Quick Take for Tuesday, August 10, 2010 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Improves on the Year-Ago Tuesday for the 5th Week in a Row and for the 10th Time in 11 Weeks in Viewers and Young Adults

ABC's "Wipeout" Takes a Solid No. 2 in the 8pm Hour in Viewers and Adults 18-49

ABC's "Shaq VS" is Up Year to Year for the Net at 9pm by 70% in Viewers and 75% in Adults 18-49

Building on its Lead-in, ABC News' Repeat "Primetime: What Would You Do?" is Second at 10pm Against its CBS and NBC Competition Among Adults 18-49

Tuesday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

Posting year-to-year increases on the night for the 5th week running, ABC improved on the year-ago Tuesday (8/11/10) by 26% in Total Viewers (5.3 vs. 4.2 million) and 50% in Adults 18-49 (1.8/6 vs. 1.2/4). In fact the Net has been up year to year on Tuesday evening on 10 of 11 weeks this summer.

"Wipeout-TUES" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

ABC's "Wipeout" finished a solid second in the 8 o'clock hour among viewers (7.9 million) and young adults (2.6/8), while ranking No. 1 in the hour among the broadcast networks with Teens 12-17 (1.8/7) and Kids 2-11 (2.7/10).

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

For the 2nd week in a row, "Shaq VS" delivered substantial year-to-year improvement to its time period, growing by 70% in Total Viewers (3.9 million vs. 2.3 million) and by 75% in Adults 18-49 (1.4/4 vs. 0.8/2) on the year-ago night featuring original programming.

"Primetime: What Would You Do?" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

Building on its lead-in in both viewers and young adults, ABC News' repeat airing of "Primetime: What Would You Do?" took second in the 10 o'clock hour against its CBS and NBC competition among Adults 18-49 (1.5/5).

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 37% currently, from 32% 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.

Source: The Nielsen Company (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings), 8/10/10.