ABC Finishes No. 2 To CBS For The 2nd Straight Week

During the week of May 10, 2010, ABC took second place to CBS in Total Viewers (8.6 million) for the 2nd consecutive week, and for the 5th week running finished No. 2 to Fox in Adults 18-34 (1.9/7).

· Increasing its overall audience for the 3rd week in a row, ABC produced its most-watched non-Oscar week in over 4 months - since w/o 1/4/10.

Rankings: ABC aired 5 of the week's Top 15 TV programs in Adults 18-49: "Modern Family" - No. 6, "Dancing with the Stars" and "Lost" tied at No. 8, "Desperate Housewives" - No. 11 and "Grey's Anatomy" - No. 12. ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" finished as the third-most-watched TV show overall for the week, nearly tying "American Idol-TUE" for No. 2, as just 11k viewers separated the two shows. ABC News delivered TV's Top 2 newsmagazines for the 2nd week in a row among 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 was most-watched TV network for the 2nd straight Monday of the May Sweep (16.5 million), ranking No. 1 on the evening for the 8th consecutive week. The Net earned a strong second during prime in Adults 18-49 (3.5/10) to CBS, beating Fox by 9% (3.2/9) and NBC by 119% (1.6/4). ABC was up week to week in viewers and young adults, while building its overall audience from the year-ago Monday for the 7th time in 8 weeks.

"Dancing with the Stars" (8:00-10:02 p.m.)

ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" took first place in its time period in Total Viewers (19.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.1/12-tied) and qualified as Monday's most-watched television series for the 8th week in a row. Opposite stiff original sweep competition in its time period on CBS ("How I Met Your Mother"/"Rules of Engagement"/"Two and a Half Men"/"Big Bang Theory") and Fox ("House"/"24"), the ABC unscripted series grew in each half-hour, gaining 3.0 million viewers (17.0 million to 20.2 million) and 26% in Adults 18-49 (3.5/10 to 4.4/11) from start to finish.

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

ABC's "Castle" ranked second in its time slot to CBS' veteran "CSI: Miami" in Total Viewers (10.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.5/7). "Castle" was up over its Season Finale performance on the year-ago night (5/11/09), when it also had a "DWTS" lead-in, among Total Viewers (+9% - 10.9 million vs. 10.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (+5% - 2.5/7 vs. 2.4/7). The ABC drama pulled in its biggest audience in 4 weeks - since 4/12/10.

Tuesday

With its Tuesday lineup of "DWTS the Results Show," "Lost" and "V," ABC continued to deliver strong year-to-year improvement, as the Net was up over the same Tuesday last year for the 6th time in 7 weeks. ABC's numbers grew substantially over the same Tuesday a year ago (5/12/09), also a night of all-original programming, jumping by 1.9 million viewers (9.6 million vs. 7.7 million) and by 58% in Adults 18-49 (3.0/8 vs. 1.9/5).

· ABC was also up week to week for the 2nd Tuesday in a row with viewers and young adults, tying its top Adult 18-49 number in 6 weeks - since 3/30/10.

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

Once again boosting its new earlier 8 o'clock time slot for ABC against Fox's "American Idol," ABC's "DWTS the Results Show" outdrew NBC's time-period veteran, "The Biggest Loser," by 4.9 million viewers (12.5 million vs. 7.6 million). Actress Niecy Nash was the 7th celebrity dancer to leave the competition this season. Among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, "DWTS the Results Show" continues to deliver ABC's best numbers in the time period against American Idol in 7 years - since 2003.

· The ABC dancing results show was up week to week in viewers and young adults, pulling its highest Adult 18-49 number (2.5/7) in 4 weeks - since 4/13/10.

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

Opposite stiff all-original demographic competition at 9:00 p.m. on Fox (Idol-fueled "Glee"), NBC (second hour of a 2-hour "The Biggest Loser") and CBS ("NCIS: LA"), ABC's "Lost" built on its lead-in by 64% in Adults 18-49 (4.1/10). Finishing a strong No. 2 in Adults 18-49 to "Glee," "Lost" outperformed "The Biggest Loser" by 11% (3.7/9) and "NCIS: LA" by 24% (3.3/8) in the hour. Topping "Glee" for the 2nd straight week, "Lost" stood as the No. 1 scripted show of the night in key Men (M18-34/M18-49).

· Building its overall audience for its 3rd straight original broadcast, "Lost" generated its most-watched telecast (10.3 million) in 3 months (3rd largest audience this season) and equaled its top Adult 18-49 number (4.1/10) in more than 2 months - since 2/9 and 3/9/10, respectively.

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

Posting its best numbers with Men in 5 weeks, ABC's "V" was the No. 1 series in the 10 o'clock hour across all key Men demographics (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54). In fact "V" has finished No. 1 against its CBS ("The Good Wife") and NBC ("Parenthood") drama competition in the hour with Men 18-49 for 7 weeks running.

· "V" continued to produce strong year-to-year time-period improvement for ABC. Compared to the year-ago night with original drama programming ("Cupid"), "V" boosted the hour by 44% (2.3/6 vs. 1.5/4) and once again made ABC the only network to grow in the 10:00 p.m. hour year to year. CBS (-18%) and NBC (-52%) were both down in the hour from the year-ago night.

· "V" was up for the 2nd week in a row with viewers (+6% - 5.7 million vs. 5.4 million) and young adults (+10% - 2.3/6 vs. 2.1/6), while posting its highest ratings across the key Men demos since the beginning of April - since 4/6/10.

Wednesday

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

Surging over its lead-in by 1.9 million viewers and by 50% with young adults at 8:30 p.m., self-starter "The Middle" was the No. 1 show its half-hour for its 4th straight original telecast in Total Viewers (7.5 million-tie). Among Adults 18-49, it finished as the highest-rated scripted show in its half-hour for the 6th time in its last 7 first-run airings. The ABC freshman comedy also delivered the No. 1 position in the half-hour with Adults 25-54, Men 18-49 and Men 25-54.

· "The Middle" drew its biggest overall audience in 3 months and equaled its top Adult 18-49 number since March - since 2/10 and 3/24/10, respectively.

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

Against "Idol" and all-original programming on CBS and NBC at 9:00 p.m., ABC's "Modern Family" jumped from its lead-in (+2.8 million viewers/+79% in AD18-49) to rank as the No. 1 scripted show in its time slot among Adults 18-49 (4.3/12), outdelivering CBS' "Criminal Minds" by 30% (3.3/9) and NBC's "Mercy" by 291% (1.1/3). After running neck-and-neck with "Idol" in young men for the past month, "Modern Family" beat "American Idol" for the first time ever among Men 18-34 (+3% - 3.3/11 vs. 3.2/11). The hit ABC comedy qualified as Wednesday's No. 1 scripted TV show for its 11th straight original telecast in young adults.

· "Modern Family" marked its most-watched telecast (10.3 million) since its series premiere in September (9/23/09) and achieved a new series high in Adults 18-49 (4.3/12), representing the series' best-ever performance against "American Idol" on both counts. It was "Modern's" 2nd time in 3 weeks to hit a series high in the key young adult sales demo. Opposite "Idol," it also hit series highs with Adults 18-34 (tie) and Women 18-34.

"Cougar Town" (9:30-10:01p.m.)

Opposite the second half-hour of a surging "Idol" at 9:30 p.m., ABC freshman "Cougar Town" once again outdelivered CBS' "Criminal Minds" with Adults 18-34 (+14% - 2.5/7 vs. 2.2/7) to qualify as the No. 1 scripted show against its network rivals in the half-hour for its 6th consecutive original airing.

· "Cougar Town" was up week to week in both Total Viewers (+5% - 6.2 million vs. 5.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (+8% - 2.7/7 vs. 2.5/7).