Quick Take for Monday, March 16, 2009 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC's Lineup of "DWTS" and "Castle" Takes the Net to the No. 1 Position in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 on Monday for the 3rd Straight Week

ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" is Monday's No. 1 Program in Viewers and Young Adults for the 2nd Week in a Row

"DWTS" Leads from 8-10pm by 9.0 Million Viewers and by 26% in Adults 18-49

Holding Strong Retention from its Week-Ago Premiere and Continuing to Improve its Time Period for ABC, "Castle" Takes a Strong Second at 10pm to CBS' "CSI: Miami"

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

ABC's lineup of "Dancing with the Stars" and "Castle" took the Net to the No. 1 position on Monday for the 3rd week running in Total Viewers (17.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.6/12). The Network topped second-place Fox on the night by 5.8 million viewers and by 10% in Adults 18-49 (12.1 million & 4.2/11).

� ABC was up over the same night last year, improving by 2.9 million viewers and 5% in Adults 18-49 (15.0 million & 4.4/12 on 3/17/08).

"Dancing with the Stars" (8:00-10:00 p.m.)

ABC's broad appealing "Dancing with the Stars" attracted 21.1 million viewers and a 5.3 rating, 14 share in Adults 18-49, qualifying as Monday's No. 1 TV program in viewers and young adults for the 2nd straight week. "Dancing with the Stars" outdrew second-place Fox in its 2-hour time period by 9.0 million viewers and by 26% in Adults 18-49 (12.1 million & 4.2/11).

� "Dancing with the Stars" is up over its Week 2 performance last year by 3% in both Total Viewers and by 4% in Adults 18-49 (20.5 million & 5.1/13 on 3/24/08).

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

Holding strong with its week-ago series debut and delivering improved retention of its lead-in, ABC's "Castle" took second in the 10 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (11.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.1/8) to CBS' veteran "C.S.I.: Miami."

� Compared to the Net's performance in the hour this season with series programming, "Castle" on average has improved the time period for ABC by 2.4 million viewers (11.1 million vs. 8.7 million) and by 11% in Adults 18-49 (3.1/8 vs. 2.8/7).

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 30% currently, from 23% 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), 3/16/09.