ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" Finale Surges to its Best Results in 2 Months

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

· Surging week to week by double-digit percentages in viewers (+26%) and young adults (+25%), ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" generated its strongest performance in 2 months - since 3/6/11.

...more to come.

Quick Take for Sunday, May 8, 2011 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

Opposite Season Finale Programming on CBS, ABC Runs No. 2 on Sunday In Viewers and Young Adults, While Ranking No. 1 Among Key Women

ABC's "AFHV" Runs a Strong No. 2 in the 7pm Hour with Viewers and Young Adults

Growing its Audience Year to Year in the 8pm Hour, ABC's "Home Edition" Defeats NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" in Viewers and Young Adults

Sunday's Most-Watched Scripted Show, ABC's "Desperate Housewives" Builds its Overall Audience Week to Week and Wins its Hour with Viewers and Young Adults

Surging by Double-Digit Percentages Week to Week, the Season Finale of ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" Marks the Series' Strongest Performance in 2 Months

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

Up against CBS with three hours of season finale programming on the night, ABC finished No. 2 on Sunday in Total Viewers (7.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.1/6-tie), while ranking No. 1 with key Women (W18-34/W18-49).

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

Opposite an above average installment of CBS' "60 Minutes" featuring a well-publicized interview with President Obama, ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" earned second place in the 7:00 p.m. hour with viewers (6.4 million) and young adults (1.7/6).

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

Building over its lead-in at 8:00 p.m. against the opening hour of CBS' 2-hour "Amazing Race XVIII" season finale, ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" ran as the 2nd-most-watched TV show overall in its time slot, outdrawing the first hour of NBC's 3-hour "Celebrity Apprentice" by 2.1 million viewers (8.0 million vs. 5.9 million) and by 11% in Adults 18-49 (2.1/6 vs. 1.9/6). The broad-appealing ABC unscripted series was the No. 1 broadcast show in the hour with Kids 2-11.

· "Home Edition" posted year-over-year gains in Total Viewers, rising over the same night last year by 4% (8.0 million vs. 7.7 million).

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

ABC's "Desperate Housewives" moved up to No. 1 in the 9 o'clock hour among Total Viewers (9.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.8/7), beating out the second hours of both CBS' "Amazing Race" (8.8 million and 2.6/6) and NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" (7.1 million and 2.4/6), as well as Fox's original animated comedies ("Family Guy"/"Cleveland Show" = 5.6 million and 2.7/7). In addition, "Housewives" stood as Sunday's most-watched scripted program for the 2nd week running.

· Despite facing stiff competition, "Housewives" grew its overall audience week to week (+3% - 9.7 million vs. 9.4 million).

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

The season finale of ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" tied CBS' season finale of "CSI: Miami" in 10 o'clock hour with Adults 18-49 (2.0/5), and beat out the CBS drama across all key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

· Surging week to week by double-digit percentages in viewers (+26% - 7.2 million vs. 5.7 million) and young adults (+25% - 2.0/5 vs. 1.6/4), ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" generated its strongest performance in 2 months - since 3/6/11.

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 41% currently, from 36% at the same point in 2010. 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), 5/8/11.