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ABC's Late-Night Programming Scores Biggest November Sweep in 4 Years

Related: ABC

ABC won the 2012 November sweep in both Total Viewers (2.620 million) and Adults 18-49 (850,000), marking the Net's 3rd consecutive sweep win in late-night. Together "Nightline" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" form ABC's winning late-night strategy of airing news and entertainment programming.

ABC beat NBC (2.182 million and 739,000) by 20% in Total Viewers and by 15% in Adults 18-49 during the sweep, holding its second-largest-ever Total Viewer advantage over NBC and its biggest-ever lead in Adults 18-49 during any sweep in late-night (ABC's late-night lineup began in January 2003 with the debut of "Jimmy Kimmel Live").

ABC topped runner-up CBS (2.430 million and 773,000) for the 3rd sweep in a row in both Total Viewers (+8%) and Adults 18-49 (+10%).

ABC saw gains over the previous sweep (2.219 million and 727,000) of 18% in Total Viewers and 17% in Adults 18-49, giving ABC its most-watched sweep in late-night since November 2008.

"Nightline" (Monday – Friday)
ABC's "Nightline" stood as the No. 1 late-night broadcast program during the November 2012 sweep across all key target demos: Total Viewers (3.859 million), Adults 25-54 (1.411 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.079 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. "Nightline" has ranked No. 1 in Total Viewers for the 4th November in a row and in the key adult news demo for the 3rd straight November. Looking at all sweeps, "Nightline" has taken the top spot in 4 of the last 5 sweeps in Total Viewers, and in the last 5 sweeps in the key adult news demo.

"Nightline" outdrew CBS' "The Late Show" during the month by its largest Total Viewer advantage (+653,000) during November in 13 years – since November 1999.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live" (Monday – Friday)
During the 2012 November sweep, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" generated its biggest audience ever for any sweep period (2.101 million). "JKL" grew its overall audience year to year for the 5th consecutive sweep and for the 6th time in the last 7 years over the previous November. In fact, the ABC late-night program was the only late-night broadcast talk show to deliver yearly growth in Total Viewers (+5% - 2.101 million vs. 2.000 million). In addition, "JKL" saw gains over the 2012 July Sweep in both Total Viewers (+27% - 2.101 million vs. 1.657 million) and Adults 18-49 (+25% - 749,000 vs. 598,000).

Airing from Brooklyn during the 2nd week of the November (week of October 29, 2012), "Jimmy Kimmel Live" scored its 2nd-most-watched week in its nearly 10-year history (2.298 million), behind only last year's Thanksgiving week (w/o 11/21/11).

During the sweep, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" stood as the No. 3 talk show in late-night in Total Viewers (2.101 million), behind only NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (3.471 million) and CBS' "The Late Show with David Letterman" (3.280 million).

ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" (M-F 12:00 a.m.) scored its most competitive finish ever during any sweep period with NBC's "The Tonight Show" (M-F 11:35 a.m.) among Adults 18-49, pacing just 264,000 young adult viewers behind the NBC program (749,000 vs. 1.013 million). In addition, "JKL" cut its year-to-year gap among young adults with CBS' "The Late Show" (M-F 11:35 a.m.) by more than half (-53% - 214,000 vs. 458,000) to stand just 214,000 Adult 18-49 viewers from the CBS program (749,000 vs. 963,000).

ABC's "JKL" drew a larger overall audience than NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (M-F 12:30 a.m.) for the 4th November in a row, outdrawing the NBC late-night program by 20% in Total Viewers (2.101 million vs. 1.745 million). "JKL" also held its largest advantage ever over "Fallon" during a sweep period in Adults 18-49 (+6% - 749,000 vs. 705,000).

ABC's "JKL" beat CBS' "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (M-F 12:30 a.m.) in both Total Viewers (+30% - 2.101 million vs. 1.619 million) and Adults 18-49 (+27% - 749,000 vs. 591,000) for the 5th straight sweep. In fact, the ABC late-night program has drawn a bigger overall audience than Ferguson in the last 7 sweep periods.