or


[01/05/10 - 11:00 AM]
ABC's "Desperate Housewives" Stands as the Week's Most-Watched Scripted Program
ABC spins the numbers for the week of December 28-January 3.

[via press release from ABC]

Primetime Ratings Report For the week of December 28, 2009 (Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)

ABC's "Desperate Housewives" Stands as the Week's Most-Watched Scripted Program and the Top Program Overall Across All Key Women Demographics

ABC News' Tuesday "20/20" Special Wins at 10pm in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54

"Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2010" Wins at 10pm and is New Year's No. 1 Show in Primetime in Viewers and All Adults Demos

"Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2010" Beats The Combined Delivery of CBS and NBC from 10-11pm in Adults 18-49

On Friday, ABC's "Rose Bowl" Draws its Best Numbers in 3 Years, Outperforming Fox's "Sugar Bowl" by 8.5 Million Viewers and by 37% in Adults 18-49

ABC News' "20/20" Ranks as the No. 1 Regular Telecast in its Time Slot with Adults 18-49 for 8th Consecutive Week

ABC Marks its Strongest Sunday with its Regular Lineup Since Fall 2008

"America's Funniest Home Videos" Draws its Biggest Audience in Nearly 3 Years

Returning to Original for the First Time in a Month, ABC's "Housewives" is Sunday's No. 1 Non-Sports TV Show, with its Strongest Results in More Than 1 Year

"Brothers & Sisters" Draws its 2nd Highest Total Viewer and Adult 18-49 Numbers This Season, While Hitting Season-High Deliveries with Key Women

WEEK No. 15:

During the week of December 28, 2009, ABC finished second across all key Adult demographics: Adults 18-34 (1.5/5), Adults 18-49 (2.0/6) and Adults 25-54 (2.4/6 � tied). ABC ranked No. 1 for the week among Women 18-49 (2.2/6 � tied).

Rankings: ABC's "Desperate Housewives" stood as the week's No. 1 scripted program in Total Viewers and in the key Adults 18-49 demographic. The ABC program ranked the No. 1 show of the week overall across all key Women demographics: W18-34/W18-49/W25-54.

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 34% currently, from 29% at the same point in 2009. 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.

Tuesday

"20/20" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

Surging from its lead-in among viewers (+5.3 million) and young adults (+130%), ABC News' "20/20" won Tuesday's 10 o'clock hour among Adults 18-49 (2.3/7) and Adults 25-54 (3.0/8). The special edition of "20/20," featuring "The Blind Side: The Real Story Behind the Movie," drew ABC's largest audience (8.0 million) and its highest ratings in the Adult demos in 5 weeks - since 11/24/09.

� "20/20" stood as Tuesday's No. 2 program among Adults 18-49 (2.3/7) and the No. 1 program overall among Women 18-49 (3.0/8).

� "20/20" saw its audience grow by nearly 1 million viewers (7.6 million to 8.5 million) by 14% in Adults 18-49 (2.1/6 to 2.4/7) and by 14% in Adults 25-54 (2.8/7 to 3.2/8) from its first half-hour to its second half-hour.

� "20/20" improved ABC's performance on the same night a year ago (12/30/08) by 4.2 million viewers, by 92% in Adults 18-49 and by 100% in Adults 25-54 (an original "Eli Stone" - 3.8 million, 1.2/3 in Adults 18-49 and 1.5/4 in Adults 25-54 ).

Thursday

With ABC's New Year's Eve lineup of the "ABC Thursday Movie of the Week: Wild Hogs" and "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2010," the Net stood as the top broadcaster Thursday evening in Total Viewers (7.0 million) and across each of the key Adult demographics: Adults 18-34 (1.5/6), Adults 18-49 (2.1/7) and Adults 25-54 (2.6/8).

"ABC Thursday Movie of the Week: Wild Hogs" (8:00-10:00 p.m.)

ABC was the No. 1 broadcaster from 8:00 � 10:00 p.m. with the Net's telecast of the "ABC Thursday Movie of the Week: Wild Hogs" in both Total Viewers (6.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.7/6), beating CBS by 14% in Total Viewers (5.6 million) and CBS and NBC (tie) by 70% in the key young adult sales demographic (1.0/4).

"Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2010" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC's broadcast of "Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2010" won the final hour of the night and ranked as the No. 1 program in primetime with Total Viewers (8.2 million) and across each of the key Adult demos: Adults 18-34 (2.1/9), Adults 18-49 (2.7/10) and Adults 25-54 (3.2/10). In fact in the final hour of prime, "Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve" beat combined deliveries by CBS and NBC in the key young adult sales demo (2.7/10 vs. 2.6/9).

Friday

"Rose Bowl" (5:00-8:26 p.m.)

As the final portion of the game ran into Friday's opening hour of prime, overall ABC's telecast of the "Rose Bowl" drew 24.0 million viewers and a 7.0 rating, 22 share in Adults 18-49. The "Rose Bowl" surged over the previous year's game by 3.4 million viewers and by 8% in Adults 18-49 (20.4 million & 6.5/20 in Adults 18-49 on 1/1/09), drawing the game's best numbers in 3 years � since 1/1/07.

� ABC's "Rose Bowl" outperformed Fox's primetime telecast of the "Sugar Bowl" by 8.5 million viewers (24.0 vs. 15.5 million) and by 37% in Adults 18-49 (7.0/22 vs. 5.1/14).

"20/20" (10:10-11:10 p.m.)

ABC's "20/20," featuring a replay of "The Blind Side: The Real Story Behind the Movie," stood as the top non-sports telecast in Friday's 10 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (6.2 million), Adults 18-49 (1.7/5) and Adults 25-54 (2.2/5). In fact the ABC newsmagazine ranked as the No. 1 regular program during Friday's 10 o'clock hour for the 8th straight week with Adults 18-49.

Sunday

Despite facing NFL-driven Sunday competition on NBC ("Sunday Night Football"), CBS (primetime overrun) and Fox (primetime overrun), ABC posted its strongest performance on the night this season with its regular schedule in both Total Viewers (11.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.7/9). ABC finished as the second-most-watched network on the evening, topping CBS by 6% (11.1 million) and Fox by 17% (10.1 million).

� The Network posted its best performance with its regular Sunday lineup since September 2008 in Viewers and matched its best performance since November 2008 in Adults 18-49 � since 9/28/08 and 11/30/08, respectively. ABC's Sunday numbers jumped over the year-ago night, also with an all-original lineup, by 13% in Total Viewers and 6% in Adults 18-49 (10.4 million and 3.5/9 on 1/4/09).

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

Opposite NFL competition on each of the other nets (NBC, CBS and Fox) during the 7 o'clock hour, ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" drew its biggest overall audience (10.2 million) in nearly 3 years and tied its top Adult 18-49 number (2.7/7) since February 2009 � since 1/28/07 and 2/8/09, respectively.

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

At 8:00 p.m., ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" produced its best numbers since mid-November in Total Viewers (11.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.3/8) � since 11/15/09.

"Desperate Housewives" (9:00-10:01 p.m.)

TV's No. 1 non-sports program on Sunday in Total Viewers (15.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (5.3/12), ABC's "Desperate Housewives'" returned to original for the first time in 4 weeks. Growing over its most recent original airing (14.9 million and 4.9/11 on 12/6/09), "Housewives" pulled in its biggest audience and highest Adult 18-49 rating in more than 1 year � since 12/7/08.

� "Housewives" registered as the night's most-watched entertainment series for its 11th straight original telecast this season, while standing as Sunday's No. 1 series for 9 consecutive original airings with Adults 18-49.

"Brothers & Sisters" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)

ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" placed a strong second in the 10 o'clock hour to NBC's NFL game in viewers (10.8 million) and young adults (3.5/9), while ranking a dominant No. 1 across each of the key Women demos: W18-34 (3.5/9), W18-49 (5.0/13) and W25-54 (6.1/14).

� In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, "Brothers & Sisters" garnered its 2nd-highest numbers this season. The show hit season-high deliveries with Women 18-49 and Women 25-54.

Source: The Nielsen Company (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 12/28/09, unless stated otherwise.





  [january 2010]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
     


· 20/20 (ABC)
· AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS (ABC)
· BROTHERS & SISTERS (ABC)
· DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
· ELI STONE (ABC)
· EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION (HGTV)
· SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (NBC)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[07/02/26 - 06:09 PM]
ESPN Delivers Most-Watched Wimbledon Day 2 Coverage on Record
Serena Williams' Wimbledon return on Tuesday, June 30, delivered record viewership.

[07/02/26 - 03:18 PM]
FOX Sports' Strong FIFA World Cup 2026 Viewership Continues with 10.43 Million viewers Tuning in for Mexico-Ecuador
The telecast reached a peak viewership of 13.087 million viewers from 10:30-10:45 PM ET.

[07/02/26 - 02:49 PM]
ABC News Is No. 1 in Total Viewers for the Second Quarter on Sunday Morning and Friday Evening
"20/20" ranked as Friday's No. 1 newsmagazine during the 2nd Quarter 2026 in Total Viewers (3.806 million) and Adults 18-49 (473,000).

[07/02/26 - 01:48 PM]
FOX Sports Soars Into the Record Books with Most-Watched Soccer Telecast in English-Language U.S. History
24.429 million viewers watched the USMNT's historic FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 victory Wednesday on FOX.

[07/02/26 - 08:27 AM]
"BET Awards" 2026 Grows Across Every Platform with First-Time Host Druski, Cementing BET as the Epicenter of Black Culture
The telecast was the highest-rated "BET Awards" on BET since 2019 among P18-49, with P18-49 impressions up +50% year-over-year.

[07/01/26 - 03:00 PM]
FOX Scores 10.579 Million Viewers for Netherlands-Morocco FIFA World Cup 2026 Knock Out Thriller - Monday's Most-Watched Telecast on Any Network
Coverage peaked with 12.657 million viewers from 10:45-11:00 PM ET.

[07/01/26 - 01:07 PM]
"Dateline" Is the #1 Friday Newsmagazine in Both Key Demos for the 10th Consecutive Quarter
According to Nielsen Media Research, the true crime original averages 786,000 A25-54 viewers, +31,000 vs. last quarter and +11,000 vs. last year.

[07/01/26 - 12:11 PM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of June 22
"Off Campus," "Every Year After," "Clarkson's Farm," "Spider-Noir," and "The Boys" led all original series worldwide.

[07/01/26 - 11:19 AM]
ABC Delivers Most-Watched Banana Ball Telecast Ever!
The June 28 broadcast averaged 1.2 million viewers across the two-hour showcase.

[06/30/26 - 05:54 PM]
FOX Sports Smashes FIFA World Cup Group Stage Records as U.S. Men's National Team and Global Superstars Shine Bright
Averaging 5,052,000 viewers across 72 matches, the Group Stage on FOX, FS1 and Tubi was up +92% versus 2022 (2,638,000 viewers), for the most-watched FIFA Men's World Cup Group Stage telecast average in English-language U.S. history.

[06/30/26 - 02:17 PM]
NBC Sports Delivers Audience Milestones for Sunday Golf and Baseball Coverage on NBC and Peacock
NBC Sports' first New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game since 1995, a 10-inning, 5-4 victory by the Red Sox, averaged 4.0 million viewers from 8:28-10:35 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.

[06/30/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of June 22 - The Search Continues as "I Will Find You" Holds at No. 1 for a Second Week
The second season of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" launched in the No. 2 spot on the English TV list with 8.7 million views, and the first season reentered the list in the No. 3 spot with 3 million views.

[06/29/26 - 10:00 AM]
USMNT FIFA World Cup 2026 Group Stage Finale Pulls in 17.015 Million Viewers on FOX
Said coverage delivered a peak audience of 19,471,000 viewers from 10:30-10:45 PM ET.

[06/26/26 - 05:35 PM]
Third Leg of FIFA World Cup 2026 Group Stage Kicks Off, FOX Sports Viewership Stays Strong
8.7 million viewers tuned into 9:00 PM ET window featuring Mexico-Czechia on FOX and South Africa-Korea Republic on FS1.

[06/26/26 - 02:44 PM]
USMNT Caps Historic FIFA World Cup 2026 Group Stage with 15.856M Viewers on FOX
Said coverage marked the third most-watched FIFA Men's World Cup Group Stage telecast in English-language U.S. history.