L+7 Ratings: ABC's HTGAWM and Modern Family Share the Week's Top Spot in Playback Gains

Live + 7 Day ratings for the week of 10/6/14 (Week #3):

During week 3 of the new TV season, ABC solidified its claim as the #1 non-sports network among Adults 18-49 (2.8 rating) in the L+7 numbers, increasing its lead over CBS to 17% (2.4), NBC to 22% (2.3) and Fox to 40% (2.0). ABC gained +0.9 rating points over its Live + Same Day Adult 18-49 rating (1.9 rating in L+SD to a 2.8 in L+7) in the non-sports averages, making the Net the #1 biggest actual gainer in TV playback for the 3rd week running. Building to a 2.8 L+7 rating among Adults 18-49 in the non-sports numbers, ABC came out ahead of the year-ago week (+3% - 2.7 on w/o 10/7/13), while CBS (-8%), NBC (-4%) and Fox (-29%) all fell behind.

Based on all programming in the L+7 numbers, ABC (2.6 rating) narrowed the gap with CBS (2.8) and NBC (2.8) to just 0.2 rating points in Adults 18-49, while moving ahead of Fox (2.4) to lead by 0.2 rating points. In the first reported L+SD ratings, ABC placed behind NBC (-0.5), CBS (-0.3) and Fox ().

ABC's How to Get Away with Murder and Modern Family tied as the week's #1 biggest broadcast gainer among Adults 18-49, with both shows picking up +2.3 rating points, topping the L+7 gains of CBS' The Big Bang Theory (+2.2 rating points) and NBC's The Blacklist (+2.1 rating points).

With HTGAWM and Modern, ABC claimed 5 of the Top 10 broadcast gainers in Adults 18-49 (the most for the 3rd straight week): Scandal (+1.7 rating points) - #6, Grey's Anatomy (+1.6) - #7 and Once Upon a Time (+1.3) - #9. On a percentage basis, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (+75%), Revenge (+75%) and HTGAWM (+74%) all ranked in the Top 10 among the broadcast networks.

Grey's Anatomy (+67%), HTGAWM (+74%) and Once Upon a Time (+48%) all increased their gains for the 2nd consecutive week to hit a season high in TV playback with Adults 18-49. In fact, almost all of ABC's series scored their biggest gains of the season this week in the young adult demo: Last Man Standing (+58%), Castle (+58%), Nashville (+71%), Scandal (+57%), Revenge (+75%) and Modern Family (+66%).

After pacing behind the prior week in the L+SD numbers and with larger playback increases, Grey's Anatomy (4.0 rating), Revenge (2.1), Castle (3.0), Nashville (2.4) and Last Man Standing (1.9) all retained 100% of their week ago Adult 18-49 L+7 ratings, while Modern grew (+2% - 5.8 vs. 5.7).

In the final Live + 7 Day ratings for the week, ABC claimed 6 of the Top 10 highest-rated entertainment broadcast shows among Adults 18-49 (the most for any network): Modern Family (5.8 rating) - #2, HTGAWM (5.4) and Scandal (4.7) each moved up two spots to #3 and #4, respectively (from #5 and #6, respectively), Grey's Anatomy (4.0) shot up to #8 (from #14), tied with Once Upon a Time (4.0) and black-ish (3.9) - #10.

· ABC's Once Upon a Time grew to a 4.0 rating with Adults 18-49 to emerge as Sunday's #1 broadcast entertainment series, beating Fox's The Simpsons (3.7) by 3-tenths of a rating point. In the L+SD ratings, Once Upon a Time trailed the Fox animated show by 5-tenths of a rating point among young adults.

Season-to-Date TV Playback (9/22/14-10/12/14):

Based on TV playback data for the first 3 weeks of the 2014-15 season, ABC claims 2 of the Top 5 biggest broadcast gainers among Adults 18-49: How to Get Away with Murder (+2.3 rating points) and Modern Family (+2.2 rating points). In fact, excluding the single 8:30pm telecast of CBS' The Big Bang Theory, ABC's HTGAWM is the season's #1 biggest gainer in TV playback among young adults.

ABC's HTGAWM is the season's biggest gainer for any freshman series among Adults 18-49, edging out the L+7 gain of Fox's Gotham (+2.2 rating points). The ABC show is the season's #1 broadcast drama and #1 new TV show in the young adult demo (5.7 rating), leading runner-up Gotham by 12% (5.1). HTGAWM runs neck-and-neck with CBS' NFL Football as Thursday's #1 TV show this season with Adults 18-49 (pacing within 1-tenth of a rating point - 5.7 vs. 5.8). In fact, the new ABC drama is Thursday's most-watched TV show overall, outdrawing CBS' football game by 2.0 million viewers (18.4 million vs. 16.4 million).

Among Adults 18-49 in the L+7 ratings, ABC has the Top 2 TV shows on Wednesday with Modern Family (5.8 rating) and black-ish (4.1-tie), the Top 3 series on Thursday with HTGAWM (5.7), Scandal (5.0) and Grey's Anatomy (4.2) and the #1 show on Friday with Shark Tank (2.5).

Nearly all of ABC's returning series are seeing bigger percentage gains among Adults 18-49 from L+SD to L+7 this year than last: DWTS (+28% vs. +19%), The Goldbergs (+39% vs. +38%), Grey's Anatomy (+56% vs. +53%), Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (+72% vs. +61%), The Middle (+35% vs. +22%), Modern Family (+61% vs. +46%), Revenge (+62% vs. +55%) and Scandal (+47% vs. 41%).

Source: The Nielsen Company, as dated. Based on regular, original telecasts only.