Quick Take for Wednesday, February 4, 2009 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Finishes No. 2 to Fox on Wednesday in Adults 18-49, Leading NBC and CBS Tied in Third Place by 47% in the Key Demo

ABC's Wednesday Results Jump Year to Year by Nearly 1 Million Viewers and by 12%

"Lost" Catapults Over its Lead-in to Rank No. 1 in the 9pm Hour with Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34, Opposite Fox's "Idol"-Fueled "Lie to Me"

For the 3rd Straight Week, "Lost" is Wednesday's Top Scripted Show In Adults 18-49 and Marks its 2nd Consecutive Week in Adults 18-34

"Life on Mars" is Up from its Week-Ago Premiere in Adults 18-34 and Generates ABC's Top Men 18-34 Number in the Slot with Series Programming This Season

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

ABC took second place on Wednesday in Adults 18-49 (2.8/7) to an "American Idol"-driven Fox, besting NBC and CBS in a third-place tie by 47% (1.9/5).

� ABC's Wednesday results were up from the same night last year (2/6/08) by nearly 1 million viewers (7.3 million vs. 6.4 million) and by 12% in Adults 18-49 (2.8/7 vs. 2.5/6)

"Lost" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

Continuing to exhibit its appointment-television status, "Lost" catapulted from its lead-in by 6.2 million viewers and by 176% in young adults to hold the No. 1 position in the 9 o'clock hour among Adults 18-49 (tied w/ "Lie to Me") and register as Wednesday's No. 1 scripted TV show for the 3rd straight week in the key young adult sales demo. In addition "Lost" overcame Fox's "Idol" lead-in coming into the hour, beating Fox's "Lie to Me" by 13% in Adults 18-34 (4.4/12 vs. 3.9/11) and ranking as the night's highest-rated scripted series in the demo for the 2nd consecutive week.

� Week to week "Lost" retained nearly all of its Total Viewers (98% - 11.0 million vs. 11.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (96% - 4.7/12 vs. 4.9/12), while growing from the prior week in both Women 18-34 (4.8/12 vs. 4.4/11) and Women 18-49 (5.1/12 vs. 5.0/11).

"Life on Mars" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

During the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's "Life on Mars" ranked No. 2 among Adults 18-49 and delivered the No. 1 position in the time slot with Adults 18-34 (1.9/6) and Women 18-34 (2.1/7).

� "Life on Mars" was up from its week-earlier time period premiere by 36% in Adults 18-34 (1.9/6 vs. 1.4/4). Among Men 18-34 (1.6/5), "Life on Mars" delivered its highest rating since its October series debut (10/9/08), while producing ABC's best number this season in the time slot with regularly scheduled series programming.

� "Life on Mars" improved the time period for ABC over the same night last year with original series programming in Total Viewers (6.0 million vs. 5.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.1/6 vs. 2.0/5)

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 29% currently, from 22% 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), 2/4/09.