Quick Take for Monday, October 26, 2009 (National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)

Matching its Most-Watched Monday Since May, ABC is No. 1 on the Night in Viewers for the 3rd Week in a Row and Tops CBS, Fox and NBC in Adults 18-49

Up Over the Prior Week for the 3rd Straight Telecast, "DWTS" Draws Best-Since-Premiere Audience and is Monday's Most-Watched Program in 5 of its Last 6 Airings

Hitting Season Highs in Viewers Young Adults, "Castle" Dominates NBC's "Jay Leno" With its Largest Margins to Date in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49

Monday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

Matching its largest audience of the night in over 5 months (since 5/11/09), ABC stood as the TV's most-watched network (15.0 million) on Monday for the 3rd straight week, beating CBS by 5.3 million viewers (9.7 million), Fox by 8.9 million viewers (6.1 million) and NBC by 9.6 million viewers (5.4 million). In Adults 18-49 (3.2/8), ABC topped CBS by 7% (3.0/8), Fox by 28% (2.5/6) and NBC by 68% (1.9/5).

"Dancing with the Stars" (8:00-10:02 p.m.)

Building on the previous week's telecast for the 3rd straight week and drawing its largest audience since its season premiere, ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" ranked as TV's most-watched program (17.4 million) on Monday for the 5th time in 6 airings. In viewers and young adults, "Dancing with the Stars" (17.4 million & 3.6/9) bettered Fox's first-run "So You Think You Can Dance"/"Lie to Me" combo (6.1 million & 2.5/6) and NBC's original dramas, "Heroes"/"Trauma" (5.7 million & 2.2/6) in the 2-hour time period.

"DWTS" won its 2-hour time period for the 5th straight week among Women 18-49 (5.1/12) and Women 25-54 (6.8/15), qualifying as Monday's No.1 program in both key Women Demos.

"Castle" (10:02-11:00 p.m.)

ABC's "Castle" outperformed NBC's "Jay Leno" in the 10 o'clock hour with its largest margins to-date in both Total Viewers (+5.3 million viewers 10.0 million vs. 4.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (+92% - 2.5/7 vs. 1.3/4). In addition, the sophomore drama registered season highs in Total Viewers (10.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.5/7), attracting the show's largest audience in 7 months (since 3/16/09) and the series' 3rd largest Total Viewer count overall.

One of TV's biggest gainers in the 10 o'clock hour this season, ABC's "Castle" is generating substantial increases over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback, picking up an average 1.6 million viewers and an additional 6-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point (+26%) from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.

On average, "Castle" is improving the time period year to year for ABC, growing its hour over the same nights last year with "Boston Legal" in both Total Viewers (+1.1 million 10.3 million vs. 9.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (+8% - 2.6/7 vs. 2.4/6).

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 33% currently, from 28% at the same point in 2008. 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.

Source: Nielsen Media Research (National, Live + Same Day Program Ratings), 10/26/09. DVR Playback = 9/21-10/11/09.