Primetime Ratings Report For the week of March 20-26, 2006
ABC Grows from the Comparable Year-Ago Week on 9 of the Last 10 Weeks, Marking Solid Gains This Season Based on All Programming and Non-Sports
ABC Airs 7 of the Week�s Top 20 TV Programs Among Adults 18-49, Including the
Top 3 Scripted Series with �Desperate Housewives,� �Lost� and �Grey�s Anatomy�
On Monday, �Supernanny� Produces Series-High Delivery with Adults 18-34
And Marks Season-High Performances in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49
ABC�s �Miracle Workers� Beats NBC�s �Medium� in Adults 18-34 and Adults 18-49
Wednesday�s �George Lopez� Hits its Strongest Numbers Since December,
While Lead-out �Freddie� Builds to its Best Performance Since November
ABC�s �Lost� is Wednesday�s No. 1 Scripted Series in Total Viewers
And Adults 18-49 on All 16 of its Original Telecasts This Season
ABC�s Series Premiere of �The Evidence� Outperforms NBC�s Debut of �Heist,� Showing Substantial Time Period Improvement Over the Same Night Last Year
The Net Continues to See Improved Results on Thursday, with Another
Competitive Finish and Substantial Gains Over the Same Night a Year Ago
The Thursday Series Debut of �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition � After the Storm�
Takes Second in its Slot in Viewers and Young Adults and Wins with Women and Kids
�American Inventor� Ranks No. 1 Thursday at 9pm in Adults 18-49, Boosting the Net�s Time Period Results by 8 Million Viewers and by 162% in Adults 18-49
ABC News� �Primetime� Posts its Highest Adult 18-49 Rating Since November 2003
ABC Wins is 5th Straight Sunday in Viewers and its 9th Straight in Adults 18-49
A Replay �Home Edition� Tops All-Original Competition in Adults 18-49 on Sunday
Jumping from its Lead-in to Dominate its Sunday 9 O�clock Time Period, ABC�s
�Desperate Housewives� is the Night�s No. 1 TV Show in Viewers and Young Adults
ABC�s Rebroadcast �Grey�s Anatomy� Overshadows its Competition Sunday at 10pm,
Generating ABC�s Strongest Repeat Numbers for a Scripted Series Telecast in 6 Years
WEEK No. 27:
For the 9th time in the last 10 weeks, ABC was up from the comparable year-ago week among viewers and young adults. Versus the same week last season (w/o 3/21/05), the Net gained 1.0 million viewers (9.7 million vs. 8.7 million) and built 13% among Adults 18-49 (3.6/10 vs. 3.2/9). ABC was also up from the previous week in viewers (3%) and young adults (6%).
� Season to date ABC�s primetime audience has grown by 1.1 million viewers (11.4 million vs. 10.3 million) and by 8% in Adults 18-49 (4.1/11 vs. 3.8/10) over the same point last season. In addition, ABC is the only network to build its Adult 18-49 audience this season. The Net�s gains are largely driven by non-sports programming, up by 5% in Total Viewers and by 6% in Adults 18-49 over its non-sports averages at the same point a year ago.
Rankings: During the week of March 20, 2006, ABC aired 7 of the week�s Top 20 TV programs in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic, including the Top 3 scripted series: �Desperate Housewives� � No. 3 (No. 1 scripted), �Lost� and �Grey�s Anatomy - R� tied at No. 5 (No. 2 scripted), �American Inventor� � No. 13, �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - R� � No. 17, �Primetime� � No. 19 and �Supernanny� � No. 20. ABC�s �Desperate Housewives� also stood as the most-watched scripted program of the week. For the 5th time in 6 weeks, ABC News claimed TV�s No. 1 newsmagazine among Adults 18-49 (�Primetime�).
Monday
ABC�s new Monday lineup won the night among Women 18-34 (4.5/11). It was the fourth consecutive week that ABC led the night among Women 18-34, its 8th occasion in the past 9 weeks.
� The Network�s Monday lineup continued to produce increased returns over last year. ABC was up from the same night last year (3/21/05) by 2.6 million viewers (8.9 million vs. 6.3 million) and by 46% in Adults 18-49 (3.5/9 vs. 2.4/6).
�Wife Swap� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
In the opening hour of the night, a repeat of ABC�s �Wife Swap� took second place in its time period among Women 18-49 (4.3/10) and Women 25-54 (5.0/11).
� �Wife Swap� grew by 11% in viewers (8.1 million to 9.0 million) and by 19% Adults 18-49 (3.1/8 to 3.7/9) from its first half-hour to its second half-hour.
�Supernanny� (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
ABC�s �Supernanny� won its hour with a series-best delivery among Adults 18-34 (4.8/12). In addition, the unscripted series turned in a season-high performance in Total Viewers (10.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.4/10). �Supernanny� also took first place in the hour among Women 18-34 (6.4/15) and Kids 2-11 (2.6/9).
�Miracle Workers� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC�s �Miracle Workers� finished second it its hour, beating NBC�s �Medium� by 8% among Adults 18-49 (2.8/7 vs. 2.6/7) and by 63% among Adults 18-34 (2.6/7 vs. 1.6/5).
Wednesday
ABC earned second place among Adults 18-49 (4.4/11) on Wednesday night to Fox, beating third-place NBC by 22% (3.6/9) and fourth-place CBS by 38% (3.2/8).
� ABC was up over the same night last year (3/23/05) by 4.2 million viewers (10.9 million vs. 6.7 million) and by 76% in Adults 18-49 (4.4/11 vs. 2.5/6).
�George Lopez� (8:00-8:30 p.m.)
ABC�s �George Lopez� drew its largest audience (7.2 million) and highest Adults 18-49 rating (2.8/8) in the half-hour since December � since 12/21/05 and 12/7/05, respectively. The sitcom beat its comedy competition, CBS� �Out of Practice� (6.9 million & 2.0/6), in both viewers and young adults.
�Freddie� (8:30-9:00 p.m.)
Building on its lead-in, freshman comedy �Freddie� delivered its strongest performance in both Total Viewers (7.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.2/8) since November � since 11/30/05 and 11/16/05, respectively. �Freddie� outdelivered the time period premiere of CBS� �Courting Alex� (6.3 million & 1.7/4) in both measures.
�Lost� (9:00-10:01 p.m.)
Airing against Fox�s �American Idol� in the first half-hour, ABC�s �Lost� surged from its lead-in and saw its audience jump in its second half to place a strong second during the 9 o�clock hour. �Lost� (16.1 million & 6.6/15) defeated its drama competition during the hour, CBS� �Criminal Minds� (12.1 million & 3.5/8) and NBC�s �Law & Order� (9.0 million & 2.6/6).
� �Lost� grew by nearly 2.0 million viewers (15.1 million to 17.0 million) and by 16% in Adults 18-49 (6.1/14 to 7.1/16) from start to finish. From 9:30-10:00 p.m., �Lost� ranked No. 1 in viewers (17.0 million) and in Adults 18-49 (7.1/16 � tied).
� �Lost� stood as the No. 1 scripted show on the evening in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. The sophomore drama has been the top scripted program on Wednesday in all 16 of its original telecasts this season.
�The Evidence� (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
The series premiere of �The Evidence� finished second in its hour, outperforming the series debut of NBC�s �Heist� by 3% in Total Viewers (9.1 million vs. 8.8 million) and by 13% among Adults 18-49 (3.4/9 vs. 3.0/8).
� ABC�s �The Evidence�(9.1 million & 3.4/9) substantially improved the time period by nearly 4.0 million viewers and by 48% among young adults compared to the Net�s performance in the hour on the same night last year (5.2 million & 2.3/6 on 3/23/05).
Thursday
ABC continued to see improved results on Thursday night with another competitive finish and big gains over a year ago. ABC delivered a strong second place in Total Viewers (11.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.4/12) and ranked No. 1 on the evening among Teens 12-17 (2.6/8) and Kids 2-11 (1.8/7).
� Compared to the same night a year ago, ABC primetime delivery jumped by 5 million viewers and by 110% in Adults 18-49 (3/24/05 = 6.5 million viewers and 2.1/6 in Adults 18-49).
�Extreme Makeover: Home Edition � After the Storm� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
The series debut of �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition � After the Storm� took second place during the 8 o�clock hour in Total Viewers (10.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.6/10), while winning the time period across the women demographics (W18-34 � 3.8/11, W18-49 � 4.7/13 and W25-54 � 5.5/14).
� Versus ABC�s delivery in the hour on the same night last year, �EM: HE � After the Storm� boosted the Network�s results by 4.1 million viewers and by 71% in Adults 18-49 (3/24/05 = 6.6 million & 2.1/6).
�American Inventor� (9:00-10:01 p.m.)
At 9:00 p.m., �American Inventor� moved ABC up into the No. 1 position in the hour in Adults 18-49 (5.1/13). The broad appealing ABC unscripted series also won its time slot in each of the women demographics (W18-34 � 4.9/13, W18-49 � 6.0/15 and W25-54 � 6.8/15), among Teens 12-17 (3.6/10) and Kids 2-11 (2.3/8). In fact it was the No. 1 TV broadcast of the evening with teens and kids. �American Inventor� saw its audience grow by 2.4 million viewers (11.8 million to 14.2 million) and by 30% in Adults 18-49 (4.4/11 to 5.7/14).
� Despite facing stronger numbers from CBS� NCAA basketball tournament coverage this week, �American Inventor� was up from its debut telecast the prior week among Women 18-34 and Teen 12-17.
� On average in its first two telecasts, �American Inventor� has improved the 9 o�clock hour for ABC by 8 million viewers (13.9 million vs. 5.9 million) and by 162% in Adults 18-49 (5.5/14 vs. 2.1/5), as compared the Net�s performance on the same nights last year.
�Primetime� (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
Once again capitalizing on its lead-in, ABC News� �Primetime� took second place to NBC�s �ER� during the 10 o�clock hour among Total Viewers (10.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.5/12). The program featured hidden camera reports by John Qui�ones looking at how people react when faced with different ethical dilemmas, and also how they react when confronted by racist comments from a driver during taxi cab rides.
� �Primetime� posted its highest Adult 18-49 in well over 2 years � since 11/13/03. Also, among young adults it is the top-rated newsmagazine telecast on television in 2-1/2 months � since 1/8/06. It was the second-most-watched installment of �Primetime� in 2 years � since 3/18/04.
Sunday
Although half of its lineup was in repeat (�Home Edition� and �Grey�s Anatomy�), ABC won Sunday night for the fifth straight week in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. It was the Net�s ninth consecutive Sunday to hold the No. 1 position in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic. ABC defeated second-place CBS on the night by 1.2 million viewers (14.7 million vs. 13.5 million) and by 53% in Adults 18-49 (5.8/14 vs. 3.8/10).
� ABC aired the Top 3 TV programs on Sunday among Adults 18-49, with �Desperate Housewives� and repeats of �Grey�s Anatomy� and �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.�
�America�s Funniest Home Videos� (7:00-8:00 p.m.)
Airing against CBS� NCAA Basketball overrun leading into the start of �60 Minutes,� ABC�s �America�s Funniest Home Videos� was the top entertainment program among Adults 18-49 during the 7 o�clock hour (2.7/8).
�Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
A repeat of �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,� against all-original competition, moved ABC up into first place during the 8 o�clock hour among Adults 18-49 (4.9/12). The replay �Home Edition� also took top honors in its time period in each of the women demos (W18-34 � 5.2/14, W18-49 � 5.9/14 & W25-54 � 6.4/14) and Kids 2-11 (3.3/11). In fact the broad skewing ABC unscripted program was the night�s No. 1 TV broadcast among Kids 2-11.
�Desperate Housewives� (9:00-10:01 p.m.)
Jumping from its repeat �Home Edition� lead-in by 8.4 million viewers and by 82% in Adults 18-49, ABC�s �Desperate Housewives� soared to the top of its time period. ABC�s �Desperate Housewives� beat its nearest competition (CBS) during the 9 o�clock hour by 8.3 million viewers (21.4 million vs. 13.1 million) and by 141% in Adults 18-49 (8.9/20 vs. 3.7/8).
� �Desperate Housewives� stood as the No. 1 TV program on Sunday in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.
�Grey�s Anatomy� (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
A repeat telecast of �Grey�s Anatomy� beat its closest competitor during the 10 o�clock hour by 4.3 million viewers (14.9 million vs. 10.6 million � NBC�s �Crossing Jordan�) and outperformed the combined deliveries of CBS and NBC by 8% in Adults 18-49 (6.6/16 vs. 6.1/14).
� �Grey�s Anatomy� generated the strongest repeat numbers for any ABC scripted series telecast in 6 years among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 � since 4/23/00 and 3/21/00, respectively. It was TV�s highest-rated scripted repeat telecast among Adults 18-49 in nearly 4 months (since CBS� �C.S.I.� on 12/1/05) and the third-highest rebroadcast of the season, behind only two �C.S.I.� replays (on 10/27/05 and 12/1/05).
Source: Nielsen Media Research (Live+SD), week of 3/20/06, or as dated.
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