ABC's SHARK TANK Finishes as No. 1 TV Show

Related: ABC, SHARK TANK, Reality TV

Once again winning the 8 o'clock hour, ABC's SHARK TANK stood as Friday's most-watched TV program for the 2nd straight week, while also finishing as the night's highest-rated program in both Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54.

ABC's What Would You Do? delivered the #1 position in the 9 o'clock hour among Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54, tying as the #2 TV show of the night on both measures.

ABC's 20/20 was #1 in the 10 o'clock hour among key Adults (AD18-49/AD25-54), tying What Would You Do? as the #2 TV show on Friday in the key news demo. Head to head from 10-11pm, ABC's 20/20 continued to beat out NBC's Dateline by double-digit margins in Total Viewers (+14%), Adults 25-54 (+36%) and Adults 18-49 (+40%). Anchored by Elizabeth Vargas, "Intoxication Nation" on ABC's 20/20 reported on drinking in America.

ABC's 20/20 was up sharply over its telecast on the same night last year, jumping by 1.6 million viewers, by 46% in Adults 25-54 and by 40% in Adults 18-49.

"Shark Tank", back for a fourth season, sees the Sharks continuing the search to invest in the best businesses and products that America has to offer. The critically-acclaimed business-themed show is being hailed as "one of the best reality shows out there" and "Econ 101 for tough times." In 2012 "Shark Tank" received an Emmy-nomination for Outstanding Reality Program and was nominated for a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Reality Series. The season premiere of "Shark Tank" airs FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 (8:00-9:01 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

The Sharks -- tough, self-made, multi-millionaire and billionaire tycoons -- will once again give budding entrepreneurs the chance to make their dreams come true and potentially secure business deals that could make them millionaires. They are: billionaire Mark Cuban, owner and chairman of AXS TV and outspoken owner of the 2011 NBA championship Dallas Mavericks; real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran; "Queen of QVC" Lori Greiner; technology innovator Robert Herjavec; fashion and branding expert Daymond John; and venture capitalist Kevin O'Leary.

The entrepreneurs who dare to enter the Tank must try to convince the Sharks to part with their own hard-earned cash and give them the funding they desperately need to turn their dreams into million dollar realities. But the Sharks have a goal, too -- to get a return on their investment and own a piece of the next big business idea. When the Sharks hear an idea worth sinking their teeth into, they're more than ready to declare war and fight each other for a piece of it.

Fortunes will rise and fall quickly as some entrepreneurs' hesitation causes multiple million-dollar offers to vanish in mere seconds. Other businesses will be bought out completely in lucrative, dream-come-true acquisitions. And viewers will ride an emotional roller coaster this season with heated fights between the Sharks, uncontrollable laughter and touching moments.

"Shark Tank" will also feature appearances by several celebrities. Joining the entrepreneurs with their pitches will be "Family Guy" creator Seth McFarlane, two-time Super Bowl champion and San Francisco 49ers' running back BranDon Jacobs, entertainment celebrity reporter and writer Robin Leach, eminent Emmy Award-winning comedy writer Bruce Vilanch, and the husband and wife professional dancing team Jonathan Roberts and Anna Trebunskaya ("Dancing with the Stars").

The selection of entrepreneurs this season will range in age from 70-year-old grandmothers to the growing trend of "kidpreneurs," and includes everyone in between. There will be pitches from high school and college students, stay-at-home moms and even multi-million dollar venture capital-backed startups. All will help showcase the "I wish I had thought of that" business ideas and products. Their entrepreneurialism will run the gamut from controversial phone apps to imaginative culinary concoctions to innovative household products designed to make every-day-life easier.

In Season Four, the Sharks will offer more than $10 million of their own money in investment deals to bankroll a creative array of innovative entrepreneurs. Last season the Sharks offered over $6.2 million; in Season Two the Sharks offered close to $4 million, and in the show's first season they offered $5.4 million to entrepreneurs.

Mark Burnett, Clay Newbill and Phil Gurin are the executive producers of "Shark Tank," which is based on the Japanese "Dragons' Den" format created by Nippon Television Network Corporation. The series is produced by Sony Pictures Television.