ABC's "Motive" Finale Is Up 13% to Tie a 10-Week High and Grows Over Its Year-Ago Finale

Info on ABC's Wednesday, ahead of the regular press release.

Motive (10-11pm - 3.7 million and 0.9/3 in AD18-49): In the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's season finale of Motive was up for the 2nd week in a row in Adults 18-49 (+13% - 0.9/3 vs. 0.8/3) to equal a 10-week high - since 6/18/14. Among Adults 18-49 in the hour, Motive nearly tied CBS' Extant (pacing within 1-tenth of a rating point and tied in audience share - 0.9/3 vs. 1.0/3) and beat NBC's America's Got Talent-led Taxi Brooklyn by 13% (0.9/3 vs. 0.8/3).

· Motive topped its last season's finale (0.8/3 on 8/29/13) by 13% in Adults 18-49.

Quick Take for Wednesday, August 27, 2014 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

Coming Off its 5th Straight Emmy for Best Comedy, ABC's "Modern Family" Encores Outdeliver Originals of CBS' "Extant" and Fox's "SYTYCD"

ABC's "Motive" Closer is Up for the 2nd Straight Week in Adults 18-49 To Match its Top Rating Since Mid-June and Builds Over its Year-Ago Finale

"Modern Family" (9:00-10:00 p.m. - 4.5 million and 1.4/5 in AD18-49):

In the 9 o'clock hour, back-to-back encore episodes of ABC's "Modern Family" ranked a strong second among Adults 18-49 (1.4/5), beating originals of CBS' "Extant" (1.1/4) and Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" (1.1/4) by 27% each.

· Fresh off its 5th consecutive Emmy win for Outstanding Comedy Series, "Modern Family" scored its 2nd-highest repeat number this summer among Adults 18-49 with its 9:30 p.m. telecast (1.5/5) and tied its 3rd-best with its 9:00 p.m. telecast (1.4/5).

"Motive" (10:00-11:00 p.m. - 3.7 million and 0.9/3 in AD18-49):

In the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's season finale of "Motive" was up for the 2nd week in a row in Adults 18-49 (+13% - 0.9/3 vs. 0.8/3) to equal a 10-week high - since 6/18/14. Among Adults 18-49 from 10:00-11:00 p.m., "Motive" nearly tied the second hour of CBS' "Extant" (pacing within 1-tenth of a rating point and tied in audience share - 0.9/3 vs. 1.0/3) and beat NBC's "America's Got Talent"-led "Taxi Brooklyn" by 13% (0.9/3 vs. 0.8/3).

· "Motive" topped its last season's finale (0.8/3 on 8/29/13) by 13% in Adults 18-49.

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 49% currently, from 48% at the same point in 2013. 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 for 08/27/14.