ABC's "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 for the 2nd Week in a Row Across All Target Demos

The ABC Late-Night Program has Taken the Top Spot in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 in all 4 Weeks of the New Season

For the week of October 10, 2011, ABC's "Nightline" ranked No. 1 for the 2nd week in a row across all key target demos: Total Viewers (3.824 million), Adults 25-54 (1.493 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.155 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. The ABC latenight program has taken the top spot in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 in all 4 weeks of the new season.

Season to date for the 2nd straight year, "Nightline" ranks No. 1 in late-night among Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, ahead of both NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "The Late Show" ("Letterman" began on CBS in the 1993-94 season). Season to date, "Nightline" is up by +1% in Total Viewers compared to the same point last year, standing as the only program to grow year to year in Total Viewers versus "The Tonight Show" and "The Late Show."

ABC News' "Nightline" is anchored by Cynthia McFadden, Terry Moran and Bill Weir. John Donvan and Juju Chang are correspondents. Jeanmarie Condon is the Executive Producer. The program airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m., ET on the ABC Television Network.

(Week of October 10, 2011)

TOTAL VIEWERS A25-54(000)/ Rtg A18-49(000)/ Rtg

ABC "Nightline" 3,824,000 1,493,000/ 1.2 1,155,000/ 0.9

CBS "Late Show" 3,201,000 1,329,000/ 1.1 1,020,000/ 0.8

NBC "Tonight Show" 3,676,000 1,391,000/ 1.2 1,114,000/ 0.9

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 10/10/11, 10/3/11 & 10/11/10. Most Current: 2011-2012 Season (9/19 - 10/16/11) and 2010-2011 Season (9/20 - 10/17/10).

ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live Sees its Best Numbers Since Premiere Week

Some early points on Jimmy Kimmel Live's weekly numbers, ahead of the regular press release:

During the week of October 10, 2011, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live drew its biggest overall audience and its highest Adult 18-49 number since premiere week, marking its 2nd-best numbers so far this season. JKL saw increases over the prior week in both Total Viewers (+4%) and young adults (+3%), delivering the largest week-to-week gains in viewers of the late-night broadcast talk shows.

JKL was also up over the same week last year by 5% in Total Viewers and by 3% in Adults 18-49, growing its overall audience the most over the year-ago week of any talk show in late-night (broadcast or cable), while standing as the only late-night talk show to grow year to year in the key young adult demo.

· During the week, ABC's JKL stood as the #3 late-night talk show in Total Viewers, behind only NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and CBS' Late Show with David Letterman.

· ABC's JKL (M-F 12am) attracted a larger overall audience than NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (M-F 12:35am) for the 2nd time in the 4 weeks of the new season (+8%), outdrawing the NBC late-night program in viewers by impressive double-digit margins in 3 of JKL's 4 original telecasts of the week: Monday (+36%), Tuesday (+32%) and Wednesday (+11%).

· ABC's JKL outperformed CBS' The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (M-F 12:35am) by solid double-digit percentages in both Total Viewers (a season-best +24%) and Adults 18-49 (+26%), representing the ABC late-night program's 4th consecutive win over the CBS program in both viewers and young adults. For the 2nd time this season, JKL topped Ferguson in all 5 days of the week on both Nielsen measures. In fact, JKL's repeat telecast on Friday topped Ferguson's original telecast in Total Viewers (+20%) and Adults 18-49 (+32%).

Fringe Ratings Report: ABC Late-Night Programming Week of October 10, 2011

With a Best-Since-Premiere-Week Performance, ABC is the Week's No. 1 Network in Late-Night in Both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49

ABC's "Nightline" Takes the Top Spot in Late-Night in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 in all 4 Weeks of the New Season

With its Best Numbers Since Premiere Week, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Turns in its 2nd-Best Performance of the Season

"JKL" Stands as the Week's No. 3 Talk Show in Late-Night in Viewers, behind only NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "The Late Show"

ABC Late-Night (Monday - Friday)

During the week of October 10, 2011, ABC attracted its biggest overall audience (2.313 million) and turned in its best Adult 18-49 performance (806,000) in late-night since premiere week (w/o 9/19/11), representing its 2nd-best numbers of the new season. ABC was up the most week to week in Total Viewers (+2%), as NBC was up 1% and CBS was down 2%.

· For the 2nd time in the 4 weeks of the new season, ABC stood as the No. 1 network in late-night in Total Viewers (2.313 million), edging out CBS by 1% (2.280 million) and outdrawing NBC by 4% (2.231 million).

· ABC also finished No. 1 in late-night in Adults 18-49 (806,000) for the second time in 4 weeks, leading CBS by 4% (773,000) and NBC by 3% (784,000).

"Nightline" (Monday - Friday)

For the week of October 10, 2011, ABC's "Nightline" ranked No. 1 for the 2nd week in a row across all key target demos: Total Viewers (3.824 million), Adults 25-54 (1.493 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.155 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. The ABC late-night program has taken the top spot in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 in all 4 weeks of the new season.

Season to date for the 2nd straight year, "Nightline" ranks No. 1 in late-night among Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, ahead of both NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "The Late Show" ("Letterman" began on CBS in the 1993-94 season). Season to date, "Nightline" is up by 1% in Total Viewers compared to the same point last year, standing as the only program to grow year to year in Total Viewers versus "The Tonight Show" and "The Late Show."

"Jimmy Kimmel Live" (Monday - Friday)

During the week of October 10, 2011, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" drew its biggest overall audience (1.746 million) and its highest Adult 18-49 number (676,000) since premiere week (w/o 9/19/11), marking its 2nd-best performance so far this season. "JKL" saw increases over the prior week (1.676 million and 659,000 on w/o 10/3/11) in both Total Viewers (+4%) and young adults (+3%), delivering the largest week-to-week gains in viewers of the late-night broadcast talk shows.

"JKL" was also up over the same week last year (1.668 million and 657,000 on w/o 10/11/10) by 5% in Total Viewers and by 3% in Adults 18-49, increasing its overall audience year over year for the 4th week in a row. In fact, "JKL" grew its Total Viewer count the most year to year of any talk show in late-night (broadcast or cable), while standing as the only late-night talk show to grow over the year-ago week in the key young adult demo.

· During the week, ABC's "JKL" stood as the No. 3 late-night talk show in Total Viewers (1.746 million), behind only NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (3.676 million) and CBS' "The Late Show with David Letterman" (3.201 million).

· ABC's "JKL" (M-F 12:00 a.m.) attracted a larger overall audience than NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (M-F 12:35 a.m.) for the 2nd time in the 4 weeks of the new season (+8% - 1.746 million vs. 1.614 million). "JKL" outdrew "Fallon" in viewers by impressive double-digit margins in 3 of "JKL's" 4 original telecasts of the week: Monday (+36% - 1.720 million vs. 1.269 million), Tuesday (+32% - 1.996 million vs. 1.512 million) and Wednesday (+11% - 1.783 million vs. 1.611 million).

· ABC's "JKL" outperformed CBS' "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (M-F 12:35 a.m.) by solid double-digit percentages in both Total Viewers (a season-best +24% - 1.746 million vs. 1.404 million) and Adults 18-49 (+26% - 676,000 vs. 538,000), representing the ABC late-night program's 4th consecutive win over the CBS program in both viewers and young adults. For the 2nd time this season, "JKL" topped "Ferguson" in all 5 days of the week on both Nielsen measures. In fact, "JKL's" repeat telecast on Friday topped "Ferguson's" original telecast in Total Viewers (+20% - 1.583 million vs. 1.323 million) and Adults 18-49 (+32% - 550,000 vs. 416,000).

Late-Night Rank (Week of Oct 10): TOTAL VIEWERS A18-49(000)

ABC 2,313,000 806,000

CBS 2,280,000 773,000

NBC 2,231,000 784,000

Source: The Nielsen Company, Live + Same Day National Program Ratings for week of 10/10/11, 10/3/11 & 10/11/10 or as dated. Most Current: 2011-2012 Season (9/19 - 10/16/11) and 2010-2011 Season (9/20 - 10/17/10). Comparisons based on 000s. ABC Late-Night = "Nightline" and "JKL"; CBS Late-Night = "Letterman" and "Ferguson"; NBC Late-Night = "Tonight Show," "Fallon" and "Carson Daly."