Primetime Ratings Report For the week of February 13-19, 2006
Opposite the Winter Olympics, ABC is Up by 1.0 Million Viewers
And by 10% Among Adults 18-49 Over the Same Week Last Year
ABC Airs 5 of the Week�s Top 20 TV Shows in Adults 18-49, with 3 of the Top 5
The Top Non-Olympic Program on Monday in the 8 O�clock Hour, ABC�s Repeat
�Wife Swap� Outpaces Fox�s Original �Skating with Celebrities� by Wide Margins
Building Audience Throughout its 2-Hour Telecast Opposite the Olympics,
�The Bachelor: Paris� Earns its Second-Best Numbers in Viewers and Adults 18-49
Growing from the Previous Week, ABC�s �Lost� Beats the Olympics by 26% in
Adults 18-49, while Dominating Fox�s Competing Drama, �Bones,� in the Time Slot
ABC�s �Dancing with the Stars� Wins its Thursday Slot in Viewers, Outdrawing
CBS� �Survivor� for the Second Week in a Row and Defeating NBC�s Winter Olympics Coverage in Each Half-hour in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49
Friday�s No. 1 TV Series, ABC�s �Dancing with the Stars the Results� Outdraws the Olympics by 1.3 Million Viewers from 8-9pm, with Series Highs in the Adult Demos
ABC Earns Gold Again, Beating the Winter Olympics for the Second Sunday
In a Row in Adults 18-49, and Overshadowing NBC by 37% During Primetime
Opposite the Olympics, �America�s Funniest Home Videos�
Marks the Series� Highest Adult 18-34 Rating Since May 2003
ABC�s �Desperate Housewives� Beats the Olympics in Head-to-Head Competition
In the Sunday 9 O�clock Hour by 1.5 Million Viewers and by 66% in Adults 18-49
Building on its Lead Among Viewers and Young Adults for the Second Straight Week, �Grey�s Anatomy� Outdraws NBC�s Winter Olympics by 5.8 Million Viewers and Tops the Combined Deliveries of CBS and NBC in the Hour by 29% in Adults 18-49
WEEK No. 22:
Opposite a complete week of the 2006 Winter Olympics, ABC again notched solid gains over its performance on the same week last year. Compared to the year-ago week (w/o 2/14/05), the Network�s primetime numbers increased by 1.0 million viewers (11.4 million vs. 10.4 million) and by 10% in Adults 18-49 (4.3/11 vs. 3.9/10). For 7 straight weeks, ABC has either grown or held even with the comparable year-ago week in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.
Rankings: ABC aired 5 of the week�s Top 20 TV programs in Adults 18-49, including 3 of the Top 5 programs: �Grey�s Anatomy� � No. 3, �Desperate Housewives� � No. 4, �Lost� � No. 5, �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� � No. 13 and �Dancing with the Stars� � No. 17. The Network claimed 6 of the Top 20 most-watched programs during the week: �Grey�s Anatomy� � No. 3, �Desperate Housewives� � No. 4, �Dancing with the Stars� � No. 8, �Lost� � No. 14, �Dancing with the Stars the Results� � No. 17 and �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� � No. 19. Surpassing Fox�s �American Idol� and all NBC Olympics telecasts, �Grey�s Anatomy� stood as the week�s No. 1 TV show across each of the key women demographics (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). For the second week in a row, ABC News� �20/20� ranked as the No. 1 newsmagazine among Adults 18-49.
Monday
ABC earned second place to NBC�s Olympics coverage on Monday among Adults 18-34 (3.8/11), Women 18-49 (5.2/12), while winning the night among Women 18-34 (5.1/13).
� Despite going against the Olympics this year, ABC was up from the same night last February Sweep (2/14/05) by 3% in Total Viewers (9.1 million vs. 8.8 million) and by 15% in Adults 18-49 (3.9/10 vs. 3.4/9).
�Wife Swap� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
ABC�s �Wife Swap� repeat was the top non-Olympics program in its hour among Total Viewers (8.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.5/10). Versus its unscripted competition in the time period, ABC�s encore �Wife Swap� outpaced Fox�s original �Skating with Celebrities� (7.7 million & 2.7/7) by 1.1 million viewers and by 30% in Adults 18-49.
�The Bachelor: Paris� (9:00 -11:00 p.m.)
For the fourth straight week, ABC�s �The Bachelor: Paris� won its time period and qualified as the No. 1 TV program on Monday among its core audience of Women 18-34 (6.0/15), even beating the Winter Olympics this week. The ABC unscripted series built audience during each half-hour of its 2-hour telecast, growing by 1.6 million viewers (8.4 million to 10.0 million) and by 34% in Adults 18-49 (3.5/8 to 4.7/12) from beginning to end. During the 10 o�clock hour, �The Bachelor: Paris� took a strong second place to the Olympics among Adults 18-49, pacing 7% ahead of CBS repeat �C.S.I.: Miami� (4.6/11 vs. 4.3/10). ABC ranked No. 1 from 10:00-11:00 p.m. among Adults 18-34 (4.8/13), tying the Olympics.
� Although it aired opposite the Winter Olympics this week, �The Bachelor: Paris� posted its second- strongest numbers yet in Total Viewers (9.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.2/10), trailing only its performance on the prior week against lesser competition (9.7 million & 4.3/10).
Wednesday
�George Lopez�/�Freddie� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
From 8:00�9:00 p.m., opposite Fox�s �American Idol� and NBC�s Winter Olympics coverage, ABC freshman comedy �Freddie� built on its �George Lopez� lead-in among young adults (2.4/6 vs. 2.3/6). Head to head in each half-hour, �George Lopez� and �Freddie� beat their comedy competition in the hour in Adults 18-49, CBS� �Still Standing� (1.9/5) and �Yes, Dear� (2.0/5), respectively. In addition, both ABC comedies were up from the prior week.
�Lost� (9:00-10:03 p.m.)
ABC�s �Lost� surged from its lead-in and gained audience throughout its telecast to rank a strong No. 1 in its time period, beating NBC�s Winter Olympics coverage by 26% in Adults 18-49 (7.8/18 vs. 6.2/14). �Lost� defeated its nearest regular competition during the 9 o�clock hour, Fox�s �Bones,� by 7.0 million viewers (18.2 million vs. 11.2 million) and by 73% in Adults 18-49 (7.8/18 vs. 4.5/10). This came despite an enormous lead-in advantage for Fox coming into the hour from �Idol.�
In addition, the ABC sophomore drama delivered the No. 1 position in its time period, defeating the Olympics by wide margins in Adults 25-54 (8.9/19), Adults 18-34 (6.1/16) and Teens 12-17 (4.4/14).
� Against the Olympics, �Lost� was up from the prior week among Adults 18-49 (7.8/18 vs. 7.7/17).
� �Lost� qualified as the No. 1 scripted show on the evening in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. The sophomore drama has been the strongest scripted program on the night in all 14 of its original telecasts this season.
�Invasion� (10:03-11:00 p.m.)
During the final hour of primetime, ABC�s �Invasion� beat its regular time period competition, CBS� �C.S.I.: NY,� among Adults 18-34 (2.9/9 vs. 2.7/8).
� Opposite Olympics competition this week, �Invasion� retained virtually all of its week-earlier audience among Total Viewers (9.0 million vs. 9.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.6/9 vs. 3.6/9).
Thursday
Against NBC�s Winter Olympics, ABC puts up its second-strongest non-sports Thursday this season in Adults 18-49 (4.2/11) and its top non-sports Adult 18-34 number (3.3/9) on the night in 3 years � since 2/20/03.
� Compared to the same night last February Sweep (2/17/05), ABC�s delivery increased by 5.7 million viewers (13.9 million vs. 8.2 million) and by 62% in Adults 18-49 (4.2/11 vs. 2.6/7).
�Dancing with the Stars� (8:00-9:30 p.m.)
ABC�s �Dancing with the Stars� won its 90-minute time period among Total Viewers (19.2 million), outpacing CBS (17.2 million) and NBC (18.1 million � from 8:30-9:30 p.m.) by considerable margins. ABC bested NBC�s Winter Olympics coverage in both of its rated half-hours in viewers and young adults from 8:30-9:30 p.m. (NBC sustained its first half-hour of Olympics coverage), outdistancing third-place NBC by 2.3 million viewers (20.4 million vs. 18.1 million) and by 7% in Adults 18-49 (5.9/14 vs. 5.5/13) in that hour. Widening its advantage this week to +1.3 million viewers, �Dancing with the Stars� attracted more viewers than CBS� �Survivor� for the second straight week (18.3 million vs. 17.0 million).
� Although it went up against the Olympics this week, �Dancing with the Stars� marked its second-strongest delivery this season in Total Viewers (19.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (5.4/13), just behind its season high delivery a week earlier. The ABC unscripted program achieved season highs among Adults 18-34 (4.0/11) and Women 18-34 (5.7/15).
�Grey�s Anatomy � Special Repeat� (9:30-10:30 p.m.)
On its second consecutive quick turn-around special repeat airing in the time period (replay of the previous Sunday�s episode), ABC�s �Grey�s Anatomy� continued to improve the time period for ABC and at the same time saw its numbers grow in key demographics from the prior week. Versus ABC�s average in the 1-hour time period this season, the �Grey�s Anatomy� repeat improved the hour for ABC by 1.9 million viewers (9.4 million vs. 7.5 million) and by 42% in Adults 18-49 (3.4/9 vs. 2.4/6). In addition, �Grey�s Anatomy� was up week to week among Women 18-34 (4.0/10 vs. 3.7/9) and Teens 12-17 (2.0/6 vs. 1.6/5).
Friday
ABC took second place to NBC�s Olympics coverage on Friday night in Total Viewers (10.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.1/9). ABC was up from the previous week on both Nielsen measures (10.3 million & 3.0/8 on 2/10/06).
� Opposite the 2006 Winter Olympics, ABC�s primetime delivery grew by 2.3 million viewers and by 11% in Adults 18-49 from the same Friday last February Sweep (8.4 million & 2.8/8 on 2/18/05).
�Dancing with the Stars the Results� (8:00-9:01 p.m.)
For the 7th time in as many weeks, ABC�s �Dancing with the Stars the Results� ranked No. 1 against its regular competition in its time slot among Total Viewers (15.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.0/12). Actress Lisa Rinna was the next dancer to leave the competition. ABC�s dancing results program topped NBC�s coverage of Winter Olympics competition in the time period by 1.3 million viewers (16.8 million vs. 15.5 million at 8:30 p.m. � NBC sustained the first half-hour of its Olympics coverage).
� Opposite the Olympics, �DWTS the Results� attracted its second-largest audience yet (15.8 million) and marked its best numbers ever across each of the key adult demographics: AD18-34 (2.8/10), AD18-49 (4.0/12) and AD25-54 (5.2/14).
� �Dancing with the Stars the Results� qualified as the No. 1 television series on Friday in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.
�In Justice� (9:01-10:00 p.m.)
ABC�s �In Justice� earned second place in its time period among Adults 18-49 (2.6/7), up 4% from the prior week (2.5/7).
�20/20� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
During the 10 o�clock hour opposite the Olympics, ABC News� �20/20� built on its lead-in and matched its week ago delivery among Adults 18-49 (2.7/8) and Adults 25-54 (3.3/8).
Sunday
ABC won Sunday night among Adults 18-49, beating NBC�s Winter Olympics coverage on the evening for the second week in a row. In fact ABC widened its winning advantage over NBC to 37% this week in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic (7.4/17 vs. 5.4/13). Gaining viewers and young adult audience during each half-hour of the evening, the Network ranked No. 1 in each half-hour from 8:30-11:00 p.m. in Adults 18-49. ABC was also the No. 1 network on the evening among Adults 25-54 (8.2/17), Adults 18-34 (6.4/17), Teens 12-17 (3.7/11) and Kids 2-11 (3.0/10).
� ABC aired the Top 2 TV programs on Sunday among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, with �Grey�s Anatomy� and �Desperate Housewives,� respectively.
� ABC improved its results on the night year to year, despite competing against the 2006 Winter Olympics on NBC, growing from the same night last February (2/20/05) by 1.4 million viewers (18.2 million vs. 16.8 million) and by 6% in Adults 18-49 (7.4/17 vs. 7.0/17).
�America�s Funniest Home Videos� (7:00-8:00 p.m.)
ABC�s �America�s Funniest Home Videos� stood as the top non-sports program in its hour among Adults 18-49 (3.4/9).
� Opposite the Olympics, �Funniest Home Videos� marked the series� highest Adult 18-34 rating (2.7/8) since May 2003 � since 5/30/03.
�Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
ABC�s �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� nearly tied the Olympics for the first place from 8:00-9:00 p.m. among Adults 18-49 (5.8/13 vs. 5.9/13) and beat the Winter Games to win the hour in Adults 18-34 (4.9/13), Teens 12-17 (3.0/9) and Kids 2-11 (4.0/12).
�Desperate Housewives� (9:00-10:01 p.m.)
ABC�s �Desperate Housewives� dominated the Olympics during the 9 o�clock hour, leading its time period by 1.5 million viewers (23.4 million vs. 21.9 million) and by 66% among Adults 18-49 (9.8/21 vs. 5.9/12) over second-place NBC.
�Grey�s Anatomy� (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
Building on its lead-in among viewers and young adults for the second week in a row, ABC�s �Grey�s Anatomy� widened its winning advantage during 10 o�clock hour this week. In its time period, �Grey�s� overshadowed NBC�s Olympics coverage by 5.8 million viewers (24.4 million vs. 18.6 million) and beat the combined deliveries of NBC and CBS in the time period by 29% in Adults 18-49 (10.7/24 vs. 8.3/19 � CBS and NBC together).
Source: Nielsen Media Research (Live+SD), week of 2/13/06, or as dated.
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