million vs. 5.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (+19% – 1.9/5 vs. 1.6/4). On average during its second season, ABC’s “Bachelor Pad” stood as the most-watched TV show in its time period and also ranked No. 1 across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).
ABC’s “Bachelor Pad” built its overall audience year to year on all 6 telecasts, topping its year-ago season finale by solid margins in viewers and young adults (5.8 million and 1.8/5 on 9/13/10). In fact, on average Season 2 of “Bachelor Pad” was up over Season 1 in Total Viewers by 8% (6.9 million vs. 6.4 million).
Tuesday
Opposite NBC with its season finale/premiere lineup (season finale of “It’s Worth What?”/Tuesday finale of “America’s Got Talent”/season premiere of “Parenthood”), ABC marked its strongest non-sports Tuesday since the end of last season in Total Viewers (7.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.7/5).
“Wipeout” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
At 8 o’clock, ABC’s Wipeout ranked No. 1 against its network rivals in Adults 18-49 for the 4th week in a row. “Wipeout” dominated its original unscripted competition in the hour, outdelivering NBC’s season finale of “It’s Worth What?” by 28% in viewers (6.1 million vs. 4.8 million) and by 67% in young adults (2.0/6 vs. 1.2/4). In addition, the broad-skewing “Wipeout” made ABC the highest-rated broadcaster in the time period with Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11 for the 7th week running.
“Wipeout” equaled ABC’s top young adult number in the hour since May – since 5/24/11.
“ABC News Special – Jacqueline Kennedy: In Her Own Words” (9:00-11:00 p.m.)
Surging from its lead-in at 9:00 p.m. and gaining audience throughout its 2-hour broadcast, the “ABC News Special – Jacqueline Kennedy: In Her Own Words” (8.4 million) finished No. 2 to NBC’s combo of “America’s Got Talent” Tuesday finale and “Parenthood” premiere from 9:00-11:00 p.m. among Total Viewers. Building in its second hour, the ABC News Special moved ahead of NBC to become the most-watched TV program from 10:00-11:00 p.m., topping CBS and outdrawing the “Talent”-led season opener of “Parenthood” by 38% (8.7 million vs. 6.3 million). With Diane Sawyer reporting, the “ABC News Special” allowed viewers for the first time to hear actual interviews the former first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, recorded for history.
In Total Viewers (8.4 million), Adults 25-54 (2.1/5) and Adults 18-49 (1.5/4), the “ABC News Special – Jacqueline Kennedy: In Her Own Words” produced the Net’s strongest non-sports numbers in the 2-hour time period in nearly 4 months – since 5/24/11, with the season finale of “Dancing with the Stars.” In fact looking at the Tuesday 9:00-11:00 p.m. time period outside of the regular September-May TV Season, the program attracted ABC’s biggest non-sports audience in 5 years – since September 2006, with the pre-season premiere of “Dancing with the Stars” on 9/12/06.
Wednesday
Opposite stiff competition from CBS’ “Survivor” premiere and “Big Brother” finale and the 2-hour closer of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” ABC delivered double-digit percent gains over the same Wednesday last year (9/15/10) in Total Viewers (+13% – 4.4 million vs. 3.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (+17% – 1.4/4 vs. 1.2/3), marking year-over-year gains for the 6th time in the last 7 weeks in viewers and the 7th time in 8 weeks in young adults.
“The Middle” (8:00-8:30 p.m.)
In the 8 o’clock half-hour against CBS’ season premiere of “Survivor: South Pacific” and NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” finale, ABC’s repeat “The Middle” drew its largest audience in the time slot in 4 weeks (4.3 million) – since 8/17/11.
The repeat ABC sitcom led Fox’s finale of “Buried Treasure” by 65% in Total Viewers (4.3 million vs. 2.6 million) and by 71% in Adults 18-49 (1.2/4 vs. 0.7/2).
“The Middle” was up over its year-ago rebroadcast by 10% in viewers and by 20% in young adults (3.9 million vs. 1.0/3 on 9/15/10).
“Modern Family-SP” (9:30-10:00 p.m.)
Opposite the season finales of NBC’s “Talent” and CBS’ “Big Brother 13” in the 9:30 p.m. half-hour, ABC’s repeat “Modern Family” drew the Net’s largest audience (4.7 million) and matched its best young adult number (1.8/5) in the time slot in almost 4 months – since 6/1/11.
Thursday
With the season finale of “Wipeout” and a repeat “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC ranked No. 1 among the broadcast nets on the final Thursday before the start of the 2011-12 season among Adults 18-49 (1.8/5-tie).
The Net marked its strongest Thursday in nearly 3 months among young adults – since 6/23/11.
“Wipeout” (8:00-10:00 p.m.)
ABC’s 2-hour season finale of “Wipeout” finished a strong No. 1 from 8:00-10:00 p.m. among Adults 18-49, leading runner up CBS by 15% (2.3/7 vs. 2.0/6). The broad-appealing ABC unscripted series also delivered the No. 1 position in its time period with key Women (W18-49/W25-54) and was the top-rated broadcast program with Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11.
Jumping 44% over its most recent original telecast on the night (1.6/5 on 8/25/11), “Wipeout” hit its best Adult 18-49 rating since its season premiere in June, matching the series’ 2nd-highest number since early February – since 6/23/11 and 2/3/11, respectively. In addition, the series achieved its highest Adult 18-34 (1.9/6) number in more than 7 months – since 2/3/11.
“Grey’s Anatomy” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s special repeat “Grey’s Anatomy” topped NBC’s repeat “Law & Order: SVU” by a margin of 25% in Adults 18-49 (1.0/3 vs. 0.8/2).
Saturday
With coverage of “Saturday Night Football” (Oklahoma at Florida State), ABC dominated the evening, beating the other major networks combined (CBS, NBC, and Fox) in Adults 18-49 by 35% (3.1/11 vs. 2.3/8) and by 6% in Total Viewers (9.0 million vs. 8.5 million).
ABC’s “Saturday Night Football” stood as the No. 1 TV show on Saturday among Total Viewers (9.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.3/11). In addition, among viewers and young adults, it was ABC’s biggest “Saturday Night Football” game since Fall 2008 – since 11/29/08 and 11/22/08, respectively.
“Saturday Night Football” generated ABC’s largest audience on the night since December 2009 – since 12/5/09.
Sunday
“Sunday 20/20: The Sixth Sense” (9:00-11:00 p.m.)
Opposite stiff competition from NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” and Fox’s broadcast of the “63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards,” the season finale of ABC’s “Sunday 20/20: The Sixth Sense” surged over its most-recent airing two weeks ago by 16% in Total Viewers (5.1 million vs. 4.4 million), by 40% in Adults 18-49 (1.4/3 vs. 1.0/2) and by 29% in Adults 25-54 (1.8/4 vs. 1.4/3). The ABC newsmag delivered its strongest performance in 3 weeks (since 8/28/11), scoring its 2nd-best-ever Adult 18-49 rating.
On average for the season, “Sunday 20/20: The Sixth Sense” produced substantial year-to-year improvement for ABC in the time slot in viewers (+50%) and key Adults (+27% in AD18-49/+38% in AD25-54) over the comparable nights last year.
WEEK NO. 52: ADULTS 18-49 TOTAL VIEWERS
No.1 NBC 2.8 No.1 NBC 8,240,000
No.2 ABC 1.7 No.2 CBS 7,070,000
No.2 CBS 1.7 No.3 ABC 5,900,000
No.4 FOX 1.6 No.4 FOX 4,840,000
No.5 CW 0.8 No.5 CW 1,940,000
(Source: ABC – The Nielsen Company, National, Live+ Same Day Program Ratings, week of 9/12/11)
