Primetime Rating Report for the Week of September 29, 2014 (Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)

ABC Leads its 2nd Straight Week in Nielsen's Non-Sports Adult 18-49 Averages, Airing 4 of the Top 6 Shows, the No. 1 Freshman Series and the Top 3 Dramas

ABC's "Castle" Matches its Best Adult 18-49 Premiere Performance in 3 Years

ABC's Debuts of "Selfie" and "Manhattan Love Story" Outdeliver Fox's Established Tuesday Comedies "New Girl" and "The Mindy Project"

"S.H.I.E.L.D." is the No. 1 Scripted Show in its Slot in Adults 18-34 and Key Men

"Forever" Doubles its Time Period Year to Year for ABC in Adults 18-49

"The Goldbergs" Continues to Build on its Lead-in and Improve its Slot for ABC

ABC's "Modern Family" is Wednesday's No. 1 TV Show for the 2nd Week in a Row

"black-ish" is No. 1 in its Slot with the Best Retention Out of "Modern" in 5 Years

ABC's "Nashville" Builds on its Premiere to Tie its Top-Rated Telecast in 1 Year

"Scandal" More than Doubles its NBC and Fox Debut Competition Thursday at 9pm

"How to Get Away With Murder" is Thursday's Most-Watched Non-Sports Show

ABC Wins its 2nd Consecutive Friday this Season Among Adults 18-49 with "Shark Tank" as the No. 1 TV Show and "20/20" as the No. 1 Newsmagazine

"Last Man Standing" Opens as the Most-Watched TV Show in its Friday Slot, Gaining 13% Over its Season Finale for its Biggest Audience Since January

ABC's "Saturday Night Football" is the Night's No. 1 Show in Adults 18-49

ABC's Sunday is Up Year to Year for the 2nd Consecutive Week this Season

"Once Upon a Time" Scores its 2nd-Highest Numbers Since November 2012

"Resurrection" Improves its Hour Year to Year for ABC in Adults 18-49

"Revenge" Defeats CBS' "CSI" For the 2nd Week in a Row in Adults 18-49

ABC Adult 18-49 Weekly Ratings Projections (w/o 9/29/14)

ABC's weekly Adult 18-49 average is projected to rise 30% to a 2.6 rating in Live + 3 Day and grow 37% to a 2.7 rating in Live + 7 Day.

Week No. 02 (Live + Same Day)

ABC led its 2nd consecutive week of the 2014-15 season in Nielsen's non-sports Adult 18-49 averages (2.1/6), outpacing NBC by 5% (2.0/6), CBS by 11% (1.9/6) and Fox by 62% (1.3/4).

· ABC delivered 6 of the Top 15 non-sports TV programs in Adults 18-49 (more than any other net), placing 4 of the Top 6, the No. 1 freshman series ("How to Get Away with Murder") and the Top 3 dramas ("Scandal," "How to Get Away with Murder" and "Once Upon a Time"): "Modern Family" - No. 4, "Scandal" - No. 5, "How to Get Away with Murder" and "Once Upon a Time" tied at No. 6, "Grey's Anatomy" - No. 12 and "black-ish" - No. 14. In addition, ABC's "Scandal" and "Once Upon a Time" (tied w/"Sunday Night Football") ranked as the week's Top 2 TV shows in Women 18-34, respectively, and "Once Upon a Time" was the No. 1 show in Teens 12-17 (tied w/"The Voice").

· Based on all programming, ABC increased its overall audience year to year for the 2nd week in a row (7.5 million vs. 7.4 million).

Monday

"Dancing with the Stars" (8:00-10:01 p.m. - 12.5 million and 1.8/5 in AD18-49):

From 8:00-10:01 p.m., ABC's "Dancing" nearly tied NBC's "The Voice" in Total Viewers (12.5 million vs. 12.9 million). Building from its first to second hour (+6%), "Dancing" beat out Fox's "Sleepy Hollow" from 9:00-10:00 p.m. among Adults 18-49 (+12% - 1.9/5 vs. 1.7/5).

· "DWTS" was the most social series on broadcast Monday with 88,952 tweets, up 11% from the prior week.

"Castle" (10:01-11:00 p.m. - 10.8 million and 2.2/6 in AD18-49):

In the 10:00 p.m. hour, ABC's "Castle" (10.8 million) emerged as the most-watched TV show, topping NBC's "Blacklist" (10.5 million) and CBS' season premiere of "NCIS: LA" (9.5 million). In addition, "Castle" beat the "NCIS: LA" premiere in Adults 18-49 (+16% - 2.2/6 vs. 1.9/6) and "Blacklist" in Women 18-34 (+16% - 2.3/8 vs. 2.0/7).

· "Castle" matched its year-ago opener in Adults 18-49 (2.2/6 on 9/23/13) to its top-rated season premiere in 3 years - since 9/19/11. In fact, the ABC drama equaled its highest rated telecast since April 2013 - since 4/22/13. In addition, the ABC drama drew its biggest overall audience since last November - since 11/25/14,

Tuesday

"Selfie"/"Manhattan Love Story" (8:00-9:00 p.m. - 5.0 million and 1.6/5 in AD18-49):

Among Adults 18-49, ABC's debuts of "Selfie" (1.6/5) and "Manhattan Love Story" (1.5/5) outdelivered Fox's established Tuesday comedies "New Girl" (1.3/4 at 9:00 p.m.) and "The Mindy Project" (1.1/3 at 9:30 p.m.). Posting strong audience retention from 8:00-9:00 p.m. against CBS' "NCIS" and NBC's "The Voice," the ABC comedies doubled Fox's "Utopia" in the hour in Adults 18-49 (+100% - 1.6/5 vs. 0.8/3). At 8:30 p.m., "Manhattan Love Story" retained 94% of its "Selfie" lead-in among Adults 18-49 and 100% among Women 18-34.

"Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." (9:00-10:00 p.m. - 5.1 million and 1.8/5 in AD18-49):

Building on its lead-in at 9:00 p.m. against "The Voice" and "NCIS: New Orleans," ABC's "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." was the No. 1 scripted show in its hour for the 2nd week in a row among Adults 18-34 and key Men (M18-34/M18-49).

· Live + 3 Day for "S.H.I.E.L.D.'s" Premiere: ABC's "S.H.I.E.L.D." opener went up to 8.9 million viewers (+48% - up +2.9 mil from 6.0 mil L+SD) and a 3.2 in Adults 18-49 (+52% - up +1.1 from 2.1 L+SD). "S.H.I.E.L.D.'s" L3 gains were much higher than last year's debut in viewers (+48% vs. 31%) and young adults (+52% vs. 38%). With bigger playback lift than its CBS drama competition in the hour (52% vs. 28%), "S.H.I.E.L.D." moved up to tie the "NCIS-driven" debut of "NCIS: New Orleans" at a 3.2 rating in Adults 18-49 in the 9:00 p.m. time slot. At 52%, it delivered a bigger lift than any of its Tuesday drama competitors in Adults 18-49.

"Forever" (10:00-11:00 p.m. - 6.0 million and 1.4/5 in AD18-49):

At 10:00 p.m., "Forever" built on its lead-in by nearly 1 million viewers and delivered big year-to-year time period improvement for ABC, jumping over the year-ago drama ("Lucky 7") by 3.4 million viewers (6.0 million vs. 2.6 million) and by 100% in Adults 18-49 (1.4/5 vs. 0.7/2).

Wednesday

For the 2nd consecutive week this season, ABC delivered the No. 1 TV show on Wednesday among Adults 18-49 with "Modern Family" (3.7/12). The Net nearly tied for No. 1 on the night in Adults 18-49 with CBS and its Wednesday drama premieres (2.3/7 vs 2.4/8), outdelivering original lineups on NBC by 44% (1.6/5) and on Fox by 92% (1.2/4). In fact, ABC's 2-hour comedy block ranked No. 1 from 8:00-10:00 p.m. in Adults 18-49 by 4% over CBS (2.7/9 vs. 2.6/8).

"The Middle" (8:00-8:30 p.m. - 7.4 million and 2.0/7 in AD18-49):

At 8:00 p.m., ABC's "The Middle" took a strong second in its half-hour with Adults 18-49 (2.0/7) to CBS' "Survivor," beating NBC's "The Mysteries of Laura" by 43% (1.4/5) and Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" by 43% (1.4/5). The ABC comedy ranked No. 1 in the half-hour with key Women (W18-34/W18-49).

"The Goldbergs" (8:30-9:00 p.m. - 7.1 million and 2.3/8 in AD18-49):

For the 2nd week in a row in its new 8:30 p.m. time slot, ABC's "The Goldbergs" built on its Adult 18-49 lead-in (+15% - 2.3/8 vs. 2.0/7) out of "The Middle" and improved its half-hour year to year (+21% over "Back in the Game" = 1.9/6). The sophomore comedy retained an impressive 96% of its week-ago premiere young adult number.

· "The Goldbergs" was up 16% year to year in Total Viewers and 5% in Adult 18-49 (6.1 million and 2.2/6 on 10/1/13) from its year-ago telecast coming out of "S.H.I.E.L.D." on Tuesday at 9:00 p.m.

"Modern Family" (9:00-9:31 p.m. - 10.6 million and 3.7/12 in AD18-49):

ABC's "Modern Family" spiked over its Adult 18-49 lead-in at 9:00 p.m. (+61%) to beat its nearest competition in the half-hour by 32% (3.7/12 vs. 2.8/9 for "Criminal Minds'" premiere). The ABC comedy held a strong 95% of its week-ago premiere rating.

"black-ish" (9:31-10:00 p.m. - 8.3 million and 2.6/8 in AD18-49):

In the 9:30 p.m. half-hour, ABC's "black-ish" delivered the strongest retention out of "Modern Family" for any new comedy on its 2nd telecast in 5 years with Total Viewers (78%) and Adults 18-49 (70%) - since 9/30/09. The new ABC comedy tied CBS' "Criminal Minds" opener for No. 1 in the slot in Adults 18-49 (2.6/8).

"Nashville" (10:00-11:00 p.m. - 5.3 million and 1.6/5 in AD18-49):

ABC's most-heavily played back show on a percentage basis this season (spiking +53% to a 2.3 Adult 18-49 rating in L3 for last week's premiere), ABC's "Nashville" grew 7% from its week-ago premiere in Adults 18-49 (1.6/5 vs. 1.5/5) against CBS' heavily-promoted debut of "Stalker," while NBC's competing 10:00 p.m. drama NBC's "Chicago P.D." fell -21% from its week-ago opener. From 10:00-11:00 p.m., ABC's "Nashville" beat "Chicago P.D." in Adults 18-49 (+7% - 1.6/5 vs. 1.5/5).

· "Nashville" tied its highest rated telecast in 1 year among Adults 18-49 - since 10/2/13.

Thursday

Up against CBS' Thursday Night Football, ABC remained the dominant non-sports net on Thursday in Total Viewers (10.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.1/10). For the 2nd week in a row, the Net delivered the Top 3 entertainment shows on the night (over series debuts of Fox's drama "Gracepoint" and NBC's comedies "Bad Judge"/"A to Z") with "How to Get Away with Murder," "Scandal" and "Grey's." Each of the ABC dramas delivered strong retention of their big week-ago openers in the Fast Affiliate Adult 18-49 numbers: "Grey's" 87%, "Scandal" 87% and "How to Get Away with Murder" 85%. For perspective, NBC's "The Blacklist" retained a lesser 82% of its week-earlier premiere Adult 18-49 audience this past Monday.

· ABC's "Scandal" and "How to Get Away with Murder" are once again tracking as the week's Top 2 dramas in Adults 18-49.

· For the 2nd consecutive week, ABC's Thursday was up from the year-ago night (8.6 million and 2.8/8, the night of "Scandal's" season opener) in Total Viewers (+26%) and Adults 18-49 (+11%).

"Grey's Anatomy" (8:00-9:00 p.m. - 9.4 million and 2.7/9 in AD18-49):

At 8:00 p.m., "Grey's Anatomy" ranked as the No. 1 non-sports program, beating runner-up Fox's "Bones" by 47% in Total Viewers (9.4 million vs. 6.4 million) and by 80% in Adults 18-49 (2.7/9 vs. 1.5/5). The 11th season ABC medical drama continued to improve its new time period year to year (5.8 million and 1.6/5 on 10/3/13).

"Scandal" (9:00-10:00 p.m. - 10.7 million and 3.4/10 in AD18-49):

Surging from its lead-in during the 9:00 p.m. hour, ABC's "Scandal" more than doubled Fox's debut of "Gracepoint" (4.8 million and 1.2/3) and towered over NBC's comedy debuts ("Bad Judge"/"A to Z" = 5.3 million and 1.3/4).

· "Scandal" was up over the year-ago telecast of "Grey's" in the hour (9.6 million and 3.1/9).

"How to Get Away with Murder" (10:00-11:00 p.m. - 12.2 million and 3.3/10 in AD18-49):

Adding viewers from its lead-in at 10:00 p.m., ABC's "How to Get Away with Murder" held strong triple-digit advantages over NBC's "Parenthood" in Total Viewers (+184% - 12.2 million vs. 4.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (+154% - 3.3/10 vs. 1.3/4). The week's No. 1 10:00 p.m. show, "HTGAWM" leads its nearest competition in the final hour of primetime by 18% in Adults 18-49 (NBC's "The Blacklist" this past Monday = 2.8/8).

· Impressively, "How to Get Away with Murder" was up over the year-ago season opener of "Scandal" by 1.7 million viewers in the hour (12.2 million vs. 10.5 million on 10/3/13).

Friday

ABC won its 2nd straight Friday this season in Adults 18-49, leading runner-up CBS by 25% (1.5/6 vs. 1.2/5). Also for the 2nd week running, ABC's "Shark Tank" was Friday's No. 1 TV show in the key young adult sales demo. "20/20" once again ranked as the night's No. 1 newsmagazine, beating NBC's "Dateline" (9:00-11:00 p.m.) by 18% in Adults 18-49 and by 20% in Adults 25-54.

"Last Man Standing" (8:00-9:00 p.m. - 6.9 million and 1.3/5 in AD18-49):

At 8:00 p.m., the 1-hour season opener of "Last Man Standing" was the most-watched TV show overall in its slot (6.9 million) and also ranked No. 1 with Adults 18-49 among the major networks (1.3/5). "LMS" was up from its April season finale by 13% in viewers (6.9 million vs. 6.1 million on 4/25/14), marking its most-watched telecast since January - since 1/31/14.

"Shark Tank" (9:00-10:01 p.m. - 7.3 million and 1.9/7 in AD18-49):

From 9:00-10:00 p.m., ABC's "Shark Tank" dominated its time period in Adults 18-49 by 46% over its nearest competition (CBS' "Hawaii Five-0" = 1.3/5). The show held even with its week-ago 2-hour season premiere among Adults 18-49.

"20/20" (10:01-11:00 p.m. - 4.9 million and 1.3/5 in AD18-49):

ABC's "20/20" ranked No. 1 the 10 o'clock hour among Adults 18-49 (1.3/5).

Saturday

Featuring the Nebraska at Michigan State game, "Saturday Night Football" made ABC the No. 1 network on Saturday in Total Viewers (4.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.4/5), dominating Fox with college football coverage (2.2 million and 0.7/2 from 8:00-10:00 p.m.).

· Airing from 8:07 p.m.-12:18 a.m., ABC's "Saturday Night Football" was the night's highest-rated TV program for its 5th consecutive telecast in Adults 18-49 (1.4/5).

· ABC's Saturday night game was up over the prior week's match-up by 12% in Total Viewers (4.6 million vs. 4.1 million) and 17% in Adults 18-49 (1.4/5 vs. 1.2/5).

Sunday

Facing NBC's Sunday Night Football and an NFL overrun-boosted CBS, ABC outdrew its non-sports competition on Fox Sunday by 3.1 million viewers (6.2 million vs. 3.1 million) and by 36% in Adults 18-49 (1.9/5 vs. 1.4/4). ABC's "Once Upon a Time" was Sunday's No. 1 non-sports broadcast in Adults 18-49.

· The Net was up year to year on Sunday for the 2nd consecutive week this season in both Total Viewers (+15% - 6.2 million vs. 5.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (+19% - 1.9/5 vs. 1.6/4).

"Once Upon a Time" (8:00-9:00 p.m. - 9.2 million and 3.3/9 in AD18-49):

Nearly quadrupling its Adult 18-49 lead-in at 8:00 p.m. (+267% over a replay of the prior week's premiere), ABC's "Once Upon a Time" (3.3/9) took second to Sunday Night Football, beating CBS' "60 Minutes"/"Madam Secretary" by 74% (1.9/5) and Fox's "The Simpsons"/"Brooklyn 9-9" by 83% (1.8/5). The ABC drama was the No. 1 most social non-sports broadcast on Sunday with 81,442 tweets.

· For the 2nd week in a row, "Once Upon a Time" was up from its year-ago telecast in Total Viewers (+15% - 9.2 million vs. 8.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (+27% - 3.3/9 vs. 2.6/7). In fact, trailing only the prior week's big season opener, "Once Upon a Time" scored its 2nd-highest numbers since November 2012 - since 11/4/12.

"Resurrection" (9:00-10:01 p.m. - 6.7 million and 2.0/5 in AD18-49):

From 9:00-10:00 p.m., ABC's "Resurrection" took second to the NFL game in Adults 18-49 (2.0/5), leading by double digits over CBS' "Madam Secretary"/"The Good Wife" (+33% - 1.5/4) and Fox's combo of "Family Guy" into the series debut of "Mulaney" (+43% - 1.4/4). "Resurrection" improved its hour year to year by 5% in Adults 18-49 (1.9/5 for "Revenge" on 10/6/13)

"Revenge" (10:01-11:00 p.m. - 5.3 million and 1.4/4 in AD18-49):

During the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's "Revenge" beat CBS' "CSI" for the 2nd week in a row among Adults 18-49 (+8% - 1.4/4 vs. 1.3/4). "Revenge" improved its hour year to year for ABC by 36% in Total Viewers (5.3 million vs. 3.9 million) and by 27% in Adults 18-49 (1.4/4 vs. 1.1/3).

WEEK NO. 02: ADULTS 18-49 TOTAL VIEWERS
No.1 NBC 2.7 No.1 CBS 11,360,000
No.2 CBS 2.5 No.2 NBC 8,990,000
No.3 ABC 2.0 No.3 ABC 7,460,000
No.4 FOX 1.2 No.4 FOX 3,410,000
No.5 CW 0.4 No.5 CW 1,010,000

Source: The Nielsen Company, National, Live+ Same Day Program Ratings for week of 09/29/14.