Overall: During the week of 10/31/11, ABC aired 4 of the Top 20 non-sports programs in Adults 18-49, including the #1 scripted series for the 3rd time in 4 weeks and TV’s #1 new drama for the 3rd week running: Modern Family – #1 (top scripted show), Once Upon a Time – #8 (#1 freshman drama/#2 drama overall), Grey’s Anatomy – #14 and Happy Endings – #17.
The Net claimed 4 of the week’s Top 20 most-watched television programs overall, delivering the Top 2 unscripted telecasts with Dancing: DWTS – #4, DWTS: The Results – #8, Modern Family – #12 and Castle – #16. ABC’s Modern Family was also the week’s top-rated scripted series in Adults 18-34 and the #1 show overall across all key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).
For the 7th consecutive week this season, ABC grew its overall audience year to year in the 10 o’clock hour (+12%). On average season to date (7 complete weeks) on Monday-Friday from 10-11pm as a lead-in to affiliates’ late-local news, ABC is generating solid year-to-year improvement in Total Viewers (+13%), Adults 18-49 (+8%) and Adults 25-54 (+13%). In fact, ABC is the only net to post gains on any of the three Nielsen measures, as CBS and NBC are each down.
Monday: With its Halloween lineup, featuring ABC’s debut of Scared Shrekless (previously airing on NBC), Dancing and Castle, ABC registered as Monday’s most-watched TV network, outdrawing CBS all-original lineup by 2.4 million viewers (HIMYM/2 Broke Girls/Two and a Half Men/Mike & Molly/Hawaii Five-0), Fox originals by 7.2 million viewers (Terra Nova/House) and NBC’s first-run programming by 9.5 million viewers (The Sing Off/Rock Center with Brian Williams).
In addition, ABC defeated Fox by 17% in Adults 18-49 and once again more than doubled NBC’s young adult performance on the evening (+117%). ABC stood as Monday’s No. 1 network with Total Viewers for the 7th straight week this season. TV Usage Declines on Halloween: Versus the prior Monday, overall TV usage levels on Halloween evening declined by -8% in Adults 18-49 and by an even steeper -14% in Women 18-34. At 8pm, ABC’s premiere broadcast of Scared Shrekless drew substantially more viewers than the first half-hours of Fox’s original Terra Nova (+1.8 million) and NBC’s original The Sing Off (+3.2 million), while defeating the NBC singing competition by a margin of 21% in Adults 18-49. The animated Halloween special ranked #1 in its slot among the broadcast nets with Kids 2-11. Moving from NBC last year to ABC this year, Scared Shrekless was up over its most-recent rebroadcast on NBC by enormous margins in Total Viewers (+129%) and Adults 18-49 (+55%).
In addition, the encore special rose over its original premiere telecast on NBC by 2% in Total Viewers. Jumping over its lead-in and gaining steadily throughout its shortened broadcast (90-min vs. 2-hours), Dancing with the Stars made ABC the most-watched net in its time period for the 7th week in a row. ABC’s broad-appealing dance performance show, finished as the #2 broadcast show in the slot in Adults 18-49, across all key Women, Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11. ABC’s DWTS stood as Monday’s most-watched TV show overall for the 4th straight week. For the 7th time in as many telecasts this season, ABC’s Castle finished as the most-watched scripted program during Monday’s 10 o’clock hour. In addition, the ABC drama ranked #1 against its CBS and NBC time-period competition among key Women. ABC’s Castle towered over NBC’s series debut of Rock Center with Brian Williams, more than tripling the newsmagazine in Total Viewers (+207%) and nearly tripling its delivery in Adults 18-49 (+170%). Castle qualified as Monday’s definitive most-watched drama, outdrawing CBS’ Hawaii Five-0 by a best-of-season 2.0 million viewers, Fox’s House by 5.9 million viewers and Fox’s Terra Nova by 6.0 million viewers. In viewers, Castle posted best-since-premiere number 6 weeks ago – since 9/19/11. ABC’s Castle was up over its year-ago telecast (11/1/10) with viewers (+12%), building its overall audience year to year for the 5th time in 7 weeks.
Tuesday: Drawing its biggest audience on the night in 3 weeks, ABC finished as the #2 most-watched network on Tuesday evening to CBS, leading Fox by 4.2 million viewers and NBC by 5.0 million viewers. Starting out the night for ABC at 8pm against CBS’ top-rated NCIS, ABC’s Last Man Standing stood as the 2nd-most-watched TV show overall, outdrawing Fox’s Glee by 2.1 million viewers and NBC’s The Biggest Loser 12 by 2.9 million viewers. The broad-skewing new ABC comedy also delivered the #2 position in the half-hour with Adults 25-54 and key Men (M18-49/M25-54). ABC’s Last Man Standing stood as Tuesday’s most-watched comedy overall, topping Fox’s Glee-led New Girl by 2.0 million viewers. At 8:30pm, against stiff competition from the second half-hours of NCIS and Glee, ABC’s Man Up! held 90% of its Adult 18-49 audience week to week, 100% in Men 18-49, 100% in Women 18-34 and jumped by +33% in Kids 2-11. Jumping over its lead-in at 9pm and building throughout its broadcast, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars: The Results ranked as the 2nd-most-watched TV show in its hour, more than doubling the audiences for Fox’s comedies (+141% – New Girl/Raising Hope) and The Biggest Loser (+144%). In addition, the wide-appealing ABC dancing results show finished #1 in its slot with key Women (W18-49/W25-54) and was the top-rated broadcast program with Kids 2-11.
In addition, Dancing defeated the second hour of The Biggest Loser by 17% in Adults 18-49. The show featured performances by Justin Bieber, while actor David Arquette was the seventh celebrity dancer to be eliminated from the ABC dance competition this season. Growing week to week in viewers (+9%) and young adults (+8%), ABC’s DWTS: The Results tallied its best results in 3 weeks – since 10/11/11. In addition, the show posted its 2nd-highest numbers this season with Total Viewers and key Women (W18-49/W25-54). ABC’s Body of Proof registered as the 2nd-most-watched show in the 10pm hour (#2 drama in its time slot for the 7th week running), beating NBC’s Parenthood by 4.6 million viewers. Body of Proof also qualified as the #2 drama in the time period with Adults 25-54, Women 18-34 and Women 18-49, while ranking #1 in Women 25-54. Building its overall audience for the 3rd week in a row and rising 6% with young adults week to week, ABC’s Body of Proof produced its largest audience since its season premiere and equaled its best number in 4 weeks with Adults 18-49. In addition, the show hit its 2nd-best numbers this season with key Women (W18-34/W18-49). Body of Proof drastically improved its time period over the same night last year with Total Viewers (+80%) and Adults 18-49 (+46%).
Wednesday: Opposite Fox with its 2-hour primetime comprised of The X Factor, ABC ran a strong second on Wednesday night among Adults 18-49, leading CBS by 6% and more than doubling NBC’s results on the evening (+133%). Up 6% week to week among Adults 18-49 despite facing all-original November Sweep competition, ABC logged its highest rating on the night since season-premiere Wednesday. The Net posted strong year-to-year gains on the evening for the 7th week running this season, marking its top-rated opening Wednesday of the November Sweep in 4 years in Adults 18-49 and its most-watched overall in 3 years – since 2007 and 2008, respectively. At 8pm, ABC’s The Middle towered over its comedy competition in the half-hour, outdelivering NBC’s Up All Night by a strongest-ever 4.6 million viewers and by 67% in Adults 18-49. In addition, the ABC comedy once again beat out CBS’ Survivor: South Pacific by wide margins in the half-hour in Adults 18-34 (+28%) and Women 18-34 (+47%). For its 7th straight telecast this season, The Middle rose over its year-ago performance with Adults 18-49 (+3%). At 8:30pm, ABC’s Suburgatory built on its Adult 18-49 lead-in for the series’ 6th straight broadcast. Like its lead-in, the new ABC comedy held big advantages over CBS’ veteran Survivor in the half-hour with Adults 18-34 (+30%) and Women 18-34 (+59%).
For the show’s 6th time in as many telecasts, Suburgatory generated substantial improvement for the Net over the year-ago comedy in the half-hour in viewers (+10%) and young adults (+24%). Surging over its lead-in at 9pm to win its time slot over CBS’ Criminal Minds and Fox’s The X Factor, ABC’s Modern Family registered as the evening’s #1 TV program in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. In fact the ABC comedy finished as Wednesday’s #1 TV show with young adults for the 7th straight week this season. Modern Family hit its highest-ever rating for a regular telecast with Women 18-49. Bettering its year-ago telecast on each original airing this season, the ABC third season comedy was up year to year in viewers (+10%) and young adults (+19%). During the 9:30pm half-hour, ABC’s Happy Endings qualified as the #1 scripted series in its slot for the 5th week running with Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34. Despite facing the final half-hour of Fox’s 2-hour The X Factor this week, ABC’s Happy Endings posted its 2nd-highest-ever Adult 18-49 number and tallied series bests with Adults 18-34, Men 18-34 and Women 18-49.
During the 10 o’clock hour opposite veteran dramas on CBS and NBC, ABC freshman drama Revenge ranked #1 for the 2nd week in a row with Adults 18-49, beating CBS’ original CSI by a best-ever 11% and NBC’s first-run Law & Order: SVU by a best-ever 50%. In addition, Revenge was the top-rated series in the hour for its 7th consecutive broadcast with Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34. Gaining young adults for the 2nd week running (surging 11% week to week), ABC’s Revenge posted its 2nd-highest-ever Adult 18-49 number – best since its series debut 6 weeks ago on 9/21/11. In fact the show scored its 2nd-highest-ever numbers across all key Adults, Men and Women demographics. On average, Revenge is generating enormous year-over-year time-period improvement, jumping over the Net’s performance at the same point last year with original drama programming by 94% in Total Viewers and more than doubling the number of Adults 18-49 (+136%) watching ABC in the hour. In fact among viewers and young adults, Revenge is ABC’s top series in Wednesday’s 10pm hour in over 4 years – since Lost during the 2006-07 TV Season.
Thursday: Tripling its lead-in (+200%) at 9pm, ABC self-starter Grey’s Anatomy stood as Thursday’s #1 drama in Adults 18-49 for the 7th straight week this season, beating out Fox’s The X Factor-fueled season premiere of Bones. Winning the 9 o’clock hour over stiff Sweep competition with young adults, Grey’s outdelivered Fox’s opener of Bones by 9%, CBS’ Person of Interest by 33% and NBC’s original comedies (The Office/Whitney) by 33%.
In addition, the ABC veteran drama topped its time slot among Adults 18-34 and across all key Women measures (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). Grey’s was up week to week with Women 18-34 (+9%), achieving its 2nd-highest rating this season to stand as the #1 TV show of the night. In addition, Grey’s built its Adult 18-34 audience for the 4th consecutive telecast, tallying its highest number since September – since 9/29/11.
Continuing to grow, ABC’s Private Practice ran a close second to CBS’ The Mentalist in the 10 o’clock hour among Adults 18-49, while more than doubling (+117%) the young adult audience of NBC’s Prime Suspect. Beating out The Mentalist by strong margins with Adults 18-34 (+12%) and Women 18-34 (+55%), Private Practice finished as the #1 drama in the hour for the 5th consecutive week on both Nielsen measures. Up for the 2nd straight week in viewers (+3%) and young adults (+8%), Private Practice scored best-since-season-premiere numbers across a number of key measures: Total Viewers, as well as across all key Adult and Women demographics.
Friday: Growing week to week in viewers (+11%) and young adults (+9%), ABC finished as the 2nd-most-watched network overall on Friday night to CBS, topping NBC by 14% and Fox by 43%. From 8-9pm, ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition ranked #2 in Total Viewers, outdrawing its unscripted competition in the hour by 1.1 million viewers (Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares). Additionally, Home Edition beat out NBC’s Chuck by 1.7 million viewers and by 33% in Adults 18-49. Home Edition surged by double-digit percentages week to week in viewers (+17%) and young adults (+20%). Building on its lead-in at 9pm against stiff scripted competition from CBS’ CSI: NY, NBC’s Grimm and Fox’s Fringe, a second installment of Home Edition shot up over the prior week by 1.3 million viewers and by 27% in Adults 18-49.
Versus its network rivals in the hour, the ABC unscripted series placed #1 with Women 18-34 and Kids 2-11. In the 10pm hour, ABC’s 20/20 outdrew its NBC newsmagazine competition in the slot for the 2nd week in a row, increasing its Total Viewer advantage over Dateline to 14% (up from 11% the prior week). 20/20 featured reporting by Elizabeth Vargas, Jim Avila and Chris Connelly on the Conrad Murray trial, Robin Roberts in the first sit-down interview with University of Tennessee, Hall of Fame Coach Pat Summitt regarding her diagnosis of early onset dementia and the return of the popular and controversial column “Give Me a Break” with Chris Cuomo.
Sunday: Facing strong sports-led competition on the evening from another high-rated Sunday Night Football contest (Baltimore Ravens-Pittsburgh Steelers) on NBC and Fox’s NFL-overrun (NY Giants-Patriots) fueled lineup, ABC achieved Sunday season highs for the 2nd week running with Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34. More than tripling its Adult 18-49 lead-in at 8pm (+217%) and gaining audience throughout its broadcast opposite Sunday Night Football and Fox’s NFL-overrun driven animated comedies (The Simpsons/Allen Gregory), Once Upon a Time made ABC the #1 non-sports net in its time period for the 3rd week in a row. From 8-9pm, ABC self starter Once Upon a Time beat out CBS’ Amazing Race by 41% and Fox’s football-fueled comedies by an impressive 27% among Adults 18-49.
The new drama series won its time slot outright over Sunday Night Football with key Women (W18-34/W18-49). The new ABC drama stood as Sunday’s #1 non-sports program among Adults 18-49, Adults 25-54 and across all key Women demos. Once Upon a Time generated substantial year-over-year gains for ABC in the hour, improving its slot by more than 2.0 million viewers and by 52% in Adults 18-49 from the year-ago night. ABC’s Once Upon a Time marked series highs with Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34, building by 6% and 12% week to week, respectively.
The broad-appealing ABC Studios drama was also up week to week with Kids 2-11 (+13%). During the 9 o’clock hour, ABC’s Desperate Housewives finished #2 to Sunday Night Football among Adults 18-49, defeating competing drama The Good Wife by 40% and leading CBS in the hour for the 7th week running. Growing week to week with Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34 (3rd straight telecast of growth), ABC’s Desperate Housewives posted its highest ratings in 5 weeks on both counts – since 10/2/11. During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Pan Am outdelivered its CBS drama competition by wide margins among key demos, leading CSI: Miami by 17% with Adults 18-34 and by 29% with Women 18-34.
(source; ABC)
