Quick Take for Thursday, February 23, 2006 (Based on Fast Affiliate Ratings)
On a Huge Night for Broadcast TV, ABC Marks its Strongest Non-Sports Thursday in 1 Year in Viewers and Adults 18-49 and 3 Years in Adults 18-34
Facing Competition from the Olympics, �American Idol,� �Survivor� and �CSI,�
ABC�s �Dancing with the Stars� Takes Second Place in its Slot Among Total Viewers,
Outdrawing Fox by More Than 2 Million Viewers and CBS by 3 Million Viewers
�DWTS� Sees its Numbers Jump Sharply in its Second Hour, as the Actual Dance Competition Begins, Gaining +5.8 Million Viewers and +65% among Adults 18-49
�Dancing with the Stars� Draws ABC�s Biggest Audience and Best Adult 18-49
Number with Regular Programming in the Time Period in More Than 5 Years
ABC News� �Primetime� Attracts its Largest Audience Since April 2003
And its Top Ratings Across the Adult Demographics Since November 2003
Thursday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC stood as the second-most-watched network on Thursday night (15.9 million), behind only NBC with its Winter Olympics coverage on the evening. It was a big night for broadcast TV, with ABC�s �Dancing with the Stars,� NBC�s Winter Olympics, Fox�s �American Idol� and CBS� �Survivor� and �C.S.I.� helping draw in nearly 11 million more viewers to their television sets than on a typical Thursday evening this season (Primetime Viewer 2+ TV Usage = 122.02 million last night vs. 111.36 million on an average Thursday this season).
� ABC generated its strongest non-sports Thursday in over 1 year among Total Viewers (15.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.7/11) � since 2/3/05. The Net logged its highest non-sports Adult 18-34 number (3.8/11) on the night in 3 years � since 2/20/03.
� Versus the same night last February Sweep (2/21/05), ABC�s primetime numbers shot up by 6.0 million viewers (15.9 million vs. 9.9 million) and by 62% in Adults 18-49 (4.7/11 vs. 2.9/7).
�Dancing with the Stars� (8:00-10:00 p.m.)
Facing intense competition during its 2-hour time period from the Olympics, �American Idol,� �Survivor� and �C.S.I.,� �Dancing with the Stars� (17.7 million) earned second place to NBC in Total Viewers, outpacing third-place Fox by over 2 million viewers (15.6 million) and fourth-place CBS by 3 million viewers (14.7 million). The ABC unscripted series saw its numbers climb steadily throughout its broadcast, jumping sharply during the second hour as the actual dance competition began. From 9:00-10:00 p.m. during the dancing portion of the program, �DWTS� drew an average audience of 20.6 million viewers and a 6.1/14 in Adults 18-49, up by +5.8 million viewers and +65% in the among young adults (8:00-9:00 p.m. = 14.8 million & 3.7/9, during the first hour which was a recap of the season).
� �Dancing with the Stars� produced ABC�s biggest audience with regular programming in the time period since November 2000 and its second-highest Adult 18-49 number since January 2001 � since 11/16/00 and 1/18/01.
� Despite the fierce competition for young adult audience, �DWTS� marked its second-highest numbers this season among Adults 18-34 (3.9/11) and Men 18-34 (2.4/8).
�Primetime� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Capitalizing on its strong lead-in, ABC News� �Primetime� took second place during the 10 o�clock hour, drawing an average audience of 12.4 million viewers and a 4.4/11 in Adults 18-49. The ABC newsmagazine featured Chris Cuomo�s exclusive interview with Joran Van Der Sloot � the prime suspect in the Natalee Holloway disappearance � as he offered his side of what happened the night of May 29, when Natalee went missing.
� �Primetime� drew its largest audience since April 2003 and garnered its top ratings across the adult demographics (AD18-34 � 3.7/10, AD18-49 � 4.4/11 & AD25-54 � 5.1/11) since November 2003 � since 4/24/03 & 11/13/03.
Source: Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate Ratings, Live+SD), 2/23/06
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