ABC Tops Monday for 6th Time in 7 Weeks

Early ABC Monday night points, ahead of the regular press release.

ABC stood as Monday's most-watched TV network (15.9 million) for the 6th time in 7 weeks.

8-9:30pm: Qualifying as Monday's most-watched series telecast for the 10th week in a row and finishing #1 in its time period with viewers and young adults, ABC's DWTS hit season-highs with Total Viewers (20.5 million) and Adults18-49 (4.1/10-tie).

9:30-10pm: ABC's series debut of Find My Family took a strong second in its half-hour with Total Viewers (12.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.9/7), behind only CBS' veteran Big Bang Theory and beating NBC's Trauma (5.6 million and1.6/4) and Fox's Lie to Me (6.9 million and 2.5/6). Find My Family improved the half-hour for ABC over the same night last year by 2.2 million viewers (10.7 million on 11/24/08 with an original Samantha Who?)

10-11pm: Achieving season-highs, ABC's Castle bested NBC's Jay Leno in the 10 o'clock hour by 6.0 million viewers (10.5 million vs. 4.5 million) and by 93% in Adults 18-49 (2.7/7 vs. 1.4/4). In fact Castle earned its highest Adult 18-49 number in nearly 7 months and matched its biggest audience in more than 8 months since 5/4/09 and 3/16/09, respectively. Castle greatly improved the hour year to year for ABC, over an original Boston Legal on the year-ago night, by 2.3 million viewers and by 29% in Adults18-49 (8.2 million and 2.1/6 on 11/24/08).

Quick Take for Monday, November 23, 2009 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Finishes as Monday's Most-Watched Net for the 6th Time in 7 Weeks

Hitting Season Highs and Winning its Slot in Viewers and Young Adults, "DWTS" Stands as Monday's Most-Watched TV Series Telecast for the 10th Straight Week

At 9:30pm, ABC's Debut of "Find My Family" Beats Time-Period Regulars on NBC and Fox, and Improves its Slot for ABC Year to Year by 2.2 Million Viewers

Continuing to Overshadow NBC's "Leno" in the 10pm Hour, ABC's "Castle" Hits Season Highs with its Strongest Adult 18-49 Rating in Nearly 7 Months

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

For the 6th time in the past 7 weeks, ABC finished as the Monday's most-watched network (15.9 million), outdrawing CBS by 4.0 million viewers (11.9 million), Fox by 6.3 million viewers (9.6 million) and NBC by 10.9 million viewers (5.0 million).

"Dancing with the Stars" (8:00-9:30 p.m.)

Winning its 90-minute time period in Total Viewers (20.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.1/10), ABC's Monday season finale of "Dancing with the Stars" registered as the evening's most-watched series telecast for the 10th straight week this season.

"Dancing" produced its most-watched telecast this season and equaled a best-of-season number with Adults 18-49.

"Find My Family" (9:30-10:00 p.m.)

ABC's series debut of "Find My Family" took a strong second in its half-hour with Total Viewers (12.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.9/7), behind only CBS' veteran "Big Bang Theory" and beating time-slot regulars NBC's "Trauma" (5.6 million and 1.6/4) and Fox's "Lie to Me" (6.9 million and 2.5/6).

"Find My Family" boosted the half-hour for ABC over the same night last year by 2.2 million viewers (10.7 million on 11/24/08 with an original "Samantha Who?")

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

Achieving season-highs, ABC's "Castle" bested NBC's "Jay Leno" in the 10 o'clock hour by 6.0 million viewers (10.5 million vs. 4.5 million) and by 93% in Adults 18-49 (2.7/7 vs. 1.4/4). In fact "Castle" earned its highest Adult 18-49 number in nearly 7 months and matched its biggest audience in more than 8 months since 5/4/09 and 3/16/09, respectively.

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 1.8 million viewers and an additional 5-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point (+21%) from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.

"Castle" greatly improved the hour year to year for ABC over an original "Boston Legal" on the year-ago night by 2.3 million viewers and by 29% in Adults18-49 (8.2 million and 2.1/6 on 11/24/08).

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 (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 11/23/09. DVR Playback = 9/21-11/8/09.