ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Delivers its 2nd-Most-Watched Season in 10 Years

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

During the week of May 21, 2012, which included the final 3 nights of the season leading into the Memorial Day weekend, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live jumped over the prior week by 14% in Total Viewers to draw its 3rd-largest audience of the season. In addition, JKL grew its overall audience over the year-ago week by 4%, marking the ABC program's 7th time in the last 8 weeks to build year over year in Total Viewers. Together with Nightline, Jimmy Kimmel Live is part of ABC's winning late-night strategy of airing news and entertainment programming.

· ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live ranked as the #3 talk show in late-night in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 during the week, behind only NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and CBS' The Late Show with David Letterman.

· ABC's JKL (M-F 12am) outdelivered NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (M-F 12:35am) by 16% in Total Viewers and by 6% in Adults 18-49, marking JKL's 9th straight win over the NBC late-night program in both viewers and young adults. JKL topped Fallon on 4 of the 5 days of the week on both Nielsen measures, as a repeat telecast of JKL on Friday outperformed an original telecast of Fallon in both viewers (+10%) and young adults (+4%).

· ABC's JKL outperformed CBS' The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (M-F 12:35am) by its second-best margin this season in Total Viewers (+55%), drawing a larger audience than the CBS program in 35 of the 36 weeks this season. JKL also beat Ferguson by an impressive 31% in Adults 18-49, marking the ABC program's 11th consecutive victory over the CBS late-night program. JKL led Ferguson on all 5 days of the week in both viewers and young adults.

· JKL's Tuesday airing (5/22/12), which featured The Middle's Patricia Heaton, Dancing with the Stars champions Donald Driver and Peta Murgatroyd, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Lisa Marie Presley, drew the ABC late-night program's largest audience in 6 months - since 11/22/11. In fact, the Tuesday telecast stands as JKL's 2nd-most-watched telecast this season.

During the recently completed 2012 May Sweep, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live grew over the year-ago sweep to attract its biggest-ever audience for a May sweep. The ABC late-night program saw growth over the 2012 February Sweep of 10% in Total Viewers and 2% in Adults 18-49 to stand as the only late-night broadcast talk show to post gains.

· ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live ranked as the #3 talk show in late-night in Total Viewers during the 2012 May Sweep, behind only NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and CBS' The Late Show with David Letterman.

· ABC's JKL topped NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon by 11% in Total Viewers and by 2% in Adults 18-49, leading the NBC program in 2 of the 3 sweep periods of the season (May 2012 and November 2011). JKL also drew a larger overall audience than Fallon for the 3rd consecutive May Sweep - since 2009.

· ABC's JKL beat CBS' The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson by its largest margin ever during a sweep period in both Total Viewers (+28%) and Adults 18-49 (+29%) to outperform the CBS late-night program in all 3 sweeps of the season.

For the complete 2011-12 Broadcast TV Season, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live grew its overall audience over the prior season by 3% in Total Viewers to generate its most-watched season in 5 years - since the 2006-07 season. In fact, JKL grew for the 2nd consecutive year to deliver its 2nd-most-watched season in its 10-year history (behind only the 2006-07 season).

· JKL was the only late-night broadcast talk show to grow year over year in Total Viewers (+3%), as NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (-4%) and Last Call with Carson Daly (-3%) and CBS' The Late Show with David Letterman (-10%) and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (-13%) were all down [NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon was flat].

· ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live was the No. 3 broadcast talk show in late-night of the season in Total Viewers, outdrawing both NBC's Fallon and CBS' Ferguson.

Ratings report for ABC News' Nightline For week of May 21 and May Sweep 2012

ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 during May; Delivers First-Ever Back-to-Back May Sweep Victories in All Key Demos

May 2012 Marks 3rd Straight Sweeps for "Nightline" to Lead in Adults 25-54

ABC's "Nightline" Wins the Week of May 21, Ranking No. 1 in Latenight for 9 Consecutive Weeks in All Target Demos

May 2012 Sweep

ABC News' "Nightline" ranked No. 1 for the 2012 May Sweep in all key demos: Total Viewers (3.882 million), Adults 25-54 (1.501 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.176 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. Leading the May sweep for the 2nd year in a row, "Nightline" scored its first-ever back-to-back May sweep victories, beating both NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "The Late Show."

May 2012 marked the 3rd straight sweeps period for "Nightline" to take the top spot in the key adult news demo. Further, it was the ABC program's 6th time in the last 7 sweeps to finish No. 1 in Adults 25-54.

"Nightline" aired the top broadcast in latenight during the May 2012 sweep in Total Viewers (5.211 million - 5/22/12), Adults 25-54 (1.782 million - 5/22/12) and Adults 18-49 (1.426 million - 5/10/12).

"Nightline" outperformed NBC's "The Tonight Show" in May 2012 by +123,000 Adults 25-54 and by+125,000 Adults 18-49, beating the NBC program by its largest May sweep margins in both key adult demos in 17 years - since May 1995.

"Nightline" beat CBS' "The Late Show" during the month by +248,000 Adults 25-54 and by +229,000 in Adults 18-49, turning in its largest May sweep margins in 12 years in Adults 25-54 and in 13 years in Adults 18-49 - since May 2000 and May 1999, respectively.

Week of May 21, 2012

ABC's "Nightline" won the week of May 21, 2012, increasing its tally as the No. 1 program in latenight to 9 consecutive weeks in all target demos: Total Viewers (3.969 million), Adults 25-54 (1.489 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.145 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. "Nightline" has stood as latenight's top program of the week in all 3 measures in 12 of the last 13 weeks.

Furthermore, "Nightline" has taken the No. 1 position in 25 weeks in Total Viewers, 29 weeks in Adults 25-54 and 28 weeks in Adults 18-49 of the 36 weeks of the season to date. Together with "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "Nightline" is part of ABC's winning late-night strategy of airing news and entertainment programming.

"Nightline" increased over the previous week in Total Viewers (+7%) and Adults 25-54 (+3%), drawing its largest overall audience in 6 weeks - best since w/o 4/9/12.

On Tuesday (5/22/12), "Nightline" turned in its strongest telecast in Total Viewers (5.211 million) in 6 months (since 11/22/11) and 2nd-most-watched telecast overall this season. In fact, it was latenight's top broadcast overall in Total Viewers since the "Nightline" airing in November, beating every telecast of "The Tonight Show" and "The Late Show."

Season to date, "Nightline" ranks No. 1 in latenight among Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, ahead of both NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "The Late Show." This marks the 2nd straight season that the ABC program is taking the top spot in all 3 Nielsen measures.

ABC News' "Nightline" is anchored by Cynthia McFadden, Terry Moran and Bill Weir. Juju Chang is a correspondent. Jeanmarie Condon is the Executive Producer. The program airs weeknights from 11:35 p.m., ET to 12:00 a.m. on the ABC Television Network. Together with "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "Nightline" is part of ABC's winning late-night strategy of airing news and entertainment programming

(May 2012 Sweep)

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

ABC "Nightline" 3,882,000 1,501,000/ 1.2 1,176,000/ 0.9

CBS "Late Show" 3,104,000 1,253,000/ 1.0 947,000/ 0.7

NBC "Tonight Show" 3,595,000 1,378,000/ 1.1 1,051,000/ 0.8

(Week of May 21, 2012)

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

ABC "Nightline" 3,969,000 1,489,000/ 1.2 1,145,000/ 0.9

CBS "Late Show" 2,754,000 1,116,000/ 0.9 889,000/ 0.7

NBC "Tonight Show" 3,591,000 1,401,000/ 1.2 1,047,000/ 0.8

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 5/21/12, 5/14/12 & 5/23/11. Most Current: 2011-2012 Season (9/19/11 - 5/27/12) and 2010-2011 Season (9/20/10 - 5/29/11). May 2012 Sweep: 4/26 - 5/23/2012. May 2011 Sweep: 4/28 - 5/25/2011. Sweep periods (November, February, May and July).

Fringe Ratings Report: ABC Late-Night Programming Week of May 21, 2012 / May 2012 Sweep / 2011-12 Broadcast TV Season

ABC Scores its 3rd-Best Performance of the Season in Late-Night in Total Viewers

ABC Wins the May 2012 Sweep in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49

ABC's "Nightline" Wins the Week, Ranking No. 1 in Late-Night for 9 Consecutive Weeks in All Target Demos

ABC's "Nightline" Earns First-Ever Back-to-Back May Sweep Victories in Key Demos

ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Draws its 3rd-Biggest Weekly Audience of the Season

"JKL" Delivers its Most-Watched May Sweep Ever

"JKL" Scores its 2nd-Most-Watched Season in its 10-Year History

ABC Late-Night (Monday - Friday)

During the week of May 21, 2012, which included the final 3 nights of the season leading into the Memorial Day weekend, ABC jumped over the prior week by 11% in Total Viewers (2.534 million vs. 2.279 million) to turn in its 3rd-most-watched week in late-night this season. In fact, ABC was up the most week to week among the 3 major broadcasters, as NBC was up 4% and CBS was down -16%. Together "Nightline" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" form ABC's winning late-night strategy of airing news and entertainment programming.

· ABC qualified as the most-watched network in late-night (2.534 million), topping CBS by 27% (2.001 million) and NBC by 5% (2.253 million). In fact, ABC has stood as the No. 1 network in Total Viewers in 17 of the 36 weeks this season to claim the most number of wins in late-night.

· ABC also ranked as the No. 1 network in late-night in Adults 18-49 (813,000) for the 7th week running, beating CBS by 16% (701,000) and NBC by 10% (739,000). Further, ABC has defeated NBC among young adults for 11 straight weeks.

ABC was the No. 1 network in late-night during the 2012 May Sweep in both Total Viewers (2.434 million) and Adults 18-49 (829,000). ABC held its largest advantages ever over CBS (2.298 million and 746,000), leading by 6% in viewers and by 11% in young adults. ABC also outperformed NBC (2.252 million and 758,000) by 8% in Total Viewers and by 9% in Adults 18-49 to lead in 2 of the 3 sweep periods of the season (May 2012 and November 2011).

· ABC was up over the 2012 February Sweep by 6% in Total Viewers (2.434 million vs. 2.304 million) and by 2% in Adults 18-49 (829,000 vs. 811,000), registering as the only broadcaster in late-night to deliver sweep-to-sweep gains (CBS was down -9%/-18%; NBC was down -8%/-10%).

"Nightline" (Monday - Friday)

ABC's "Nightline" won the week of May 21, 2012, increasing its tally as the No. 1 program in late-night to 9 consecutive weeks in all target demos -- Total Viewers (3.969 million), Adults 25-54 (1.489 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.145 million) -- according to Nielsen Media Research. "Nightline" has stood as late-night's top program of the week in all 3 measures in 12 of the last 13 weeks.

Furthermore, "Nightline" has taken the No. 1 position in 25 weeks in Total Viewers, 29 weeks in Adults 25-54 and 28 weeks in Adults 18-49 of the 36 weeks of the season to date.

"Nightline" increased over the previous week in Total Viewers (+7%) and Adults 25-54 (+3%), drawing its largest overall audience in 6 weeks - best since w/o 4/9/12.

On Tuesday (5/22/12), "Nightline" turned in its strongest telecast in Total Viewers (5.211 million) in 6 months (since 11/22/11) and 2nd-most-watched telecast overall this season. In fact, it was late-night's top broadcast overall in Total Viewers since the "Nightline" airing in November, beating every telecast of "The Tonight Show" and "The Late Show."

ABC's "Nightline" ranked No. 1 for the 2012 May Sweep in all key demos -- Total Viewers (3.882 million), Adults 25-54 (1.501 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.176 million) -- according to Nielsen Media Research. Leading the May sweep for the 2nd year in a row, "Nightline" scored its first-ever back-to-back May sweep victories, beating both NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "The Late Show."

May 2012 marked the 3rd straight sweeps period for "Nightline" to take the top spot in the key adult news demo. Further, it was the ABC program's 6th time in the last 7 sweeps to finish No. 1 in Adults 25-54.

"Nightline" aired the top broadcast in late-night during the May 2012 sweep in Total Viewers (5.211 million - 5/22/12), Adults 25-54 (1.782 million - 5/22/12) and Adults 18-49 (1.426 million - 5/10/12).

· "Nightline" outperformed NBC's "The Tonight Show" in May 2012 by +123,000 Adults 25-54 and by+125,000 Adults 18-49, beating the NBC program by its largest May sweep margins in both key adult demos in 17 years - since May 1995.

· "Nightline" beat CBS' "The Late Show" during the month by +248,000 Adults 25-54 and by +229,000 in Adults 18-49, turning in its largest May sweep margins in 12 years in Adults 25-54 and in 13 years in Adults 18-49 - since May 2000 and May 1999, respectively.

Season to date, "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." This marks the 2nd straight season that the ABC program is taking the top spot in all 3 Nielsen measures.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live" (Monday - Friday)

During the week of May 21, 2012, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" surged over the prior week by 14% in Total Viewers (1.999 million vs. 1.751 million) to draw its 3rd-largest audience of the season. In addition, "JKL" grew its overall audience over the year-ago week by 4% (1.921 million on week of 5/23/11), marking the ABC program's 7th time in the last 8 weeks to build year over year in Total Viewers.

· ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" ranked as the No. 3 talk show in late-night in both Total Viewers (1.999 million) and Adults 18-49 (689,000) during the week, behind only NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (3.591 million and 1.047 million) and CBS' "The Late Show with David Letterman" (2.754 million and 889,000).

· ABC's "JKL" (M-F 12:00 a.m.) outdelivered NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (M-F 12:35 a.m.) by 16% in Total Viewers (1.999 million vs. 1.718 million) and by 6% in Adults 18-49 (689,000 vs. 648,000), marking "JKL's" 9th straight win over the NBC late-night program in both viewers and young adults. "JKL" topped "Fallon" on 4 of the 5 days of the week on both Nielsen measures, including a repeat telecast of "JKL" on Friday outperforming an original telecast of "Fallon" in both viewers (+10% - 1.861 million vs. 1.696 million) and young adults (+4% - 633,000 vs. 608,000).

· ABC's "JKL" bettered CBS' "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (M-F 12:35 a.m.) by its second-best margin this season in Total Viewers (+55% - 1.999 million vs. 1.291 million), drawing a larger audience than the CBS program in 35 of the 36 weeks this season. "JKL" also beat "Ferguson" by an impressive 31% in Adults 18-49 (689,000 vs. 524,000), marking the ABC program's 11th consecutive victory over the CBS late-night program. "JKL" led "Ferguson" on all 5 days of the week in both viewers and young adults.

· On Tuesday (5/22/12), featuring "The Middle's" Patricia Heaton, "Dancing with the Stars" champions Donald Driver and Peta Murgatroyd, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Lisa Marie Presley, "JKL" drew its largest audience in 6 months (2.476 million) - since 11/22/11. In fact, the Tuesday telecast stands as "JKL's" 2nd-most-watched telecast this season.

During the recently completed 2012 May Sweep, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" grew over the year-ago sweep to attract its biggest-ever audience for a May sweep (1.902 million). The ABC late-night program saw growth over the 2012 February Sweep of 10% in Total Viewers (1.902 million vs. 1.728 million) and 2% in Adults 18-49 (702,000 vs. 685,000) to stand as the only late-night broadcast talk show to post gains.

· ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" ranked as the No. 3 talk show in late-night in Total Viewers (1.902 million) during the sweep, behind only NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (3.595 million) and CBS' "The Late Show with David Letterman" (3.104 million).

· ABC's "JKL" topped NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" by 11% in Total Viewers (1.902 million vs. 1.716 million) and by 2% in Adults 18-49 (702,000 vs. 689,000), leading the NBC program in 2 of the 3 sweep periods of the season (May 2012 and November 2011). "JKL" also drew a larger overall audience than "Fallon" for the 3rd consecutive May Sweep - since 2009.

· ABC's "JKL" beat CBS' "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" by its largest margin ever during a sweep period in both Total Viewers (+28% - 1.902 million vs. 1.487 million) and Adults 18-49 (+29% - 702,000 vs. 543,000) to outperform the CBS late-night program in all 3 sweeps of the season.

For the complete 2011-12 Broadcast TV Season, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" grew its overall audience over the prior season by 3% in Total Viewers (1.793 million vs. 1.745 million) to generate its most-watched season in 5 years - since the 2006-07 season. In fact, "JKL" grew for the 2nd consecutive year to deliver its 2nd-most-watched season in its 10-year history (behind only the 2006-07 season).

· "JKL" was the only late-night broadcast talk show to grow year over year in Total Viewers (+3%), as NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (-4%) and "Last Call with Carson Daly" (-3%) and CBS' "The Late Show with David Letterman" (-10%) and "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (-13%) were all down [NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" was flat].

· ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" was the No. 3 broadcast talk show in late-night of the season in Total Viewers (1.793 million), outdrawing both NBC's "Fallon" (1.765 million) and CBS' "Ferguson" (1.531 million).

Late-Night Rank (Week of May 21): TOTAL VIEWERS A18-49(000)

ABC 2,534,000 813,000

CBS 2,001,000 701,000

NBC 2,253,000 739,000

Late-Night Rank (2012 May Sweep): TOTAL VIEWERS A18-49(000)

ABC 2,434,000 829,000

CBS 2,298,000 746,000

NBC 2,252,000 758,000

Source: The Nielsen Company, Live + Same Day National Program Ratings for week of 5/21/12, 5/14/12 & 5/23/11 or as dated. Most Current: 2011-12 Season (9/19 - 5/23/12) and 2012 May Sweep (4/26/12-5/23/12). Live + 7 Days: 2010-11 Season (9/20 - 5/25/11), 2012 February Sweep (2/2/12-2/29/12) and 2011 May Sweep (4/28/11-5/25/11). 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."