or


[10/13/08 - 12:25 PM]
Opposite NFL and Mlb Post Season on NBC and Fox, ABC Is the Definitive Choice for Non-Sports Programming on Sunday
ABC spins the numbers for Sunday, October 12.

[via press release from ABC]

Quick Take for Sunday, October 12, 2008 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

Opposite NFL and MLB Post Season on NBC and Fox, ABC is the Definitive Choice for Non-Sports Programming on Sunday, Beating CBS by Wide Margins

For 3rd Straight Week, "Housewives" is the Night's No. 1 Program in Adults 18-49, as ABC Airs the Top 3 Entertainment Programs in the Key Adults Sales Demo

ABC's "Home Edition" is No. 1 from 8-9pm in Viewers and All Key Women Demos, Hitting a Season High in Men 18-34 Against Sports on Fox and NBC

Up Week to Week Among Young Adults, "Desperate Housewives" Wins Sunday at 9pm for the 3rd Week in a Row in Viewers and Adults 18-49

ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" Defeats its CBS Drama Competition in the 10pm Hour by 11% in Total Viewers and by 38% in Adults 18-49, Dominating the Slot Across the Key Women Demos

Sunday Primetime (7:00-11:00 p.m.)

Competing against NBC's "NFL Sunday Night Football" on the night (Patriots-Chargers) and Fox with another highly-rated NFL primetime overrun into the 7 o'clock hour leading into its coverage MLB's National Championship Series Game 3 (Dodgers-Phillies), ABC took second place in Total Viewers (10.8 million) and tied NBC for No. 2 in Adults 18-49 (3.8/10) [rank subject to adjustment, based on the time-period based Fast Affiliate Ratings]. For the 3rd week in a row, ABC stood as the No. 1 network on Sunday night across all key women demos: W18-34 (4.0/12), W18-49 (5.1/13) and W25-54 (5.7/13). ABC was the clear choice for non-sports programming on Sunday, beating out CBS with its regular Sunday lineup by 9% in Total Viewers (10.8 million vs. 9.9 million) and by 52% in Adults 18-49 (3.8/10 vs. 2.5/6).

� For the 3rd week in a row, ABC's "Desperate Housewives" registered as Sunday Night's No. 1 TV program among Adults 18-49 and the most-watched entertainment show overall. In fact ABC aired the Top 3 entertainment programs on Sunday evening in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic, with "Desperate Housewives," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "Brothers & Sisters," respectively.

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Building sharply on its lead-in, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" ranked No. 1 in the 8 o'clock hour with Total Viewers (11.3 million) and across all key women demos: W18-34 (3.6/10), W18-49 (4.7/12) and W25-54 (5.1/13). The unscripted series stood as the top non-sports program in the hour among Adults 18-49 (3.7/9), beating CBS' "Amazing Race" (2.8/7) by 32%.

� Despite airing against sports, including Game 3 of the 2008 National League Baseball Championship Fox and NFL games on both Fox and NBC, "Home Edition" still hit a season high among Men 18-34 (2.2/6).

"Desperate Housewives" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

ABC's "Desperate Housewives" topped the 9 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (15.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (5.9/14), defeating NBC's "Sunday Night Football" (12.1 million and 4.9/11) and towering over CBS' "Cold Case" (10.9 million and 2.7/6).

� "Desperate Housewives" saw week-to-week increases in Adults 18-49 (5.9/14 vs. 5.8/13) and Adults 18-34 (5.0/13 vs. 4.8/12).

"Brothers & Sisters" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" outperformed its CBS drama competition ("The Unit") in the 10 o'clock hour by 11% in Total Viewers (10.1 million vs. 9.1 million) and by 38% in Adults 18-49 (3.6/9 vs. 2.6/7). For the 3rd week running, the ABC drama ranked No. 1 in the hour across each of the key women demographics: W18-34 (3.9/11), W18-49 (5.2/13) and W25-54 (5.8/14).

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 28% currently, from 20% at the same point in 2007. 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), 10/12/08.





  [october 2008]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
   


· AMAZING RACE, THE (CBS)
· BROTHERS & SISTERS (ABC)
· COLD CASE (CBS)
· DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
· EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION (HGTV)
· SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (NBC)
· UNIT, THE (CBS)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[11/03/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of October 26 - "Lupin" Part 4 Captures the No. 1 Spot in This Week's Top 10
"The One About Matthew Perry" debuted in the No. 1 spot on the English TV list, gathering 9.5 million views.

[11/03/26 - 11:01 AM]
CBS Up +12% from Its Week #2 Last Year - Network Places 14 of the Top 20 Series; Top Two Comedies; Top Three New Series
CBS episodes topped the Nielsen live plus 7-days of multiplatform viewership for the week of October 12-18.

[10/31/26 - 10:48 AM]
USA Sports Delivers 1.5 Million Viewers for Valkyries-Dream Game 6 Thursday Matinee
USA Sports' Game 6 coverage delivered the fifth most-watched WNBA Finals game on cable on record.

[10/30/26 - 08:57 AM]
ABC News Wins Across Friday Night, Sunday Morning and Late-Night
"20/20: Help Dale Find Dee" ranked as Friday's No. 1 newsmagazine in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49.

[10/29/26 - 03:25 PM]
Champions at Last: 14.2 Million Viewers Projected for FOX Sports' Coverage of Milwaukee Brewers World Series Clinch
13,476,000 viewers tuned in for World Series Game 4 presented by Capital One across FOX and FOX Deportes.

[10/29/26 - 12:21 PM]
ABC Thursday Returns Strong with "9-1-1" and "9-1-1: Nashville" Rising Over Previous Season Averages
The Season 10 debut of "9-1-1" (8 p.m.) earned 8.14 million Total Viewers after seven days of viewing on ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and digital platforms, based on Nielsen's competitive multiplatform measurement.

[10/28/26 - 03:31 PM]
Cowboys-Eagles on "Monday Night Football" Delivers 18.8M Viewers
Seven weeks into ESPN's Super Bowl LXI season, "Monday Night Football" is up 26% compared to the same point in 2025, averaging 19M viewers.

[10/28/26 - 11:30 AM]
"The Drew Barrymore Show" Hits All-Time Series High
This season to date, "The Drew Barrymore Show" averaged 1.90 million total viewers, up +36% year over year.

[10/28/26 - 11:01 AM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of October 19
"The Terminal List," "Carrie," "Reacher," "Neagley," and "Off Campus" led all original series worldwide.

[10/27/26 - 03:36 PM]
College Football on FOX Scores Big Numbers in Week 8
7,015,000 viewers tuned into FOX "Big Noon Saturday" for Indiana's win over Michigan.

[10/27/26 - 03:14 PM]
FOX's "America's Game of the Week" Roars with 24,670,000 Viewers in Week 7
The network's Sunday window ranks as the #1 program in all of television through the first seven weeks of the season (24,749,000 average).

[10/27/26 - 03:10 PM]
NFL's First-Ever Paris Game Draws 7.7M Viewers, Concluding Strong October for NFL Network
NFL Network's October International Series slate is averaging 7.1M viewers, up 18% vs. the network's overall six-game International Series average last season.

[10/27/26 - 03:03 PM]
No Time Like October: FOX Sports Drives in 12,259,000 Viewers for Game 1 and 10,854,000 Viewers for Game 2
Both telecasts were the most-watched of their respective days on any network.

[10/27/26 - 02:59 PM]
NBC and Peacock Deliver Most-Watched WNBA Finals Game 4 Ever
Led by Gabby Williams' 17 points, Golden State's 67-62 win over Atlanta peaked at 2.5 million viewers for the game's exciting conclusion from 3:30-3:45 p.m. ET.

[10/27/26 - 02:40 PM]
"College GameDay Built by The Home Depot" Continues Record-Setting Season; ESPN Networks Deliver Three of the Top Five Games Across All Nets
Ole Miss/Texas (8.1 million) was the top game of the week and added to ESPN's nine total games this season with 8+ million viewers.