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[02/07/06 - 12:00 AM]
Primetime Ratings Report for the Week of January 30 - February 5, 2006

[via press release from ABC]

Primetime Ratings Report For the week of January 30 � February 5, 2006

ABC Dominates the Week Across the Board, with its Most-Watched Week in 6 Years and its Highest-Rated Among Adults 18-49 in 3 Years

ABC Airs 6 of the Week�s Top 20 TV Shows in Adults 18-49, Including the Top 2

ABC�s �Wife Swap� Ranks No. 1 in its Time Period for the Second Straight Week In Adults 18-49, Beating its Closest Competition on Monday from 8-9pm by 15%

ABC�s Broadcast of �In Style: Celebrity Weddings� Attracts the Annual Special�s Largest Audience in 4 Years and its Highest Adult 18-49 Rating in 6 Years

Drawing its Biggest Audience Yet, ABC�s �The Bachelor: Paris� Wins its Hour And Ranks as the No. 1 TV Program on Monday Evening Among Women 18-34

ABC�s �Lost� Posts its Second-Strongest Ever Repeat Numbers in its Time Period

ABC Outdraws NBC on the Opening Thursday of the February Sweep By 3 Million Viewers, its Fifth Straight Week to Top NBC on the Night

Despite Facing the Season Premiere of CBS' �Survivor: Panama� and an Original �C.S.I.� in the Time Period, ABC�s �Dancing with the Stars� Retains Nearly All of Its Week-ago Viewers and Adults 18-49, While Growing by 15% Among Adults 18-34

Delivering its Best-Ever Performance, ABC�s �Dancing with the Stars the Results� Is the Top TV Show on Friday and Ranks No. 1 in its Slot for the 5th Straight Week

�In Justice� Grows by 1.2 Million Viewers and 13% in Adults 18-49 Week to Week

Drawing an Average Audience of 90.8 Million Viewers 2+, �Super Bowl XL� is the Most-Watched Television Program in 10 Years

Marking the Series� Strongest Performance Ever, ABC�s �Grey�s Anatomy� is the Biggest Post-�Super Bowl� Entertainment Telecast in 5 Years and Qualifies as TV�s Top Entertainment Series Broadcast Since the Series Finale of �Friends� in May 2004

WEEK No. 20:

ABC ranked as the No. 1 network, during the week of January 30, 2006, across all relevant demographic categories: Total Viewers (22.9 million), AD25-54 (9.4/21), AD18-49 (8.5/21), AD18-34 (7.2/21), Teens 12-17 (5.7/18) and Kids 2-11 (3.8/14). ABC overshadowed its nearest competition during the week by 10.8 million viewers (22.9 million vs. 12.1 million - CBS) and by 98% in Adults 18-49 (8.5/21 vs. 4.3/10).

� ABC delivered its most-watched week in 6 years and its top-rated among Adults 18-49 in 3 years � since the weeks of 1/24/00 and 1/20/03, respectively.

� ABC has now ranked No. 1 on 8 weeks this season in Adults 18-49 and on 12 weeks in Adults 18-34, representing the Net�s highest number of first-place finishes during any season in 6 years on both Nielsen measures � since the 1999-00 TV Season.

Rankings: ABC aired 6 of the week�s Top 20 TV programs in Adults 18-49, including the Top 2: �Super Bowl XL� � No. 1, �Grey�s Anatomy� � No. 2, �Dancing with the Stars� � No. 15, �The Bachelor: Paris� � No. 18, �Dancing with the Stars the Results� � No. 19 and �Wife Swap� � No. 20. The Network claimed 4 of the Top 15 most-watched programs during the week: �Super Bowl XL� � No. 1, �Grey�s Anatomy� � No. 2, �Dancing with the Stars� � No. 9 and �Dancing with the Stars the Results� � No. 11.

Monday

For the second straight week, ABC ranked No. 1 Monday night among Adults 18-34 (3.5/9-tie) and Women 18-34 (5.0/12).

� For the third week in a row, ABC saw its Monday night audience grow (8.8 million vs. 8.7 million). The Net retained all of its Adult 18-49 audience week to week (3.8/9).

�Wife Swap� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

For the third time in its four post-�MNF� telecasts, ABC�s �Wife Swap� ranked No. 1 in its time period among Adults 18-49 (3.8/10) and Adults 18-34 (3.2/9). �Wife Swap� defeated its closest competition in the hour by 15% in Adults 18-49 (3.8/10 vs. 3.3/8 � CBS and Fox tied).

�In Style: Celebrity Weddings� (9:00 -10:00 p.m.)

ABC�s telecast of �In Style: Celebrity Weddings� delivered the No. 1 position during the 9 o�clock hour among Women 18-34 (4.9/12).

� Compared to the prior year�s broadcast (1/27/05), ABC�s telecast of �In Style: Celebrity Weddings� grew by 9% in Total Viewers (8.6 million vs. 7.9 million) and by 42% in Adults 18-49 (3.7/8 vs. 2.6/7). In fact it was the most-watched airing of �Celebrity Weddings� in 4 years and the highest-rated telecast among Adults 18-49 in 6 years � since 2002 and 2000, respectively.

�The Bachelor: Paris� (10:00 -11:00 p.m.)

For the second consecutive week, ABC�s �The Bachelor: Paris� held the No. 1 position during the 10 o�clock hour and ranked as the No. 1 TV program on Monday among Women 18-34 (5.8/15).

� �The Bachelor: Paris� attracted its largest audience yet (8.5 million).

Wednesday

�Lost� (9:00-10:01 p.m.)

ABC�s replay �Lost� drew its second-best numbers ever for a rebroadcast episode in the time period in both Total Viewers (9.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.5/8-tied).

�Invasion� (10:01-11:00 p.m.)

In the final hour of primetime, ABC�s repeat �Invasion� was up by 8% in Total Viewers (5.2 million vs. 4.8 million) compared to its most recent repeat telecast (11/2/05).

Thursday

ABC�s outdrew NBC on the opening night of the 2006 February Sweep by 3 million viewers (13.2 million vs. 10.2 million). It was ABC�s fifth consecutive week to top NBC on the night.

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

Competing against the season premiere of �Survivor: Panama� and an original �C.S.I.,� ABC�s �Dancing with the Stars� earned second place to CBS in its 90-minute time period in Total Viewers (18.8 million) and across each of the adult demos: AD18-34 (3.8/11), AD18-49 (4.9/12) and AD25-54 (6.1/14). ABC beat NBC�s comedies in each half-hour in viewers and young adults from 8:00-9:30 p.m. (�Will & Grace�/�Four Kings�/�My Name is Earl�), outpacing the third-place network by 10.6 million viewers and by 32% in Adults 18-49 on average (NBC = 8.2 million viewers and 3.7/9 in AD18-49).

� Although it faced much stiffer competition during the 8 o�clock hour this week from the season premiere of CBS� time period veteran, �Survivor,� �Dancing with the Stars� retained 97% its week ago Total Viewers (18.8 million vs. 19.4 million) and 96% among Adults 18-49 (4.9/12 vs. 5.1/13). In fact the ABC unscripted program was up by 15% in Adults 18-34 (3.8/11 vs. 3.3/10) and by 19% in Women 18-34 (5.6/14 vs. 4.7/13) from the prior week, marking a season high in the latter demographic.

� From its first-half hour to its final half-hour, �Dancing with the Stars� gained 4.2 million viewers (16.4 million to 20.6 million) and 46% (3.9/11 to 5.7/14). Despite the competition, the program posted it its strongest final half-hour yet with, 20.6 million viewers and a 5.7/14 in Adults 18-49 from 9:00-9:30 p.m.

Friday

ABC earned a solid second place on Friday among Total Viewers (10.7 million) and across each of the key women demographics: W18-34 (2.6/9), W18-49 (3.9/11) and W25-54 (4.8/12).

� In Total Viewers (10.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.0/9), ABC was up from the previous Friday (9.6 million & 2.7/8 on 1/27/06) and from the same Friday last February Sweep (8.3 million & 2.8/8 on 2/4/05).

�Dancing with the Stars the Results� (8:00-9:01 p.m.)

For the 5th time in its five weeks on the air, ABC�s �Dancing with the Stars the Results� ranked No. 1 in its time period among Total Viewers (16.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.9/12). Actress Tia Carrere was the next competitor to leave the dance contest. Continuing to exhibit broad demographic appeal, �DWTS the Results� also took first place during the 8 o�clock hour among Adults 18-34 (2.6/10) and Adults 25-54 (5.0/14).

� �Dancing with the Stars the Results� marked its best-ever numbers among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

� �DWTS the Results� stood as Friday�s most-watched TV program for the 4th consecutive week. The ABC unscripted show was also Friday�s No. 1 television program among Adults 18-49.

�In Justice� (9:01-10:00 p.m.)

ABC�s �In Justice� was up from its performance the previous week by 1.2 million viewers (8.8 million vs. 7.6 million) and by 13% in Adults 18-49 (2.6/8 vs. 2.3/7).

�20/20� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC News� �20/20� posted week-to-week increases in both Total Viewers (7.3 million vs. 7.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.4/7 vs. 2.3/7).

Sunday

ABC towered over its combined network competition on Sunday, beating the other networks together on the night (CBS, NBC, Fox and WB) by 65.5 million viewers (82.6 million vs. 17.1 million) by 473% in Adults 18-49 (32.1/64 vs. 5.6/11).

� With its coverage of the �Super Bowl� followed by �Grey�s Anatomy,� ABC produced the top-rated night of TV on any network in 2 years among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 � since 2/1/04.

�Super Bowl XL� (6:26-10:10 p.m.)

As the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks by a score of 21-10 to win the NFL Championship, ABC Sports� presentation of �Super Bowl XL� reached an estimated 141.4 million U.S. television viewers during its nearly 4-hour telecast � unduplicated viewers who watched 6 minutes or more of the telecast. It was the 2nd-biggest total audience reach ever for a �Super Bowl� telecast, second only to �Super Bowl XXXVII� on 2/1/04.

� The game attracted an average audience of 90.8 million viewers, representing the largest average audience for a �Super Bowl� telecast in 10 years � since 1/28/96. In fact, it was the largest audience for any TV program since the same date. The telecast notched a 34.6 rating, 69 share among Adults 18-49, up 4% over last year�s game on Fox (33.2/68).

�Grey�s Anatomy� (10:27-11:28 p.m.)

Following coverage of the game, ABC�s �Grey�s Anatomy� posted the series� highest-ever numbers, with an average audience of 37.9 million viewers and a 16.5 rating, 38 share among Adults 18-49. The sophomore ABC drama surpassed its previous series highs by 15.7 million viewers and by 68% in Adults 18-49, set on its first season finale last May (22.2 million & 9.8/24 on 5/22/05).

� In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, �Grey�s Anatomy� delivered the strongest numbers for a post-�Super Bowl� entertainment program in 5 years � since CBS� premiere of �Survivor II� on 1/28/01. In fact it was the 3rd-most-watched telecast to follow the �Super Bowl� in the last 16 years � since the start of the Nielsen electronic database in 1991, behind only �Survivor II� in 2001 and �Friends� in 1996.

� �Grey�s Anatomy� stands as the top-rated entertainment program on TV this season among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 � best for any regular entertainment program since the series finale �Friends� on 5/6/04.

� In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, �Grey�s Anatomy� is ABC�s strongest series telecast in close to 9 years � since 4/30/97.

Source: Nielsen Media Research (Live+SD), week of 1/30/06, or as dated.





  [february 2006]  
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· 20/20 (ABC)
· BACHELOR, THE (ABC)
· CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (CBS)
· DANCING WITH THE STARS (ABC)
· FOUR KINGS (NBC)
· FRIENDS (NBC)
· GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC)
· IN JUSTICE (ABC)
· INVASION (ABC)
· LOST (ABC)
· MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (ABC)
· MY NAME IS EARL (NBC)
· SURVIVOR (CBS)
· WIFE SWAP (PARAMOUNT)
· WILL & GRACE (NBC)





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