ABC Finishes No. 2 For 3rd Consecutive Week

During the week of May 3, 2010, ABC earned second place to CBS in Total Viewers (8.2 million) and, for the 3rd straight week, finished No. 2 to Fox with Adults 18-49 (2.5/8). In fact among Adults 18-49, ABC paced within just 4-tenths of a rating point and 1 audience share of an "Idol"-driven Fox for the week (2.5/8 vs. 2.9/9).

· Growing its numbers for the 2nd week in a row, ABC drew its biggest audience since March and, among Adults 18-49 (2.5/8), equaled its highest-rated non-Oscar week since the beginning of January - since the weeks of 3/29 and 1/4/10, respectively.

Rankings: ABC claimed 5 of the week's Top 10 TV programs in Adults 18-49, tying a season-best: "Dancing with the Stars" - No. 5, "Lost" - No. 7, "Modern Family" - No. 8, with "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives" tied at No. 10. ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" finished as the most-watched TV show overall for the 3rd consecutive week, registering as the No. 1 television series on 5 of the last 6 Nielsen weeks. In doing so, "DWTS" became ABC's first-ever series to outdraw both editions of "Idol" and rank as the No. 1 TV show for 3 straight weeks. ABC's season opener of "Primetime: What Would You Do?," which stood as Friday's No. 1 TV show in Adults 18-49, qualified as the week's No. 1 newsmagazine with key Adults (AD18-49/AD25-54). In fact ABC News delivered the Top 2 newsmagazines for the week in Adults 18-49 with "Primetime: What Would You Do?" and "20/20."

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

ABC qualified as the most-watched TV network on the opening Monday of the May Sweep (15.1 million), ranking No. 1 on the night for the 7th week in a row. In fact it was the 4th straight year for ABC to register as the most-watched network on the first Monday of May. ABC placed a strong second during prime in Adults 18-49 to Fox, as it beat Fox by 9% (3.7/10 vs. 3.4/9) in head-to-head competition from 8:00 - 10:00 p.m.

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

ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" took first place in its time period for the 7th week running in both Total Viewers (19.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.1/12), beating out stiff original Sweep competition from 8:00-9:30 p.m. on CBS ("How I Met Your Mother"/"Rules of Engagement"/"Big Bang Theory" = 8.7 million and 3.5/10) and Fox ("House"/"24" = 9.7 million and 3.6/10). "DWTS" qualified as Monday's most-watched television series for the 7th week in a row.

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

ABC freshman "Romantically Challenged" placed second in 9:30 p.m. half-hour in Total Viewers (9.6 million), and for the 3rd week running took second place among key Women demos (W18-49/W25-54). In fact the new ABC comedy outdrew the final half-hour of Fox's "24" in Total Viewers (8.9 million). "Romantically Challenged" built its overall audience week to week by 5% (9.6 million vs. 9.1 million).

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

Building on its lead-in with viewers and young adults, ABC's original "Castle" outdrew CBS' original "CSI: Miami" for No. 1 at 10:00 p.m. by 1.1 million viewers (10.7 million vs. 9.6 million), and finished in a near tie for first-place in Adults 18-49 (2.5/7 vs. 2.7/7). In fact ABC's sophomore "Castle" stood as the most-watched TV show in Monday's 10 o'clock hour for the 5th time in 7 telecasts. Impressively, "Castle" still managed to grow its overall audience year to year by 7% (10.7 million vs. 10.0 million on 5/4/09), even though it had the added advantage of a direct lead-in from a 2-hour "DWTS" on the year-ago night.

Tuesday

ABC's Tuesday lineup of "DWTS the Results Show," "Lost" and "V" continued to deliver impressive year-to-year returns, as the Net was up over the same night last year for the 5th time in 6 weeks. ABC's numbers surged over the same Tuesday a year ago (5/5/09), also a night of all-original programming, by 1.3 million viewers (9.1 million vs. 7.8 million) and by 40% in Adults 18-49 (2.8/8 vs. 2.0/6).

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

Continuing to grow its new earlier 8 o'clock time slot for ABC against Fox's "American Idol," "DWTS the Results Show" outdrew NBC's time-slot veteran, "The Biggest Loser," by 4.5 million viewers (12.0 million vs. 7.5 million). Model, actress, mother, entrepreneur, philanthropist and activist Pamela Anderson was the 6th celebrity dancer eliminated from the contest this season.

· Among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, "DWTS the Results Show" is generating ABC's highest numbers in the time period against "American Idol" in 7 years - since 2003.

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

Opposite stiff original demographic competition at 9pm on Fox ("Idol"-fueled "Glee") and NBC (second hour of a 2-hour "The Biggest Loser"), ABC's "Lost" surged from its lead-in by 67% in Adults 18-49 (4.0/10). Taking second place in Adults 18-49, "Lost" outperformed "The Biggest Loser" by 11% (3.6/9) and "NCIS: LA" by a best-ever 43% (2.8/7) in the hour. Topping "Glee," Lost ranked No. 1 in the hour across all key Men demos (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54).

· "Lost" was up from its last original telecast two weeks ago in Total Viewers (9.6 million vs. 9.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (+8% - 4.0/10 vs. 3.7/10), hitting a 5-week high on both counts - since 3/30/10.

· "Lost" DVR Update: TV's No. 2 biggest gainer in Adults 18-49 DVR playback this season (behind only Grey's Anatomy), "Lost" pulls in an additional 2.2 million viewers and picks up 1.2 rating points among young adults from the first-reported Live + Same Day numbers to the finalized Live + 7 Day averages. That's up by 19% and 23%, respectively, over its DVR lift last season.

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

Building by 11% among Adults 18-49 week to week (2.1/6 vs. 1.9/5), "V" continued to greatly improve Tuesday's 10 o'clock hour for ABC year to year. Versus the year-ago night with original drama programming (1.6/4 - "Cupid"), "V" boosted the hour by 31% and once again made ABC the only net to grow in the 10:00 p.m. hour year to year. CBS (-12%) and NBC (-32%) were both down in the hour from the year-ago night.

· "V" finished No. 1 against its CBS and NBC drama competition in the hour with Men 18-49 (2.0/6) for the 6th straight week, topping "The Good Wife" by 18% (1.7/5) and NBC's "Parenthood" by 18% (1.7/5).

· "V" DVR Update: On average in its 10 o'clock time slot, "V" delivers big gains over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback, jumping by 1.8 million viewers and by an additional 8-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point (+32%) from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.

Wednesday

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

Jumping over its lead-in by 2.0 million viewers and by 77% with young adults, ABC's self-starter "The Middle" won its half-hour for its 3rd straight original telecast in both Total Viewers (6.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.3/7).

· Among Adults 18-49, the ABC freshman comedy has finished as the No. 1 scripted show in its half-hour on 5 of its last 6 first-run broadcasts.

"Modern Family" (9:00-9:30 p.m.)

Opposite "Idol" at 9:00 p.m., ABC's "Modern Family" built sharply on its lead-in (+2.7 million viewers/+70% in AD18-49) to stand as the No. 1 scripted show in its time slot with Adults 18-49 (3.9/11), defeating originals of CBS' "Criminal Minds" by 18% (3.3/9) and NBC's "Mercy" by 255% (1.1/3). In addition, for its 4th straight original telecast, the ABC rookie ran in a virtual tie with "Idol" as the No. 1 program in the half-hour with Men 18-34 (3.2/11 vs. 3.3/12).