ABC Finishes #2 For 2nd Week In A Row

During the week of April 26, 2010, ABC finished No. 2 to Fox for the 2nd week in a row among young Adults: Adults 18-49 (2.2/7-tie) and Adults 18-34 (1.7/6).

· ABC was up week to week in both Total Viewers (+4% - 7.7 million vs. 7.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (+10% - 2.2/7 vs. 2.0/6).

· Despite NBC's enormous boost to its season averages from 17-nights of Winter Olympics coverage in February, ABC has moved ahead of NBC on a season-to-date basis in Total Viewers (8.5 million vs. 8.4 million) and pulled even among Adults 18-49 (2.7/7). Excluding the nights of Winter Olympics coverage from NBC's averages, ABC outdelivers NBC for the season by 1.4 million viewers and by 13% in Adults 18-49.

Rankings: The Net aired 4 of the week's Top 8 TV programs in Adults 18-49: "Dancing with the Stars" - No. 4, "Modern Family" - No. 5 (highest-ever weekly ranking), with "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives" tied at No. 8. ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" finished as the most-watched TV show overall for the 2nd week in a row, registering as the top series telecast on 4 of the past 5 Nielsen weeks. Hitting a series-high in Adults 18-49, ABC's "Modern Family" qualified as TV's No. 1 sit-com for the week.

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 36% currently, from 31% at the same point in 2009. 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.

Monday

Despite airing a repeat in the 10:00 p.m. hour, ABC was Monday's most-watched TV net for the 6th consecutive week, outdrawing second-place Fox with its all-original 8:00-10:00 p.m. line-up by 4.5 million viewers (14.5 million vs. 10.0 million). ABC was a strong second during prime to Fox (beating Fox by 14% in head-to-head competition from 8:00-10:00 p.m.) in Adults 18-49 (3.3/9), outdelivering CBS by 38% (2.4/7) and NBC by 94% (1.7/5).

· Although "Castle" was in repeat at 10:00 p.m. this year but an original on the year-ago night, ABC's Monday numbers grew year-to-year in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 for the 6th consecutive week (14.0 million and 3.2/9 on 4/27/09).

"Dancing with the Stars" (8:00-9:32 p.m.)

ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" won its time period for the 6th week running in both Total Viewers (20.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.4/12), leading second-place Fox with originals of "House" and "24" by 10.0 million viewers and by 16% in Adults 18-49 (Fox = 10.3 million and 3.8/11). "DWTS" registered as Monday's most-watched television series for the 6th week in a row. The ABC dance performance program was also the night's No. 1 TV series with Adults 18-49 for the 5th time in 6 telecasts.

"Romantically Challenged" (9:32-10:00 p.m.)

ABC's "Romantically Challenged" took second in the 9:30 p.m. half-hour across key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). For the 2nd week in a row, "Romantically Challenged" improved its time period for ABC, over original comedy programming on the year-ago night in both Total Viewers (9.1 million vs. 9.0 million) and in Adults 18-49 (2.6/7 vs. 2.2/5) - "Surviving Suburbia" on 4/27/09. "Romantically Challenged" exhibited solid retention of its week-ago series debut in viewers (85%) and young adults (90%).

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

ABC's repeat "Castle" finished No. 1 in Monday's 10 o'clock hour among Total Viewers (8.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.9/6), the ABC sophomore drama's 4th time in 6 telecasts to top its hour on both Nielsen measures.

· "Castle" registered as the series' most-watched repeat ever and its second-highest-ever replay with Adults 18-49.

Tuesday

"DWTS the Results Show" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Once again improving its new earlier 8:00 p.m. time period against Fox's "American Idol," ABC's "DWTS the Results Show" outdrew NBC's "Biggest Loser" in the hour by 6.0 million viewers (12.4 million vs. 6.1 million) and tied the NBC time period veteran among Adults 18-49 (2.4/7). ABC's most recent star of "The Bachelor," Jake Pavelka, was the 5th celebrity dancer eliminated from the contest this season.

· The dancing results program generated huge year-to-year gains in the hour for ABC over the year-ago night with original programming, boosting the slot by +9.1 million viewers and +140% in Adults 18-49 (3.3 million and 1.0/3 with originals of "According to Jim"). In fact on average among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, "DWTS the Results Show" is delivering ABC's best numbers in the time period against American Idol in 7 years - since 2003.

"Lost" (9:00-10:02 p.m.)

An encore telecast of "Lost" registered the series' biggest audience (5.6 million) for any repeat telecast in nearly 2 years and its highest Adult 18-49 number (1.8/5) in well over 1 year - since 5/29/08 and 2/18/09, respectively.

"V-TUE" (10:02-11:00 p.m.)

"V" finished No. 1 against its CBS and NBC drama competition in the hour with Men 18-49 (1.8/5) for the 5th consecutive week, topping originals of "The Good Wife" by 13% (1.6/5) and NBC's "Parenthood" by 13% (1.6/5). In addition "V" beat out CBS' "The Good Wife" for the 6th straight week among Adults 18-34.

· Building on its "Lost" lead-in by 6% among Adults 18-49, "V" continued to improve Tuesday's 10 o'clock hour for ABC, growing the slot by 19% over the year-ago night with original drama programming (1.9/5 vs. 1.6/4 - "Cupid"). In fact ABC was the only net to grow in the 10:00 p.m. hour year to year, as CBS (-12%) and NBC (-38%) were both down from the year-ago night.

Wednesday

ABC earned second place to an "Idol"-led Fox on Wednesday night among Adults 18-49 (2.4/7), beating third-place NBC by 26% (1.9/6) and fourth-place CBS by 33% (1.8/5).

· Among Total Viewers (6.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.4/7), ABC marked its strongest Wednesday in 11 weeks - since 2/10/10.

"The Middle" (8:30-9:00 p.m.)

Jumping over its lead-in, ABC's "The Middle" won its half-hour for its 2nd straight original telecast among Total Viewers (7.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.4/7). In fact among Adults 18-49, the ABC freshman comedy has finished as the No. 1 scripted show in its half-hour on 4 of its last 5 first-run broadcasts.

· Building its viewer and young adult numbers for its 2nd straight original airing, "The Middle" posted its best results in 5 weeks - since 3/24/10.