Quick Take for Wednesday, October 7, 2009 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Ratings)

Improving the Time Period Year to Year in Viewers and Young Adults, ABC's Freshman Comedy Block Finishes No. 1 from 8-10pm in Adults 18-34

At 8pm, ABC's Freshman "Hank" Draws More Viewers than Fox's "Dance"

Jumping from its Adult 18-49 Lead-in at 8:30pm, "The Middle" Outdraws Fox's "Dance" in Viewers and Beats its Comedy Competition in Adults 18-34

Finishing as the No. 2 TV Show of the Night in Adults 18-49 to CBS' Veteran "Criminal Minds," ABC's "Modern Family" Hits a Series High with Men 18-34

Continuing to Deliver Strong Lead-in Retention, "Cougar Town" Improves its Slot Year to Year for ABC by 15% in Adults 18-49

"Eastwick" Beats "Leno" at 10pm for the 3rd Straight Week in Adults 18-49 And Places No. 1 with Women 18-34 for its 2nd Consecutive Telecast

Wednesday Night Freshman Comedy Block (8:00-10:00 p.m.)

ABC's all-freshman 8:00-10:00 p.m. comedy block continued to deliver impressive compatibility, growing by over 1 million viewers (6.7 million to 7.8 million) and by 94% in Adults 18-49 from start to finish (1.6/5 to 3.1/8) against strong established competition on the other nets.

� Up for the 2nd week in a row, ABC's Wednesday comedy block improved the time period year to year by 14% in Total Viewers (7.4 million vs. 6.5 million) and by 9% in Adults 18-49 (2.5/7 vs. 2.3/7) over the Net's performance in the 2-hour time period on the same night last year.

� ABC's comedy block finished No. 2 in the time period among Adults 18-34 (2.0/6) to Fox ("Dance"/"Glee"), leading NBC by 11% ("Mercy"/"L&O: SVU" = 1.8/6) and CBS by 25% ("Old Christine"/"Gary Unmarried"/"Criminal Minds" = 1.6/5)

"Hank" (8:00-8:30 p.m.)

At 8:00 p.m., ABC's freshman comedy "Hank" outdrew Fox's time-period regular "So You Think You Can Dance" by 14% in Total Viewers (6.7 million vs. 5.9 million). "Hank" took second place in the half-hour with Men 25-54 (1.9/5).

"The Middle" (8:30-9:30 p.m.)

Jumping from its Adult 18-49 lead-in by 31% (2.1/6 vs. 1.6/5) at 8:30 p.m., ABC's "The Middle" drew a larger overall audience than Fox's "Dance" (6.8 million vs. 6.4 million), beat its comedy competition in the half-hour (CBS' "Gary Unmarried") by 8% among Adults 18-34 (1.4/6 vs. 1.3/4) and finished in a near-tie among Adult 18-49 (2.1/6 vs. 2.2/6). "The Middle" retained a solid 81% of its week-earlier series debut in Adults 18-49.

"Modern Family" (9:00-9:30 p.m.)

Building on its lead-in at 9:00 p.m. by 1.7 million viewers (8.5 million vs. 6.8 million) and by 52% in Adults 18-49 (3.2/9 vs. 2.1/6), ABC's "Modern Family" placed No. 2 in its half-hour to CBS' veteran "Criminal Minds" on both counts. Hitting a series-high in Men 18-34 (2.6/8 � despite competing against MLB Playoff Baseball on cable), "Modern Family" earned the No. 1 position in its half-hour against its broadcast competitors, beating Fox's "Glee" by 18% (2.2/7), NBC's "Law & Order: SVU" by 44% (1.8/6) and CBS' "Criminal Minds" by 63% (1.6/5).

� The new ABC comedy qualified as the No. 2 TV show on Wednesday in Adults 18-49, trailing only "Criminal Minds."

"Cougar Town" (9:30-10:00 p.m.)

At 9:30 p.m., ABC's "Cougar Town" retained 97% of its Adult 18-49 lead-in, 100% in both Adults 25-54 and Women 18-49, and built on "Modern Family" with Women 25-54. ABC's "Cougar Town" beat out its broadcast competitors in the time period among Men 18-34 (2.1/6) for the 2nd time in 3 telecasts.

� Versus the year-ago night, "Cougar Town" boosted its half-hour for ABC by 15% over an original Private Practice" (3.1/8 vs. 2.7/7).

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

Opposite CBS' time-period veteran "CSI: NY," ABC's freshman "Eastwick" earned second place in the 10 o'clock hour, defeating NBC's "Jay Leno" for the 3rd week in a row among Adults 18-49 (1.8/5 vs. 1.7/5).

� "Eastwick" placed No. 1 in its hour with Women 18-34 (2.0/6-tie) for its 2nd consecutive telecast.

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 33% currently, from 27% 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), 10/7/09.

Quick Take for Wednesday, October 7, 2009 (National Live + Same Program Ratings)

Improving the Time Period Year to Year in Viewers and Young Adults, ABC's Freshman Comedy Block Finishes No. 2 from 8-10pm in Adults 18-34

At 8pm, ABC's Freshman "Hank" Draws More Viewers than Fox's "Dance"

Jumping from its Adult 18-49 Lead-in at 8:30pm, "The Middle" Outdraws Fox's "Dance" in Viewers and Beats its Comedy Competition in Adults 18-34

Finishing as the No. 2 TV Show of the Night in Adults 18-49 to CBS' Veteran "Criminal Minds," ABC's "Modern Family" Hits a Series High with Men 18-34

Continuing to Deliver Strong Lead-in Retention, "Cougar Town" Improves its Slot Year to Year for ABC by 19% in Adults 18-49

"Eastwick" Beats "Leno" at 10pm for the 3rd Straight Week in Adults 18-49

Please Note: MLB Playoff coverage on cable was a significant competitive factor week to week for ABC and the other broadcast nets, with the post-season baseball games featuring teams from the Top 2 U.S. markets (including NY Yankees and LA Dodgers) boosting TBS's primetime numbers by 5.4 million viewers (7.0 million vs. 1.6 million) and by 317% in Adults 18-49 (2.5/7 vs. 0.6/2) over the previous Wednesday.

Wednesday Night Freshman Comedy Block (8:00-10:00 p.m.)

ABC's all-freshman 8:00-10:00 p.m. comedy block continued to deliver impressive compatibility, growing by 1.3 million viewers (6.5 million to 7.8 million) and by 100% in Adults 18-49 (1.6/5 to 3.2/8) from start to finish against strong established competition on the other networks and MLB Playoffs on cable.

� Up for the 2nd week in a row, ABC's Wednesday comedy block improved the time period year to year by 1.0 million viewers (7.5 million vs. 6.5 million) and by 13% in Adults 18-49 (2.6/7 vs. 2.3/7) over the Net's performance in the 2-hour time period on the same night last year.

� ABC's comedy block finished as the No. 2 broadcaster in the time period among Adults 18-34 (2.1/6) to Fox ("Dance"/"Glee"), leading NBC by 17% ("Mercy"/"L&O: SVU" = 1.8/6) and CBS by 24% ("Old Christine"/"Gary Unmarried"/"Criminal Minds" = 1.7/5)

"Hank" (8:00-8:30 p.m.)

At 8:00 p.m., ABC's freshman comedy "Hank" outdrew Fox's time-period regular "So You Think You Can Dance" by 8% in Total Viewers (6.5 million vs. 6.0 million). "Hank" took second place in the half-hour among the broadcast nets with Men 25-54 (1.8/5).

"The Middle" (8:30-9:00 p.m.)

Jumping from its Adult 18-49 lead-in by 31% (2.1/6 vs. 1.6/5) at 8:30 p.m., ABC's "The Middle" drew a larger overall audience than Fox's "Dance" (6.8 million vs. 6.5 million), beat its comedy competition in the half-hour (CBS' "Gary Unmarried") by 15% among Adults 18-34 (1.5/6 vs. 1.3/4) and finished in a near-tie among Adult 18-49 (2.1/6 vs. 2.2/6). "The Middle" retained a solid 81% of its week-earlier series debut in Adults 18-49.

"Modern Family" (9:00-9:30 p.m.)

Building on its lead-in at 9:00 p.m. by 2.0 million viewers (8.8 million vs. 6.8 million) and by 62% in Adults 18-49 (3.4/9 vs. 2.1/6), ABC's "Modern Family" placed No. 2 in its half-hour to CBS' veteran "Criminal Minds" on both counts. Hitting a series-high in Men 18-34 (2.6/8 � despite competing against MLB Playoff Baseball on cable), "Modern Family" earned the No. 1 position in its half-hour against its broadcast competitors, beating Fox's "Glee" by 18% (2.2/7), NBC's "Law & Order: SVU" by 53% (1.7/5) and CBS' "Criminal Minds" by 53% (1.7/5).

� The new ABC comedy qualified as the No. 2 TV show on Wednesday in Adults 18-49, trailing only "Criminal Minds."

"Cougar Town" (9:30-10:00 p.m.)

At 9:30 p.m., ABC's "Cougar Town" retained 94% of its Adult 18-49 lead-in from "Modern Family," boosting its half-hour for ABC by 19% over an original Private Practice" on the year-ago night (3.2/8 vs. 2.7/7).

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

Opposite CBS' time-period veteran "CSI: NY," ABC's freshman "Eastwick" earned second place in the 10 o'clock hour, defeating NBC's "Jay Leno" for the 3rd week in a row among Adults 18-49 (1.8/5 vs. 1.7/5).

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 33% currently, from 27% 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), 10/7/09.