
Primetime Ratings Report For the week of September 26, 2011 (Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)
ABC Stands as the 2nd-Most-Watched Net, Airing 4 of the Week's Top 20 Shows, Including the Top 2 Unscripted Series with "DWTS" and "DWTS: The Results"
For the 2nd Week Running, ABC is the Only Net to Improve Year to Year In the 10pm Hour, Once Again Posting Double-Digit Percentage Gains
ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" Outdraws CBS' "Two and a Half Men"-Fueled Comedy Block in Viewers and Beats Fox's "Terra Nova" Debut in Adults 18-49
ABC's "Castle" Stands as the Most-Watched TV Series in Monday's 10pm Hour
ABC's "DWTS: The Results" Retains 100% of its Week-Ago Season Premiere Adult 18-49 Audience and Builds on its Opener by 3% with Women 18-49
Improving its Hour Year to Year, ABC's "Body of Proof" Draws a Larger Overall Audience Than NBC's "Parenthood" for the 2nd Consecutive Week
"Suburgatory" Opens as ABC's Biggest Comedy in the Time Period in 8 Years
ABC's "Modern Family" is Wednesday's No. 1 TV Show for the 2nd Week in a Row
ABC's "Happy Endings" Opens its Sophomore Season at Series Highs
ABC's "Revenge" Posts Big Time-Period Growth and Defeats NBC's "L&O: SVU"
"Charlie's Angels" Continues to Generate Substantial Year-Over-Year Improvement
"Grey's Anatomy" Stands as Thursday's Dominant No. 1 Drama in Adults 18-49
ABC's "Private Practice" Opens its 5th Season with a 10-Month High in Adults 18-49
ABC's "Saturday Night Football" is Up Year to Year for its 4th Straight Telecast
Retaining Nearly All of its Week-Ago Season Premiere Audience, ABC's "Desperate Housewives" Beats CBS' "The Good Wife" by 36% in Adults 18-49
Continuing to Exhibit ABC's Best Lead-in Retention in More than 5 Years, "Pan Am" Is the No. 1 Non-Sports Show in its Hour in Adults 18-49 for the 2nd Week Running
WEEK No. 2:
ABC (8.7 million) finished as the 2nd-most-watched network during the week of September 26, 2011, outdrawing Fox by 18% (7.4 million) and NBC by 23% (7.1 million). The Net also ranked No. 2 for the week across all key Women demographics (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).
· For the 2nd week in a row this season, ABC was the only net to grow in the 10 o'clock hour year over year. On Monday-Friday from 10:00-11:00 p.m., the Net once again delivered double-digit percentage year-to-year improvement in Total Viewers (+11% - 8.2 million vs. 7.4 million), Adults 18-49 (+15% - 2.3/6 vs. 2.0/6) and Adults 25-54 (+12% - 2.9/7 vs. 2.6/7). CBS and NBC were both down in the hour for the 2nd week running across all three Nielsen measures.
Rankings: ABC delivered 4 of the week's Top 20 TV shows in Total Viewers, including the Top 2 unscripted series with "DWTS" and "DWTS: The Results:" "DWTS" - No. 7, "DWTS: The Results" - No. 9, "Modern Family" - No. 11 and "Castle" - No. 20. ABC's "Modern Family" finished as the No. 2 scripted show for the week in Adults 18-49, behind only CBS' "Two and a Half Men." In addition, the ABC Emmy-winning comedy stood as the week's No. 1 scripted show with Women 18-34.
Monday
Featuring "Dancing with the Stars" and "Castle," ABC (14.7 million - tied w/ESPN) ranked No. 1 on Monday in Total Viewers for the 2nd week in a row, topping CBS by 1.5 million viewers (13.2 million - "HIMYM"/"2 Broke Girls"/"Two and a Half Men"/"Mike & Molly"/"Hawaii Five-0"), Fox by 5.5 million viewers (9.2 million - 2-hour series debut of "Terra Nova") and NBC by 10.4 million viewers (4.3 million - 2-hour "The Sing Off"/"The Playboy Club"). Among Adults 18-49, ABC (3.2/8) outdelivered Fox's prime (3.1/8) with its highly-promoted 2-hour debut of "Terra Nova" and doubled NBC's delivery (+100% - 1.6/4).
"Dancing with the Stars" (8:00-10:01 p.m.)
Growing its audience from its first hour to its second hour against CBS' "Two and a Half Men"-fueled comedy block from 8:00 -10:00 p.m., "Dancing with the Stars" once again made ABC the most-watched net in its time period, outdrawing CBS by 2.0 million viewers (16.2 million vs. 14.2 million). Head to head among Adults 18-49, ABC's "DWTS" (3.3/8) defeated Fox's 2-hour "Terra Nova" debut by 6% (3.1/8) and NBC's "The Sing Off" by 94% (1.7/4).
"Castle" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
For the 2nd week in a row, ABC's "Castle" (11.7 million) stood as the most-watched TV show in the 10 o'clock hour, besting CBS' "Hawaii Five-0" (+4% - 11.3 million) and nearly tripling NBC's "The Playboy Club" (+193% - 4.0 million). The ABC drama once again doubled "The Playboy Club" with Adults 18-49 (+115% - 2.8/7 vs. 1.3/3). In addition, "Castle" registered as the No. 1 series in the hour for the 2nd week running with Adults 18-34 and across all key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).
· In Total Viewers, ABC's Castle was up over it year-ago performance on the evening (11.1 million - 9/27/10).
Tuesday
With a "Dancing" special, "DWTS: The Results" and "Body of Proof," ABC (11.1 million) stood as the 2nd-most-watched net on Tuesday night to CBS ("NCIS"/"NCIS: LA"/"Unforgettable"). The Net topped Fox on the night by 2.9 million viewers ("Glee"/"New Girl"/"Raising Hope" = 8.2 million) and NBC by 5.3 million viewers (2-hour "The Biggest Loser 12"/"Parenthood" = 5.8 million).
"Dancing W/Stars SP-9/27" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
From 8:00-9:00 p.m., ABC's "DWTS: The Encore Performance" (9.3 million) finished No. 2 to CBS' top-rated "NCIS" in Total Viewers, outdrawing Fox's "Glee" by 10% (8.6 million) and the opening hour of NBC's "The Biggest Loser" by 64% (5.8 million).
"Dancing with the Stars: The Results" (9:00-10:01 p.m.)
Surging over its lead-in and building audience throughout its broadcast against strong competition, ABC's "Dancing with the Stars: The Results" (14.4 million) registered as the 2nd-most-watched program in the 9 o'clock hour, pacing well ahead of Fox ("New Girl"/"Raising Hope" = 7.7 million) and NBC ("The Biggest Loser" = 5.9 million). The broad-appealing ABC unscripted series also earned the No. 2 position in the hour with Adults 25-54, Women 18-34 and Women 18-49, while ranking No. 1 with Women 25-54. In addition, the show also finished No. 1 against its network rivals with Kids 2-11. Italian actress Elisabetta Canalis was the second celebrity dancer to leave the dance competition this season.
· The ABC unscripted series once again outdelivered its NBC unscripted competition in the hour by wide margins, beating the second hour of "The Biggest Loser" by 8.5 million viewers (14.4 million vs. 5.9 million) and by 21% in Adults 18-49 (2.9/7 vs. 2.4/6).
· "DWTS: The Results" retained 100% of its week-earlier premiere among Adults 18-49 and grew week to week with Women 18-49 (+3%).
"Body of Proof" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
ABC's "Body of Proof" ran a solid second overall in the 10 o'clock hour, topping NBC's "Parenthood" by 3.7 million viewers (9.2 million vs. 5.5 million). The sophomore ABC drama also ranked No. 2 in its time slot with Adults 25-54 (2.6/6-tie) for the 2nd week running.
· Exhibiting much stronger lead-in retention for ABC in the hour year to year with viewers and young adults, "Body of Proof" improved its time period over the same night last year (9/28/10) in Total Viewers (+6%) and across all key Women: W18-34 (+13%), W18-49 (+4%) and W25-54 (+6%).
Wednesday
Despite facing Fox's 2-hour "The X Factor" on the night this year, ABC's numbers rose sharply over the same Wednesday last year in both Total Viewers (+29% - 9.4 million vs. 7.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (+42% - 3.4/9 vs. 2.4/7). For the 2nd week in a row this season, ABC claimed Wednesday's definitive No. 1 TV show with "Modern Family" in viewers and young adults.
"The Middle" (8:00-8:30 p.m.)
At 8:00 p.m. ABC's "The Middle" dominated its comedy competition in the half-hour, leading NBC's "Up All Night" by 3.4 million viewers (8.7 million vs. 5.3 million) and by 29% in Adults 18-49 (2.7/8 vs. 2.1/6). In addition, "The Middle" beat out CBS' "Survivor: South Pacific" in the slot by 33% in Adults 18-34 (2.0/7 vs. 1.5/5).
· Although it's facing "The X Factor" in the time period this year, "The Middle" was up from its performance on the year-ago night (8.4 million and 2.5/8 on 9/29/10) for the 2nd straight telecast among viewers (+4%) and young adults (+8%).
"Suburgatory" (8:30-9:00 p.m.)
Building on its lead-in by double-digit percentages among viewers (+13%) and young adults (+22%) at 8:30 p.m., the series debut of "Suburgatory" opened as ABC's biggest comedy premiere in the half hour in 8 years with Total Viewers (9.8 million) and in 6 years with Adults 18-49 (3.3/9) - since 10/1/03 and 10/12/05, respectively. Similarly to its lead-in, "Suburgatory" overshadowed its comedy competition in the half-hour, more than tripling the delivery of NBC's "Free Agents" (3.1 million and 1.0/3) in viewers (+216%) and Adults 18-49 (+230%). In fact, the new ABC comedy ran in a virtual tie with "Survivor" (3.4/9) in the slot among Adults 18-49 and beat the CBS reality series by an impressive 59% in Adults 18-34 (2.7/8 vs. 1.7/5).