ABC's "Dancing" Premiere Is Up and Ranks as Monday's Most Social TV Series

Please Note: ABC's Monday lineup was pre-empted in Pittsburgh for local NFL coverage.

With the 17th season premiere of DWTS and an encore Castle, ABC was Monday's most-watched TV network with its biggest audience on the night since March - since 3/18/13. In addition among Adults 18-49, ABC's Dancing premiere beat out its competition from 8-10pm, leading Fox's season premieres (Bones/Sleepy Hollow) in the 2-hour time period by 14% and NBC's originals (Million Second Quiz/American Ninja Warrior season finale) by 146%.

Building steadily throughout its opener and growing year over year, ABC's Dancing with the Stars ranked as Monday's most-watched TV show, drawing the biggest audience for any TV series telecast since May - since 5/14/13. Dancing was up from its year-ago season opener by 15% in Total Viewers and by 28% in Adults 18-49, marking the show's strongest telecast since March 18, 2013.

Social Activity: DWTS was the #1 most social series on television last night with 230,243 tweets (up +137% vs. last year's premiere on 9/24/12, which delivered 97,166 tweets). DWTS dominated the competition, outperforming the premiere of Fox's Sleepy Hollow by +283% (60,110 tweets) and CBS' finale of Under the Dome by +611% (32,363 tweets).

During the 10pm hour, one week before its season premiere, ABC's Castle delivered its most-watched repeat telecast since April 2010 (4/26/10).

Quick Take for Monday, September 16, 2013 (Fast Affiliate Live +Same Day Ratings)

ABC is No. 1 on Monday, Drawing its Largest Audience on the Night Since March

ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" Premiere is Monday's Most-Watched TV Show, Delivering the Biggest Audience for Any TV Series Telecast Since May

ABC's "DWTS" Opener is Up in Viewers (+15%) and Adults 18-49 (+28%)

ABC's "Castle" Delivers Most-Watched Repeat Telecast Since April 2010

Monday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

With the 17th season premiere of "DWTS" and an encore "Castle," ABC was Monday's most-watched TV network (13.4 million) with its biggest audience on the night since March - since 3/18/13. In addition among Adults 18-49 (2.6/7), ABC's "Dancing" premiere beat out its competition from 8:00-10:00 p.m., leading Fox's season premieres ("Bones"/"Sleepy Hollow" - 2.8/8) in the 2-hour time period by 14% and NBC's originals ("Million Second Quiz"/"American Ninja Warrior" season finale - 1.3/4) by 146%.

Please Note: ABC's Monday lineup was pre-empted in Pittsburgh for local NFL coverage.

"Dancing with the Stars" (8:00-10:00 p.m.)

Building steadily throughout its opener and growing year over year, ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" ranked as Monday's most-watched TV show� (16.2 million), drawing the biggest audience for any TV series telecast since May - since 5/14/13. "Dancing" was up from its year-ago season opener by 15% in Total Viewers and by 28% in Adults 18-49 (14.1 million and a 2.5/7 on 9/24/12), marking the show's strongest telecast since March 18, 2013.

Social Activity

· Facebook: On Facebook last night, 652,000 unique users had 768,000 total interactions related "Dancing with the Stars." Top 5 social moments on Facebook: No. 1 - Bill Nye's "Weird Science" dance and low scores, No. 2 - Valerie's dance and reaction, No. 3 - Amber's dance and great scores, No. 4 - Snooki's dance and reaction and No. 5 - Jack's dance and his parents' reaction

· Twitter: "DWTS" was the No. 1 most social series on television last night with 230,243 tweets (up +137% vs. last year's premiere on 9/24/12, which delivered 97,166 tweets). "DWTS" dominated the competition, outperforming the premiere of Fox's "Sleepy Hollow" series premiere by +283% (60,110 tweets) and CBS' finale of "Under the Dome" by +611% (32,363 tweets).

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

During the 10:00 p.m. hour, one week before its season premiere, ABC's "Castle" delivered its most-watched repeat telecast (7.7 million) since April 2010 (4/26/10).

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 48% currently, from 45% at the same point in 2012. 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, 9/16/13.