Quick Take for Monday, March 23, 2009 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC's Monday is No. 1 in Viewers and Adults 18-49 for the 4th Week Running, with its Best Women 18-34 Winning Streak Since at Least 1991

"DWTS" Wins Each of its Half-Hours to Outperform the Second-Place Nets from 8-10pm by 11.2 Million Viewers and by 58% Among Adults 18-49

ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" is Monday's No. 1 Program in Viewers and Young Adults for the 3rd Consecutive Week

ABC's "Castle" Takes a Strong Second at 10pm, Defeating NBC's "Medium" by 3.2 Million Viewers and by 23% in Adults 18-49

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

ABC stood as the No. 1 Network on Monday for the 4th week in a row in Total Viewers (16.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.2/11). The Network outperformed second-place CBS on the night by 6.4 million viewers and by 24% in Adults 18-49 (10.3 million & 3.4/9). In addition, ABC won the night for the 7th consecutive week across all key Women demographics (W18-34 - 4.5/11, W18-49 - 5.9/14 and W25-54 - 7.2/16), including a 12 week stretch among Women 18-34.

* Extending its winning run on the night, the Net is seeing its longest winning streak on the evening since at least 1991 with Women 18-34 - predating the start of Nielsen's electronic database. In addition, it is the longest Monday winning streak among Women 18-34 for any net in over 5 years - since NBC from w/o 9/22/03 to w/o 12/15/03.

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

ABC's broad appealing "Dancing with the Stars" attracted 20.2 million viewers and a 4.9 rating, 13 share in Adults 18-49, qualifying as Monday's No. 1 TV program in viewers and young adults for the 3rd consecutive week. In fact, "Dancing with the Stars" won each of its half-hours and soared to the top of its time period, beating the second-place networks by 11.2 million viewers (Fox - 9.0 million) and by 58% in Adults 18-49 (CBS - 3.1/8).

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

ABC's "Castle" took a strong second in the 10 o'clock hour to CBS' C.S.I.: Miami," beating NBC's veteran drama, "Medium," by 3.2 million viewers (9.8 million vs. 6.6 million) and by 23% Adults 18-49 (2.7/7 vs. 2.2/6).

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), 3/23/09.