Quick Take for Tuesday, September 15, 2009 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

Continuing to Drive Strong Tune-in for ABC in Tuesday's 9pm Hour, "Shaq VS" Closes Out with its 2nd Week of Gains and its Biggest Audience Since its Debut

During its First-Season Run, "Shaq VS" Improves its Time Period Year to Year for ABC by 11% in Viewers and by 14% in Adults 18-49

"Shaq VS" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

Once again shooting up from its lead-in and gaining audience from start to finish, "Shaq VS" produced impressive tune-in for ABC in Tuesday's 9 o'clock hour against established unscripted time-period competition on both NBC ("Biggest Loser" Season Premiere) and CBS ("Big Brother 11" Season Finale). On the show's season finale, Shaquille O'Neal challenged 2009 14-time Gold Medal Olympian and World Champion Michael Phelps in a series of swimming races. Coming out of a rebroadcast airing of "Shark Tank" from 8:00-9:00 p.m., "Shaq VS" jumped over its lead-in by 19% in Total Viewers (4.3 million vs. 3.6 million) and by 55% in Adults 18-49 (1.7/4 vs. 1.1/3). The show also built substantially from start to finish in both viewers and young adults.

� Posting its 2nd week of growth, "Shaq VS" was up week to week by 13% in Total Viewers (4.3 million to 3.8 million) and by 13% in Adults 18-49 (1.7/4 to 1.5/4). The show drew its biggest audience since its series debut � since 8/18/09.

� Despite facing stiff competition throughout its first-season run, "Shaq VS" improved its time period year to year for ABC by 11% in Total Viewers (4.0 million vs. 3.6 million) and by 14% in Adults 18-49 (1.6/5 vs. 1.4/4), versus the same nights last summer.

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 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings), 9/15/09.