ABC Grows its Sunday Audience for the 2nd Straight Week

Sunday Prime: Despite facing extraordinary professional sports competition throughout the evening from Fox with an enormous NFL overrun leading into the highly-rated series-clinching game of MLB's American League Championship Series (NY Yankees-LA Angeles) and from NBC with another big Sunday Night Football Game (Arizona-NY Giants), ABC grew its overall Sunday night audience for the 2nd week in a row and also increased its Adult 18-49 audience week to week. ABC beat out its non-sports-driven competition on Sunday, topping CBS by 7% in Total Viewers (10.7 million vs. 10.0 million) and by 50% in Adults 18-49 (3.3/8 vs. 2.2/6). The Network finished #1 on the evening across all key Women demographics (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

7-8pm: ABC's America's Funniest Home Videos defeated its non-sports competition in the 7 o'clock hour in Adults 18-49, leading CBS' 60 Minutes by 10% (2.3/7 vs. 2.1/6). AFV hit season highs with Total Viewers (8.4 million) and by 21% in Adults 18-49 (2.3/7), logging its top numbers on both counts in nearly 8 months � since 3/1/09.

8-9pm: In the 8 o'clock hour against the big baseball and football games, ABC's Home Edition increased its overall audience (10.6 million) for the 2nd week in a row.

9-10pm: Growing its overall viewer count for the 3rd consecutive week, ABC's Desperate Housewives stood as Sunday's #1 TV series in Total Viewers (13.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.6/11)�Sunday's most-watched entertainment program on all 5 weeks this season.

10-11pm: Achieving season highs for the 2nd week in a row with viewers (10.0 million) and young adults (3.3/8), ABC's Brothers & Sisters turned in its strongest performance on both Nielsen measures in over 7 months � since 3/22/09. The ABC drama overshadowed its CBS drama competition in the hour, outdelivering CBS' Cold Case (8.8 million & 1.7/4) by 1.2 million viewers and by 94% in Adults 18-49.

Quick Take for Sunday, October 25, 2009 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

Up on Sunday for the 2nd Consecutive Week, Against Big Sports Competition on Fox and NBC, ABC Beats CBS by 7% in Viewers and by 50% in Adults 18-49

Achieving Season Highs, ABC's "AFV" Posts its Strongest Results Since March

Building its Audience for the 2nd Straight Week, "Desperate Housewives" Stands as Sunday's Most-Watched Entertainment Show for 5 Weeks Running

Hitting Season-Highs for the 2nd Week in a Row, ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" Turns in its Best Performance in Nearly 8 Months in Viewers and Young Adults

Sunday Night (7:00-11:00 p.m.)

Up against extraordinary professional sports competition throughout the evening from Fox with an enormous NFL overrun leading into the highly-rated series-clinching game of MLB's American League Championship Series (NY Yankees-LA Angeles) and from NBC with another big "Sunday Night Football" contest (Arizona-NY Giants), ABC beat out its non-sports-driven competition on Sunday, topping CBS by 7% in Total Viewers (10.7 million vs. 10.0 million) and by 50% in Adults 18-49 (3.3/8 vs. 2.2/6). The Net finished No. 1 on the evening across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

� Despite the competitive network landscape, ABC grew its overall Sunday night audience for the 2nd week in a row and also increased its Adult 18-49 audience week to week.

"America's Funniest Home Videos" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" defeated its non-sports competition in the 7 o'clock hour with Adults 18-49, leading CBS' "60 Minutes" by 10% (2.3/7 vs. 2.1/6).

� "AFV" hit season highs with Total Viewers (8.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.3/7), logging its top numbers in nearly 8 months � since 3/1/09.

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Building on its lead-in against Fox's baseball game and NBC's football game, ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" beat out its unscripted competition in the time period ("Amazing Race") among Adults 18-34 (+10% - 2.2/7 vs. 2.0/6) and Women 18-34 (+26% - 2.9/9 vs. 2.3/7).

� For the 2nd straight week, "Home Edition" increased its Total Viewer count.

"Desperate Housewives" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

ABC's "Desperate Housewives" stood as Sunday's No. 1 TV series in Total Viewers (13.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.6/11), registering as the night's most-watched entertainment program on all 5 weeks this season.

� "Housewives" built its overall audience for 2nd consecutive week.

� "Housewives" is generating an even bigger increase this season than last over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback, picking up an average 1.6 million viewers and an additional 7-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.

"Brothers & Sisters" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" overshadowed its CBS drama competition in the 10 o'clock hour, outdelivering "Cold Case" by 1.2 million viewers (10.0 million vs. 8.8 million) and by 94% in Adults 18-49 (3.3/8 vs. 1.7/4). "Brothers & Sisters" placed No. 1 in the hour for the 5th consecutive week among key Women demos (W18-49/W25-54).

� Achieving season-high numbers for the 2nd week in a row, "Brothers & Sisters" drew its biggest audience and highest Adult 18-49 rating in nearly 8 months � since 3/22/09.

� Like its lead-in, "Brothers & Sisters" is seeing a sizeable uptick this season over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback (also bigger than last season), picking up an average 1.1 million viewers and an additional 4-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.

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), 10/25/09. DVR Playback = 9/21-10/11/09.