ABC Wins the Final Full Week of the '09-10 TV Season in Adults 18-49

ABC won the final complete Nielsen week of the 2009-10 TV Season (w/o 5/17/10) among Adults 18-49 (2.9/9), beating Fox by 7% (2.7/9), CBS by 32% (2.2/7) and NBC by 53% (1.9/6). Excluding only "Academy Award" and "Super Bowl" weeks, it represented the first-ever victory for ABC over Fox during a week with "American Idol." The Net also ranked No. 1 for the week with Adults 18-34 (2.4/8) and Adults 25-54 (3.6/10).

2010 May Sweep Update (25 of 28 Nights): ABC is on track to finish No. 2 to Fox for the 2nd consecutive May Sweep among Adults 18-49: Fox (2.7/8), ABC (2.5/8), CBS (2.4/7) and NBC (1.9/6). ABC will also take a strong second place among Adults 18-34 to Fox, holding a 33% advantage over both CBS and NBC: Fox (2.3/8), ABC (2.0/7), CBS (1.5/5) and NBC (1.5/5).

· ABC grew its overall primetime audience for the 4th consecutive week. In fact excluding the weeks of the "Oscars" and "BCS National Championship Game" (w/o 3/1/10 and 1/4/10, respectively), ABC posted its strongest weekly results in 6 months among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 - since w/o 11/23/09 and 11/16/09, respectively.

· ABC was up from the same week last year (w/o 5/18/09) by 1.6 million viewers (8.9 million vs. 7.3 million) and by 38% in Adults 18-49 (2.9/7 vs. 2.1/7), a week that included the final 3 nights of the 2008-09 TV Season.

Rankings: ABC aired 6 of the week's Top 15 TV programs in Adults 18-49, including 2 of the Top 5 with "Lost: The End" and "Grey's Anatomy": "Lost: The End" - No. 3 (No. 1 scripted), "Grey's Anatomy" - No. 5, "Lost (Tue)" - No. 8, "Modern Family" - No. 10, with "Dancing with the Stars" and "Lost: The Final Journey" tied at No. 11. ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" finished as the most-watched TV show overall for the 4th time in 5 weeks, registering as the No. 1 television series on 6 of the final 8 complete weeks of the 2009-10 TV Season. In fact, "DWTS" stands as the first show in 5 years to regularly outdraw both editions of Fox's "American Idol" - since the 2004-05 TV Season. ABC News delivered TV's Top 2 newsmagazines for the 3rd week in a row among Adults 18-49 with "Primetime: What Would You Do?" on Wednesday and Friday. The ABC newsmagazines also claimed the Top 2 spots for the week in Adults 25-54.

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 the most-watched TV network for the 9th consecutive week and 3rd straight Monday of the May Sweep (14.3 million). ABC built its overall Monday audience from the year-ago night for the 8th time in 9 weeks.

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

For the 9th week running, ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" ranked No. 1 in its time period among both Total Viewers (19.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.1/11), beating out all-original competition on the other nets, including second-place Fox's season finale of "House" leading into the series' penultimate episode of "24" (10.4 million and 3.9/11) . The ABC dancing performance show qualified as Monday's most-watched television series for the 9th consecutive week. Opposite stiff 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 and 25% in Adults 18-49 from start to finish.

· "DWTS" was up in its time period week to week in Total Viewers (19.0 million vs. 18.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.1/11 vs. 3.9/11).

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

Building on its lead-in ("Romantically Challenged") by 2.4 million viewers and by 26% in Adults 18-49, ABC's second-season finale of "Castle" finished a strong No. 2 to CBS' veteran "CSI: Miami" in the 10 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (10.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.4/7). Despite having the advantage of a direct "Dancing with the Stars" lead-in for its year-ago finale (5/11/09), "Castle" was up over last year's season ender in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and across all key Men (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54), while retaining 100% of its Adult 18-49 audience year to year.

Tuesday

With its Tuesday lineup of "DWTS the Results Show," "Lost" and "V," ABC finished No. 2 on the night to Fox among Adults 18-49 (3.0/8-tie).

· Growing its overall audience for the 3rd consecutive week (9.8 million), ABC generated its most-watched Tuesday in 7 weeks - since 3/30/10.

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

Continuing to deliver huge improvement for ABC in its new earlier 8 o'clock time period against Fox's "American Idol" (+5.5 million viewers and +39% in AD18-49 over the same night last year on 5/19/09), ABC's "DWTS the Results Show" outdrew NBC's time period veteran, "The Biggest Loser," by 6.0 million viewers (13.2 million vs. 7.2 million). NFL star Chad Ochocinco was the 8th celebrity to leave the dance competition this season. Among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, "DWTS the Results Show" continues to deliver ABC's highest numbers in the time period against American Idol in 7 years - since 2003.

· The ABC dancing results show was up for the 2nd week in a row, drawing its biggest audience in 4 weeks and equaling its best Adult 18-49 number in 5 weeks - since 4/20 and 4/13/10, respectively.

"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" jumped from its lead-in by 72% in Adults 18-49 (4.3/11). Running a strong No 2 in the hour among Adults 18-49 to "Glee" coming out of "Idol," "Lost" beat out "The Biggest Loser" by 23% (3.5/9) and "NCIS: LA" by 39% (3.1/8). "Lost" registered as Tuesday's top scripted show for the 3rd straight week across all key Men (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54), and topped "Idol" by 6% as the No. 1 TV series overall on the night with Men 18-34 (3.8/11 vs. 3.6/12).

· Growing its overall audience for its 4th consecutive original airing, the penultimate telecast of "Lost" generated the series' strongest performance in 3 months with Total Viewers (10.5 million = 3rd largest audience this season) and Adults 18-49 (4.3/11) - since 2/9 and 2/23/10, respectively.

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

On its first-season finale, ABC's "V" stood as the No. 1 TV series in the 10 o'clock hour across all key Men demographics (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54). In fact "V" ranked No. 1 against its CBS and NBC drama competition in the hour with Men 18-49 for the 8th week in a row.

On average during its 8-week run in the time period, "V" improved Tuesday's 10:00 p.m. hour for ABC over the same nights last year by 10% in Total Viewers (6.8 million vs. 6.2 million) and by 47% in Adults 18-49 (2.8/7 vs. 1.9/5).

Wednesday

Growing its numbers on the night for the 2nd consecutive week, despite going up against the highly-rated NBA Western Conference Finals Game 2 (Lakers-Suns), ABC marked its strongest Wednesday in more than 3 months with Total Viewers (6.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.5/7) - since 2/10/10.

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

Surging over its lead-in by 2.3 million viewers and by 79% with young adults at 8:30pm, "The Middle" took first place in its half-hour in Total Viewers (7.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.5/8), winning its slot for the 4th time in its final 5 original telecasts of its freshman season. Outdelivering its nearest competitor in the half-hour among Adults 18-49 by 14% (CBS' special "I Get That A Lot" = 2.2/7) and Fox's series debut of "The Good Guys" by 67% (1.5/5), "The Middle" stood as the highest-rated scripted TV show in its slot for the 7th time in its past 8 first-run telecasts.

· Building its numbers for the 2nd week running, the freshman-season finale of "The Middle" achieved 3-month highs among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 (tie) - since 2/10/10.