ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Opens Premiere Week with its Best Numbers in Over 3 Months

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

Fresh off Jimmy Kimmel's stint as host of the 2012 Emmy Awards, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live kicked off premiere week of the 2012-13 season (week of September 24, 2012) with its strongest performance in more than 3 months with both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 - since the weeks of 6//11/12 and 6/18/12, respectively. Marking its 4th consecutive week of gains, JKL grew over the prior week by 6% in Total Viewers and by 2% in Adults 18-49.

· ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live ranked as the #3 talk show in late-night in Total Viewers during the opening week of the 2012-13 season, behind only NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and CBS' The Late Show with David Letterman.

· For the 2nd year in a row, ABC's JKL (M-F 12am) beat NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (M-F 12:35am) during week 1 of the season in both Total Viewers (+16%) and Adults 18-49 (+6%). JKL outperformed the NBC late-night program on all 5 days of the week in Viewers and in 4 of 5 days among young adults, including JKL's repeat telecast dominating an original telecast of Fallon on Friday.

· ABC's JKL outdelivered CBS' The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (M-F 12:35am) by its largest margins ever during the opening week of a season, leading the CBS late-night program by 28% in Total Viewers and by 29% in Adults 18-49. JKL towered over Ferguson by double-digit percentages on all 5 days of the week in both Nielsen measures.

Fringe Ratings Report: ABC Late-Night Programming Week of September 24, 2012

With its Best Performance in Over 3 Months, ABC Kicks Off Premiere Week As the No. 1 Network in Late-Night in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49

ABC's "Nightline" Ranks as the No. 1 Program in Late-Night During Premiere Week

ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Opens Premiere Week with its Top Numbers Since June

ABC Late-Night (Monday - Friday)

During the week of September 24, 2012, premiere week of the 2012-13 season, ABC was up for the 3rd week in a row in Total Viewers (+5% - 2.290 million vs. 2.174 million) and for the 4th straight week in Adults 18-49 (+4% - 735,000 vs. 704,000) to deliver its best performance in late-night since June - since the weeks of 6/11/12 and 6/18/12, respectively. Together, "Nightline" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" form ABC's winning late-night strategy of airing news and entertainment programming.

ABC grew its Total Viewer count over the premiere week of the 2011-12 season (+1%), standing as the only broadcaster in late-night to build its overall audience (CBS was down -6%, NBC declined -8%).

· For the 2nd consecutive year, ABC (2.290 million) was the most-watched network in late-night during the opening week of a season, increasing its leads over CBS to 5% (2.178 million) and over NBC to 12% (2.052 million), from 3% and 6%, respectively, versus the year-ago premiere week.

· ABC opened the new season as the No. 1 network in late-night in Adults 18-49 (735,000), holding double-digit advantages over both CBS (+10% - 670,000) and NBC (+11% - 661,000) for the 2nd year in a row.

"Nightline" (Monday - Friday)

For the week of September 24, 2012, ABC's "Nightline" opened the 2012-13 season as the No. 1 program in late-night in all key target demos: Total Viewers (3.606 million), Adults 25-54 (1.353 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.026 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. It was the 2nd consecutive year for "Nightline" to rank No. 1 during premiere week in all 3 measures.

For the 3rd week in a row, "Nightline" improved on the previous week in Total Viewers (+2%), Adults 25-54 (+2%) and Adults 18-49 (+7%), delivering its strongest numbers since July - since w/o 7/16/12.

"Nightline" aired the No. 1 telecast in late-night during premiere week in Total Viewers (3.765 million - 9/25/12), Adults 25-54 (1.489 million - 9/27/12) and Adults 18-49 (1.156 million - 9/27/12).

"Jimmy Kimmel Live" (Monday - Friday)

Fresh off Jimmy Kimmel's stint as host of "The 64th Primetime Emmy Awards," ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" kicked off premiere week of the 2012-13 season (week of September 24, 2012) with its strongest performance in more than 3 months in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 - since w/o 6/11/12 and 6/18/12, respectively. Marking its 4th consecutive week of gains, "JKL" grew over the prior week by 6% in Total Viewers (1.789 million vs. 1.690 million) and by 2% in Adults 18-49 (625,000 vs. 612,000).

· ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" ranked as the No. 3 talk show in late-night in Total Viewers (1.789 million) during the opening week of the 2012-13 season, behind only NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (3.296 million) and CBS' "The Late Show with David Letterman" (3.005 million).

· For the 2nd year in a row, ABC's "JKL" (M-F 12:00 a.m.) beat NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (M-F 12:35 a.m.) during week 1 of the season in both Total Viewers (+16% - 1.789 million vs. 1.539 million) and Adults 18-49 (+6% - 625,000 vs. 591,000). "JKL" outperformed the NBC late-night program on all 5 days of the week in viewers and in 4 of 5 days among young adults, including a "JKL" repeat telecast that dominated an original telecast of "Fallon" on Friday.

· ABC's "JKL" outdelivered CBS' "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (M-F 12:35 a.m.) by its largest margins ever during the opening week of a season, leading the CBS late-night program by 28% in Total Viewers (1.789 million vs. 1.397 million) and by 29% in Adults 18-49 (625,000 vs. 485,000). "JKL" towered over "Ferguson" by double-digit percentages on all 5 days of the week in both Nielsen measures.

Late-Night Rank (Week of Sept 24): TOTAL VIEWERS A18-49(000)
ABC 2,290,000 735,000
CBS 2,178,000 670,000
NBC 2,052,000 661,000

Source: The Nielsen Company, Live + Same Day National Program Ratings for week of 9/24/12, 9/17/12 & 9/19/11 or as dated. 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."