ABC's "The Bachelor" Ranks #1 at 9pm in Adults 18-49/"Castle" Marks Season-Best Repeat Numbers

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

ABC's The Bachelor finished #2 in its 2-hour time period with Adults 18-49, while ranking #1 among Adults 18-34 and all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). Building its numbers from its first to second hour, The Bachelor moved up to #1 in Adults 18-49 from 9-10pm to tie Fox's House-driven Alcatraz for the time-period lead. For the 2nd week running, The Bachelor stood as Monday's #1 TV show across the Women demos.

· In viewers and young adults, The Bachelor scored its 2nd-highest numbers this season.

Marking season-best repeat numbers, ABC's encore Castle more than doubled the audience of NBC's original Rock Center with Brian Williams in the 10 o'clock hour and beat out the NBC news program by 75% in Adults 18-49.

· The replay ABC drama grew its overall audience year to year, rising 8% over its year-ago encore in the hour.

Quick Take for Monday, January 30, 2012 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC's "The Bachelor" Delivers its 2nd-Best Numbers of the Season In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49

"The Bachelor" Leads its Time Period and Ranks as Monday's No. 1 Program in All Key Women Demos

ABC's Repeat "Castle" More Than Doubles NBC's Original "Rock Center" at 10p In Total Viewers and Leads the NBC Newsmag by 75% in Adults 18-49

"The Bachelor" (8:00-10:00 p.m.) ABC's "The Bachelor" finished No. 2 in its 2-hour time period with Adults 18-49 (tie), while ranking No. 1 among Adults 18-34 (2.0/6-tie) and all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). Building its numbers from its first to second hour, "The Bachelor" moved up to No. 1 in Adults 18-49 from 9:00-10:00 p.m. to tie Fox's "House"-driven "Alcatraz" for the time-period lead. For the 2nd week running, "The Bachelor" stood as Monday's No. 1 TV show across the Women demos.

· In viewers and young adults, "The Bachelor" scored its 2nd-highest numbers this season (8.1 million and 2.6/7).

"Castle" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

Marking season-best repeat numbers, ABC's encore "Castle" more than doubled the audience of NBC's original "Rock Center with Brian Williams" (6.7 million vs. 3.3 million) in the 10 o'clock hour and beat out the NBC news program by 75% in Adults 18-49 (1.4/4 vs. 0.8/2).

· The replay ABC drama grew its overall audience year to year, rising 8% over its year-ago encore in the hour (6.2 million on 01/31/11).

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 43% currently, from 39% at the same point in 2011. 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), 1/30/12.