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[08/18/09 - 11:24 AM]
ABC Grows Its Numbers Week to Week and Over the Same Week Last Year
ABC spins the numbers for the week of August 10-16.

[via press release from ABC]

Primetime Ratings Report For the week of August 10, 2009 (Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)

ABC Grows its Numbers Week to Week and Over the Same Week Last Year

On Average, ABC's 10th Anniversary "Millionaire" Event Improves its Time Slots Year to Year for the Network by 3.5 Million Viewers and by 27% in Adults 18-49

ABC's "Millionaire" Finishes No. 1 on Monday at 8pm in Viewers and Key Women, Building on its Sunday Telecast and Beating its Unscripted Competition in the Hour

Up Week to Week, "Dating in the Dark" Beats Fox's "Teen Choice Awards" And NBC's Original "Law & Order: CI" in Adults 18-49 on Monday at 9pm

With its Top Wednesday Audience in 5 Weeks and 3rd Largest This Summer, ABC Improves Year to Year on the Evening for the 10th Consecutive Week

Gaining Night to Night, "Millionaire" is the Top Draw on Wednesday from 8-9pm

Shifting to 9pm Against NBC's "Talent," ABC's "Wipeout" Builds on its Lead-in by 69% to Stand as Wednesday's No. 2 TV Show in Adults 18-49

Posting ABC's Best Time-Slot Numbers in 4 Weeks, "Primetime: Crime" Beats the Season Finale of NBC's "The Philanthropist" on Wednesday at 10pm

ABC Marks its Biggest Non-Sports Summer Sunday in More Than 1 Year

Jumping from its Week-Ago Debut by 1.4 Million Viewers and by 38% in Adults 18-49, "Shark Tank" Emerges as the Most-Watched TV Show in its Slot

ABC's "Shark Tank" Defeats its Unscripted Time Slot Competition, Beating CBS' "Big Brother"/"Neighborhood" Combo by 12% in Viewers and 13% in Adults 18-49

WEEK No. 47:

During the week of August 10, 2009, ABC grew its numbers week to week by 23% in Total Viewers (4.3 million vs. 3.5 million) and by 9% in Adults 18-49 (1.2/4 vs. 1.1/4). The Network also posted viewer and young adult gains over the same week last summer (w/o 8/11/08 = 3.5 million and 1.1/3).

Monday

ABC's Monday lineup saw week-to-week increases of 1.6 million viewers (5.0 million vs. 3.4 million) and 17% among Adults 18-49 (1.4/4 vs. 1.2/4).

� ABC improved on the same night last year (8/11/08) by 2.8 million viewers (5.0 million vs. 2.2 million) and by 75% in Adults 18-49 (1.4/4 vs. 0.8/2).

"Millionaire-8/10" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Night 2 of ABC's "Millionaire" stood as the No. 1 program in the 8 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (7.3 million), leading second-place CBS (5.0 million) by 2.3 million viewers. In addition, "Millionaire" led the time-slot among Women 18-49 (2.0/6) and Women 25-54 (2.4/7). "Millionaire" topped its unscripted competition in the hour in Adults 18-49 (1.6/5), beating the first hour of Fox's "Teen Choice Awards" (1.3/4) and NBC's "Great American Road Trip" (1.1/4).

� Monday's "Millionaire" built on its opening night performance by 4% in Total Viewers (7.3 million vs. 7.0 million), by 7% in Adults 18-49 (1.6/5 vs. 1.5/5) and 22% in Adults 18-34 (1.1/4 vs. 0.9/3). In addition, "Millionaire" was up over Sunday's telecast across all key Women demographics: W18-34/W18-49/W25-54.

"Dating in the Dark" (9:00-10:01 p.m.)

Building on its lead-in among young adults, "Dating in the Dark" placed second at 9:00 p.m. in Adults 18-49 (1.7/5), beating the second hour of Fox's "Teen Choice Awards" by 13% (1.5/4) and NBC's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" by 70% (1.0/3).

� "Dating in the Dark" grew from the previous week's performance by 19% in Total Viewers (4.4 million vs. 3.7 million) and by 6% in Adults 18-49 (1.7/5 vs. 1.6/5).

Tuesday

"Millionaire-8/11" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Night 3 of "Millionaire" produced ABC's largest audience (6.1 million) in the Tuesday 8 o'clock hour this summer.

"Primetime: The Outsiders" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

Building sharply on its lead-in, the season opener of ABC News' "Primetime: The Outsiders" took second in the hour to NBC's "America's Got Talent." In the hour, "Primetime: The Outsiders" defeated an original telecast of CBS' "Medium" by 10% in Total Viewers (4.3 million vs. 3.9 million) and by 40% in Adults 18-49 (1.4/4 vs. 1.0/3).

Wednesday

ABC earned second place on Wednesday in Total Viewers (6.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.7/5), drawing its biggest audience on the evening in 5 weeks (since 7/8/09) and 3rd largest this summer.

� ABC boosted its Wednesday results over the year-ago night (8/13/08) by 2.3 million viewers (6.1 million vs. 3.8 million) and by 31% in Adults 18-49 (1.7/5 vs. 1.3/4). The Network outdrew the year-ago Wednesday for the 10th consecutive week.

"Millionaire-8/12" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Up from the previous night by 7% (6.5 million vs. 6.1 million), "Millionaire" stood as the most-watched TV show in the 8 o'clock hour for the 2nd time in 3 telecasts.

� Wednesday's "Millionaire" improved ABC's numbers in the hour over the same night last year by 3.3 million viewers (6.5 million vs. 3.2 million) and by 8% in Adults 18-49 (1.3/5 vs. 1.2/4).

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

Shifting to the 9 o'clock hour this week and jumping from its Iead-in by 69% against stiff competition from NBC's "America's Got Talent," ABC's "Wipeout" placed a strong second in its time slot and emerged as the No. 2 TV show of the night in Adults 18-49 (2.2/7).

"Primetime: Crime" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

During the 10 o'clock hour, ABC News' "Primetime: Crime" beat the season finale of NBC's "The Philanthropist" by nearly 1 million viewers (5.4 million vs. 4.5 million) and by 36% in Adults 18-49 (1.5/5 vs. 1.1/3).

� In Total Viewers (5.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.5/5), "Primetime: Crime" generated ABC's top numbers in the time period in 4 weeks � since 7/15/09.

Thursday

"Millionaire-8/13" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Despite facing major-market local preemptions (Philadelphia and Pittsburgh) for NFL pre-season games resulting in reduced U.S. Coverage (95%), "Millionaire" was up over the previous night by 11% in Total Viewers (7.2 million vs. 6.5 million) and by 15% in Adults 18-49 (1.5/5 vs. 1.3/5) to finish second in the hour. In fact "Millionaire" turned in its second-strongest numbers yet in viewers and young adults, while hitting an event-high Adults 25-54 rating (1.9/6-tie).

� "Millionaire" attracted ABC's largest summer audience in the hour in well over 1 year - since 5/22/08.

Sunday

ABC registered as the second-most-watched network on Sunday to CBS, which benefitted from a high-rated PGA Championship overrun into the opening hour of primetime. Despite the competition, ABC marked its top non-sports Summer Sunday in more than a 1 year with Total Viewers (5.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.4/4-tie) � since 7/6/08 and 7/13/08, respectively.

"America's Funniest Home Videos" (7:00-8:00 p.m.)

Opposite CBS' PGA Championship overrun during the 7 o'clock hour, ABC's repeat "America's Funniest Home Videos" earned second place, beating NBC's original episode of "Merlin" by 2.7 million viewers (5.8 million vs. 3.1 million) and by 75% in Adults 18-49 (1.5/5 vs. 0.8/3). In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, "AFV" pulled in its second-biggest numbers this summer.

"Millionaire-8/16" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Building on its lead-in among viewers and young adults at 8:00 p.m., Sunday's "Millionaire" finished second in the hour to CBS ("60 Minutes"/"Big Brother") with Total Viewers (7.0 million). From its first half-hour to its second half-hour, "Millionaire" saw its audience gain overall viewers and young adults.

� "Millionaire" retained all of its overall week-ago Total Viewer count, while building week to week in Adults 18-34, Men 18-34 and Women 18-34.

� On average through 6 telecasts of its 11-night, 10th-anniversary event, "Millionaire" is improving ABC's performance in the time periods by 3.5 million viewers (6.9 million vs. 3.4 million) and by 27% in Adults 18-49 (1.4/5 vs. 1.1/3), over the same nights last year.

"Shark Tank" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

Jumping over its week-ago series debut by 1.4 million viewers (5.6 million vs. 4.2 million) and by 38% in Adults 18-49 (1.8/5 vs. 1.3/4), on just its second airing "Shark Tank" made ABC the most-watched network during the 9 o'clock hour. In fact against its unscripted competition in the time period, ABC's "Shark Tank" topped CBS' "Big Brother"/"There Goes the Neighborhood" combo (5.1 million and 1.6/4) by 12% in Total Viewers and by 13% in Adults 18-49.

� With its week-to-week surge, "Shark Tank" attracted ABC's biggest non-sports audience to the time period since last July and its top Adult 18-49 numbers since last August � since 7/13/08 and 8/24/08, respectively.

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 32% currently, from 26% 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 (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 8/10/09, unless stated otherwise.





  [august 2009]  
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W
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F
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· 60 MINUTES (CBS)
· AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS (ABC)
· AMERICA'S GOT TALENT (NBC)
· BIG BROTHER (CBS)
· DATING IN THE DARK (ABC)
· GREAT AMERICAN ROAD TRIP, THE (NBC)
· LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT (USA)
· MEDIUM (CBS)
· MERLIN (SYFY)
· PHILANTHROPIST, THE (NBC)
· SHARK TANK (ABC)
· THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD (CBS)
· WHAT WOULD YOU DO? (ABC)
· WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE (ABC)
· WIPEOUT (TBS)





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