or


[09/03/08 - 02:43 PM]
Primetime Ratings Report for the Week of August 25, 2008 (Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)
ABC spins the numbers for the week of August 25-31.

[via press release from ABC]

Primetime Ratings Report For the week of August 25, 2008 (Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)

ABC Posts Week-to-Week Increases in Viewers and Adults 18-49, Drawing its Best Numbers in 4 Weeks

ABC 3rd Season Premiere of "Saturday Night Football" Ranks as The Week's No. 1 Program in Men 18-49 and No. 2 in Men 18-34

ABC News' "20/20" is the Week's No. 1 Newsmag in Adults 18-49

On its First Regular Telecast Since July, ABC's "Wipeout" Stands as Tuesday's No. 2 TV Show in Adults 18-49 to NBC's Veteran "America's Got Talent"

For its Second Consecutive Original Airing in its New Time Slot, ABC's "Wanna Bet" Achieves Series Highs with Total Viewers and Adults 18-49

Audience for "ABC News Vote '08: Democratic National Convention" Coverage Grows from the First Night, Continuing to Outdraw CBS News' Convention Coverage

For its Second Consecutive Original Airing in its New Tuesday 9pmTime Slot, ABC's "Wanna Bet" Achieves Series Highs with Total Viewers and Adults 18-49

Thursday's "ABC News Vote '08: Democratic National Convention" is the Best Among All Broadcasters for the Week, Drawing ABC's Largest Audience at 10pm Since June

ABC Wins Saturday with the "Saturday Night Football" Season Premiere in Viewers and Across All Adult Demos, and is Up Over its Year-Ago Performance

WEEK No. 49:

During the week of August 25, 2008, ABC saw week-to-week increases of 14% in Total Viewers (4.1 million vs. 3.6 million) and by 8% in Adults 18-49 (1.3/4 vs. 1.2/3), posting the Net's best weekly performance in both measures in 4 weeks � since w/o 7/28/08.

Rankings: ABC claimed 3 of the week's Top 20 TV shows in Adults 18-49: "Wipeout" � No. 7, "Vote 2008: Democratic National Convention - THU" � No. 17 and "Saturday Night Football" �No. 18. The third season premiere of "Saturday Night Football" stood as the No. 1 program of the week in Men 18-49 and ranked as the No. 2 program in Men 18-34. ABC News aired TV's Top newsmagazine of the week in Adults 18-49 with Friday's "20/20."

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating trends based on the Live + Same Day data stream may be somewhat distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped from 18% at the same point in 2006-07, up to 26% currently. 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.

Tuesday

"Wipeout" (8:00-9:02 p.m.)

On its first regular original airing since July, following a 3-week break with the "Wipey Awards" (8/5) and two weeks of repeats against the Olympics (8/12 and 8/19), "Wipeout" took a strong second place to NBC's "America's Got Talent" in Adults 18-49 (2.3/7) at 8 o'clock. It was the No. 2 show of the night in the young adult demo (tied w/CBS' "Big Brother" and Fox's "House" in the 9:00 p.m. hour).

"Wanna Bet" (9:02-10:00 p.m.)

On it second original airing in its new time period, ABC's "Wanna Bet" achieved series highs in both Total Viewers (4.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.5/4). It was the show's second consecutive original airing to hit new highs on both Nielsen measures.

"ABC News Vote '08: The Democratic National Convention � Day 2" (10:00-11:13 p.m.)

With an average audience of 4.8 million viewers, ABC was the second-most-watched broadcaster in the 10 o'clock hour with "ABC News Vote '08: The Democratic National Convention � Day 2," outdrawing CBS News' coverage for the second night in a row, by 1 million viewers (3.8 million).

� Versus the opening night of the convention on Monday (8/25/08), ABC News' coverage jumped 14% in Total Viewers (4.8 million vs. 4.2 million) and 22% in Adults 18-49 (1.1/3 vs. 0.9/3).

Thursday

"ABC News Vote '08: The Democratic National Convention � Day 4" (10:00-11:07 p.m.)

ABC was the most-watched broadcaster (6.6 million) in the 10 o'clock hour with "ABC News Vote '08: The Democratic National Convention � Day 4," outperforming convention coverage on NBC by 8% (6.1 million) and CBS by 40% (4.7 million). In fact, ABC drew the largest audience for any of the broadcast networks covering the Democratic National Convention.

� With Night 4 drawing ABC's strongest numbers in Total Viewers (6.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.0/4) of convention coverage, ABC registered its highest numbers in the hour in viewers and young adults in 11 weeks � since 6/12/08.

Saturday

"Saturday Night Football: Alabama vs. Clemson and Michigan State vs. California" (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

The third season premiere of "Saturday Night Football," with games featuring Alabama vs. Clemson and Michigan State vs. California, took ABC to the top spot in Saturday prime in Total Viewers (5.7 million) and across each of the key adult demographics: Adults 18-34 (1.8/8), Adults 18-49 (1.9/7) and Adults 25-54 (2.2/7).

� Drawing it largest audience and highest young adult audience in Saturday prime in nearly 4 months (since 5/3/08), ABC was up by 16% in Total Viewers and by 6% in Adults 18-49 compared to the "Saturday Night Football" season premiere a year-ago (4.9 & 1.8/7 on 9/1/07).

Source: Nielsen Media Research (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 8/25/08, unless stated otherwise.





  [september 2008]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
 


· 20/20 (ABC)
· AMERICA'S GOT TALENT (NBC)
· BIG BROTHER (CBS)
· HOUSE (FOX)
· SATURDAY NIGHT COLLEGE FOOTBALL (ABC)
· WANNA BET? (ABC)
· WIPEOUT (TBS)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[11/26/25 - 02:31 PM]
"20/20" Is the Most-Watched in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 in Time Period vs. CBS and NBC
"20/20" posted substantial increases week to week across the board.

[11/26/25 - 02:30 PM]
With Largest Viewership in 7 Weeks, ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in All Key Demos
"Nightline" improved on the previous week in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49.

[11/26/25 - 02:21 PM]
"Everybody Loves Raymond: 30th Anniversary" Is the Season's Most-Watched Primetime Entertainment Special
The telecast delivered 6.32 million viewers and was the most-watched entertainment program Monday night.

[11/26/25 - 02:15 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Caps Spectacular Season 34 with 9.24 Million Total Viewers - Drawing Largest Finale Audience in 9 Years
Among Adults 18-49, the show nearly doubled last season's finale episode (+89% - 2.15 rating vs. 1.14 rating), hitting its strongest finale result in 10 years.

[11/25/25 - 03:45 PM]
"Center Stage: Countdown to the CMA Awards - Special Edition of 20/20" Rises Over Last Year's Performance in All Key Measures
"Center Stage" (434,000 and 326,000, respectively) ranked No. 1 in its hour in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

[11/25/25 - 03:05 PM]
ESPN Wins Week 13 with Stellar Showings for "College GameDay Built by The Home Depot," "SEC on ABC" and Friday College Football on ESPN
Texas Longhorns defeating the Arkansas Razorbacks 52-37 delivered 5.6 million viewers on November 22.

[11/25/25 - 02:57 PM]
"America's Game of the Week" on FOX Scores 27,816,000 Viewers in Week 12
The Dallas Cowboys win over the Philadelphia Eagles peaked with 28.4 million viewers from 7:30 PM - 7:45 PM ET.

[11/25/25 - 02:03 PM]
CBS Sports' Coverage of the 2025 NWSL Championship Is the First NWSL Match Ever to Surpass 1 Million Viewers!
The Gotham FC victory over Washington Spirit set a NWSL viewership record.

[11/25/25 - 02:00 PM]
Record Audience Watches Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix on ESPN
ESPN's live telecast on Saturday night, November 22, averaged 1.5 million viewers, the largest audience to watch the event in its three-year history,

[11/25/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of November 17 - 3 Cheers for "Champagne Problems" at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys continued to keep audiences guessing in their psychological thriller "The Beast in Me," which took the No. 1 spot on the English TV list for a second week with 14.1 million views.

[11/21/25 - 12:00 PM]
CBS Series Top L+7 Multiplatform Competitive Charts
Seven weeks into the 2025/26 broadcast season, "Tracker" is the #1 series, averaging 14.2 million viewers across broadcast and streaming.

[11/20/25 - 04:55 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Jumps to Season Highs with Epic "Prince Night"
The show rose dramatically over its year-ago penultimate episode in Total Viewers, with its best semifinals performance in seven years.

[11/20/25 - 11:31 AM]
"Landman" Season 2 Premiere Delivers Record Breaking 9.2 Million Global Streaming Views in Its First Two Days on Paramount+
Views increased by +262% from the first season premiere, making it the most watched premiere for any original series for Paramount+.

[11/20/25 - 08:22 AM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Hits Season Highs with Best Performance Among Total Viewers and Households in Five Months
Friday's "Live's Halloween Show: "It's Trending!" posted its top telecast in Total Viewers (2.554 million) and Households (1.62 million) in over six months.

[11/18/25 - 03:40 PM]
"College GameDay" Scores Best Week 12 Show Ever in Steel City Stop; ABC & ESPN Deliver Top Four Most-Watched Games of Week 12
ABC is registering 6.9 million viewers per game, on pace for the most-watched season on record for the network.