ABC's "Wipeout" Marks its Most-Watched Telecast in 6 Weeks

Some early info on ABC's Thursday, ahead of the regular press release.

With a mix of repeat and original series, up against nearly all original programming on the other networks, ABC finished #2 on Thursday night in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

· ABC was up over the year-ago Thursday in both viewers and young adults.

Please Note: With the St. Patrick's Day holiday and the change to Daylight Savings time, overall Adult 18-49 TV usage was down -7% from the prior Thursday (31.9 vs. 34.4). Despite the decline in overall TV usage, ABC was up week to week in viewers and young adults, posting its best Thursday since February - since 2/24/11.

From 8-9pm, ABC's Spring Wipeout took second place to Fox's American Idol among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, beating CBS NCAA Basketball coverage by 18% and NBC's original comedies (Community/Perfect Couples) by 33% in the key young adult sales demo.

· Wipeout generated the series' most-watched telecast in 6 weeks and hit a 2-month high with Teens 12-17 - since 2/3/11 and 1/20/11.

· ABC's Spring Wipeout improved the hour year to year in Total Viewers (+9%), Adults 18-49 (+5%) and Men 18-49 (+27%), over an original episode of FlashForward on the same night last year.

A special 9pm airing of Private Practice took second place in its time period to Fox's Idol-driven Bones in viewers and young adults, beating NCAA Basketball on CBS and comedies on NBC (The Office/Parks and Recreation).

During the 10 o'clock hour, a special repeat broadcast of ABC's Off the Map drew a larger overall audience than NBC's original comedies (30 Rock/Outsourced).

· The Off the Map replay delivered ABC's largest audience in the hour in 3 weeks.