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ABC Holiday Specials Generate High Numbers in Key Demos

Related: ABC

ABC's Encores of "Disney Prep & Landing" and "Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice" Surge Over Their Year-Ago Telecasts in Viewers, Adults 18-49 and Kids 2-11. Opposite Stiff Competition from NBC's NFL and Finales on CBS, ABC Marks its Best-Ever "HallMark Hall of Fame" Numbers with "Christmas with Holly".

"Prep & Landing Parts 1 and 2" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
From 8:00-9:00 p.m., ABC's back-to-back encore telecast of "Disney Prep & Landing" and "Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice" surged over their year-ago paring (on 12/22/11) by 30% in Total Viewers (4.8 million vs. 3.7 million), by 27% in Adults 18-49 (1.4/3 vs. 1.1/3) and by 28% in Kids 2-11 (2.3/7 vs. 1.8/6).

On average, the Disney animated holiday specials generated ABC's highest Kids 2-11 number in the hour more than 9 months – since 2/26/12 with the Academy Awards.

"HallMark Hall of Fame: Christmas with Holly" (9:00-11:00 p.m.)
Up against all-original competition from 9:00-11:00 p.m., including NBC's "Sunday Night Football" (Detroit Lions-Green Bay Packers) and CBS' season finale of "The Amazing Race XXI" into the fall finale of "The Mentalist," ABC's "HallMark Hall of Fame: Christmas with Holly" built sharply on its lead-in and gained audience from its first to second hour. During its second hour from 10:00-11:00 p.m., ABC's "HallMark Hall of Fame" movie beat out CBS' "Amazing Race"-fueled "The Mentalist" in both Total Viewers (+3% - 8.1 million vs. 7.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (+19% - 1.9/5 vs. 1.6/4). In fact in the 10:00 p.m. hour, the movie generated ABC's 2nd-largest audience this season, behind only the "AMA's" telecast in November.

"Christmas with Holly" was up from the last "HallMark Hall of Fame" movie ("Firelight" on 4/22/12) in Total Viewers (+1% - 7.7 million vs. 7.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (+13% - 1.8/4 vs. 1.6/4), standing as ABC's best performance yet with the movie franchise on both Nielsen measures. Each of ABC's "HallMark Hall of Fame" movies has grown over the previous telecast in viewers and young adults.

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 46% currently, from 43% at the same point in 2011. 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.