Quick Take for Monday, November 2, 2009 (National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)

ABC is Monday's No. 1 Non-Sports Network, Beating CBS by 3.0 Million Viewers and NBC by 9.2 Million Viewers

"DWTS" Is Monday's Most-Watched Series Program for the 7th Week in a Row

"Castle" Dominates NBC's "Jay Leno" With its Largest Margins to Date in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 for the 2nd Straight Week

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

ABC stood as the night's most-watched non-sports network (14.4 million) on Monday, beating CBS by 3.0 million viewers (11.4 million) and NBC by 9.2 million viewers (5.2 million).

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

Up against the World Series, ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" ranked as TV's most-watched series program (16.7 million) on Monday for the 7th week in a row. "Dancing with the Stars" outperformed NBC's original dramas, "Heroes"/"Trauma" by 10.9 million viewers (16.7 million vs. 5.8 million) and by 55% in Adults 18-49 (3.4/8 vs. 2.2/5) in the 2-hour time period.

"DWTS" won its 2-hour time period for the 6th week running among Women 18-49 (4.8/12) and Women 25-54 (6.4/14).

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

For the 2nd consecutive week, ABC's "Castle" outperformed NBC's "Jay Leno" in the 10 o'clock hour with its largest margins to-date in both Total Viewers (+5.5 million viewers 9.4 million vs. 3.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (+100% - 2.4/6 vs. 1.2/3). The sophomore drama saw week-to-week increases among Adults 18-34 (+6% - 1.8/5 vs. 1.7/5) and Women 18-34 (+10% - 2.3/7 vs. 2.1/6), posting season highs in both measures.

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 1.7 million viewers and an additional 6-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point (+21%) 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 (+1.5 million 10.5 million vs. 9.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (+13% - 2.7/7 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), 11/02/09. DVR Playback = 9/21-10/18/09.