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[05/22/12 - 02:54 PM]
ABC Ranks No. 2 to Fox in the 2012 May Sweep in Adults 18-49
ABC spins the numbers for the May sweeps period and the season to date.

[via press release from ABC]

ABC Ranks No. 2 to Fox in the 2012 May Sweep in Adults 18-49, Claiming 3 of the Top 10 Shows, with the No. 1 Comedy, the No. 1 Drama and the No. 1 New Show

ABC is the Only Net Up this Season in the Monday-Friday 10pm Hour in Adults 25-54

The Net Marks Big Year-Over-Year Gains with Key Returning Series and New Series

ABC Delivers 8 of the Season's Top 25 Series with High-Income Young Adults

ABC is Home to the Top 2 TV Shows on the Major Nets for "Family Coviewing"

2012 May Sweep (4/26-5/21/12 - 26 of 28 nights)

ABC is on track to finish No. 2 during the 2012 May Sweep among Adults 18-49 to an "Idol"-fueled Fox. It is the 3rd straight year and the 5th time in 6 years for ABC to post the No. 2 position in May in the key young adult sales demo. Dominating NBC on all 4 weeks during the sweep, and in fact leading on each of the last 10 weeks of the season, ABC currently leads NBC during May by a margin of 22% (2.2/7 vs. 1.8/5). In addition, the Network is poised to rank No. 1 for the month with Women 18-49.

· Highest-Rated Series in May: ABC aired 3 of the Top 10 TV series during May 2012 with Adults 18-49, including the No. 1 scripted show/comedy ("Modern Family"), the No. 1 drama ("Grey's Anatomy") and the No. 1 freshman series ("Once Upon a Time"). In addition, ABC's "Modern Family" qualified as May's No. 1 TV show with Adults 18-34, while "Modern" and "Grey's" registered as the sweep's Top 2 shows with Women 18-34, respectively. ABC's "DWTS" was the 3rd-most-watched show overall for the month, behind only "NCIS" and "Idol-Wed," respectively.

2010-11 TV Season (9/19/11-5/20/12 - 35 Complete Weeks)

· ABC is the Only Net Up in the 10pm Hour: On Monday-Friday from 10:00-11:00 p.m. as a lead-in to affiliates' late-local news, ABC is delivering solid year-to-year improvement in Total Viewers (+6%) and Adults 25-54 (+7%). In fact, ABC is up the most in Total Viewers and is the only net up in the key Adult 25-54 news demographic.

· ABC's Scores Strong Gains Over Last Season with Returning and New Shows: ABC claims some of TV's fastest-growing returning series this season in Adults 18-49: "The Middle" (+4% - best-ever season), "Modern Family" (+17% - best-ever season), "Happy Endings" (+43% over Season 1), "Private Practice" (+7%) and "Shark Tank" (+29% - best-ever season). And some of the Net's key new programs are substantially improving their time slots: "Last Man Standing" (+37%), "Suburgatory" (+25%), "Revenge" (+45%), "Scandal" (+14%), "Once Upon a Time" (+71%).

· ABC Claims Some of the Season's Highest-Rated TV Series: ABC claims the season's No. 1 scripted series/comedy ("Modern Family"), the No. 1 drama ("Grey's") and the No. 1 freshman drama ("Once Upon a Time" - TV's top rated new drama series in 4 years). In fact, it is the 2nd straight season for "Modern Family" to stand as TV's highest rated scripted show, as ABC has delivered TV's No. 1 scripted series in 6 of the last 8 television seasons. Led by "Once Upon a Time," the Net claims 10 of the Top 20 new series this season in Adults 18-49, the most for any network.

· ABC's Wednesday Night Comedy Block Grows for the 2nd Year in a Row: For the 2nd year in a row, ABC's Wednesday 8:00-10:00 p.m. comedy block is growing year over year with Total Viewers (+2%) and Adults 18-49 (+6%). In fact on average, the Net marked its most-watched and highest-rated Wednesday night in 5 seasons - since 2006-07.

· ABC is a Strong Draw with Upscale Young Adults: Among Adults 18-49 in homes with $100K+ Annual Income in the non-sports numbers, ABC ranks No. 2 this season, just behind Fox, while beating CBS (+4%) and NBC (+23%). ABC claims 8 of the Top 25 TV series this season among high-income young adults (the most for any network), including the No. 1 entertainment series overall with "Modern Family."

· ABC is Home to the Top Broadcast Series for "Family Coviewing": ABC is home to 7 of the Top 15 programs on the major networks this season in "Family Coviewing." "Wipeout" and "America's Funniest Home Videos" are the Top 2 shows overall, "Once Upon a Time" (the most coviewed drama in the last decade) is the No. 1 drama and "The Middle" is the No. 1 live-action comedy.

· ABC Series Rank Among the Most Popularly Recorded and Played Back: ABC series are once again among the most popularly recorded and played back TV shows, as "Modern Family" is picking up a record-setting 2.5 Adult 18-49 rating points from the L+SD to the L+7 numbers. With a significant rise in DVR penetration year to year (41% to 44%), a total of 8 of ABC's series add 2.0 million viewers or more on average from their initially reported totals via time-shifted viewing. In fact, "Modern" is TV's biggest overall gainer, picking up 4.8 million viewers via playback after its initial day of air.

Source: The Nielsen Company. 2012 May Sweep = National Most Current Program Ratings (4/28-5/25/11), unless stated otherwise. TV Season = National Most Current Program Ratings (9/19/11-5/20/12). Upscale data based on regular non-sports programming (9/19/11-5/13/12). Coviewing data based on all programming (9/19/11-5/13/12). DVR Playback based on regular original telecasts only (9/19/11-5/6/12).





  [may 2012]  
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M
T
W
T
F
S
  


· AMERICAN IDOL (ABC)
· AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS (ABC)
· DANCING WITH THE STARS (ABC)
· GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC)
· HAPPY ENDINGS (ABC)
· LAST MAN STANDING (FOX)
· MIDDLE, THE (ABC)
· MODERN FAMILY (ABC)
· NCIS (CBS)
· ONCE UPON A TIME (ABC)
· PRIVATE PRACTICE (ABC)
· REVENGE (ABC)
· SCANDAL (ABC)
· SHARK TANK (ABC)
· SUBURGATORY (ABC)
· WIPEOUT (TBS)





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