Primetime Ratings Report For the week of May 1-7, 2006
ABC is Up Week to Week for the Second Week in a Row and Claims 3 of the Week�s Top 7 TV Shows in Adults 18-49, Including the No. 1 Scripted Series
Season to date ABC is up by 8% in Total Viewers and by 8% in Adults 18-49, Qualifying as the Only Network to Improve its Performance on Either Measure
�Wife Swap� Logs its Strongest Viewer and Young Adult Numbers in 5 Weeks
�Supernanny� Season Finale Wins its Hour Across the Key Women Demos,
Marking Double-Digit Increases Over Last Year�s Finale in Viewers and Adults 18-49
Monday at 10pm, ABC�s �What About Brian� Beats NBC�s Medium by 8%
In Adults 18-34, Posting Week-to-Week Gains in Viewers and Adults 18-49
Jumping from its Lead-in by 5.4 Million Viewers and 72% in Adults 18-49 on
Tuesday at 10pm, ABC�s �Boston Legal� Draws its Largest Audience in 7 Weeks
ABC�s �Lost� is Up from its Most Recent Original in Adults 18-49, Ranking as TV�s
No. 1 Scripted Series on Wednesday on All 20 of its Original Telecasts This Season
ABC Captures its 15th Straight Sunday in Adults 18-49, Airing the Top 3
Programs of the Night and Leading Each Hour for the 4th Week in a Row
Sunday at 7pm, ABC�s �America�s Funniest Home Videos�
Ranks No. 1 Among Adults 18-49 for its 3rd Consecutive Telecast
ABC�s �Desperate Housewives� More than Doubles its Nearest Competition
Sunday at 9pm, Winning by 10.9 Million Viewers and by 132% in Adults 18-49
The No. 1 TV Program on Sunday, ABC�s �Grey�s Anatomy� is Up Week to Week, Beating the Combined Deliveries of CBS and NBC in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49
WEEK No. 33:
ABC took second place to Fox during the week of May 1, 2006 among Adults 18-34 (2.6/8), Men 18-34 (1.9/7), Women 18-34 (3.3/10), Teens 12-17 (1.7/6) and Kids 2-11 (1.3/5). For the second week in row, ABC was up from the previous week among Total Viewers (8.7 million vs. 8.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.2/9 vs. 3.1/9).
� With less than 3 weeks left in the official 2005-06 TV Season, ABC is the network of growth. ABC�s primetime delivery this season has grown by 8% in Total Viewers (10.9 million vs. 10.1 million) and by 8% in Adults 18-49 (4.0/11 vs. 3.7/10) over the same point last season. Delivering its highest-rated season in 5 years (best since the 2000-01 TV Season), ABC is the only network to improve its performance in either Viewers or Adults 18-49. ABC�s increases are driven largely by its regular entertainment series programming, up by 8% in Total Viewers and by 5% in Adults 18-49 over its averages with regularly scheduled series programming at the same point last season. ABC is seeing its second consecutive season of gains in both viewers and young adults.
Rankings: ABC aired 5 of the week�s Top 20 TV programs in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic, including 3 of the Top 7. �Grey�s Anatomy� � No. 3, �Desperate Housewives� � No. 5, �Lost� � No. 7, �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� � No. 16 and �Supernanny� � No. 19. Additionally, �Grey�s� (No. 5) and �Housewives� (No. 6) placed among the most-watched television programs for the week. �Grey�s Anatomy� stood as TV�s No. 1 scripted series during the week in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic. The ABC sophomore drama stood as the No. 1 show overall for the week among Women 18-34, surpassing both editions of Fox�s �American Idol.�
Monday
ABC took second on Monday among Adults 18-34 (3.2/9), while winning the night among Women 18-34 (4.2/11) and Kids 2-11 (1.7/7).
� In the first Monday of the May �06 Sweep, ABC posted increases in both Total Viewers (8.3 million vs. 7.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.4/9 vs. 3.1/8) over the same night a year ago (5/2/05).
�Wife Swap� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
During the opening hour of primetime, ABC�s �Wife Swap� drew 8.4 million viewers and a 3.3 rating, 9 share among Adults 18-49, the Net�s best performance in the hour in 5 weeks � since 3/27/06. ABC placed second in the time period among Women 18-49 (4.3/11) and Women 25-54 (4.8/11).
� �Wife Swap� grew by nearly 1.0 million viewers (8.0 million to 8.9 million) and by 17% Adults 18-49 (3.0/9 to 3.5/9) from its first half-hour to its second half-hour.
�Supernanny� (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
The season finale of �Supernanny� attracted the show�s second-largest audience of the season in Total Viewers (10.3 million), while matching the season�s second-highest among Adults 18-49 (4.2/10 - tied). �Supernanny� led its hour across each of the key women demographics [Women 18-34 (5.3/11), Women 18-49 (5.8/13) and Women 25-54 (6.4/13)] and Kids 2-11 (2.6/10).
� �Supernanny� was up from last year�s season finale (5/2/05) by 1.5 million viewers (10.3 million vs. 8.8 million) and by 17% among Adults 18-49 (4.2/10 vs. 3.6/6).
�What About Brian� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
�What About Brian� took second place during the 10 o�clock hour in Adults 18-34, beating NBC�s original �Medium� by 8% (2.6/7 vs. 2.4/7).
� �What About Brian� was up over its performance the prior week by 11% in Total Viewers (6.0 million vs. 5.4 million) and by 8% among Adults 18-49 (2.8/7 vs. 2.6/7).
Tuesday
�Boston Legal� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Finishing second in the hour to NBC�s �Law & Order: S.V.U.,� ABC�s �Boston Legal� outperformed CBS�s �Dynasty Reunion: Catfights and Caviar� special by 5.0 million viewers (10.4 million vs. 5.4 million) and by 107% among Adults 18-49 (3.1/8 vs. 1.5/4). In addition, �Boston Legal� attracted its largest audience in 7 weeks � since 3/14/06.
� �Boston Legal� produced substantial tune-in for ABC at 10:00 p.m., jumping from its lead-in by 5.4 million viewers (10.4 million vs. 5.0 million) and by 72% in Adults 18-49 (3.1/8 vs. 1.8/4).
Wednesday
ABC earned second place to Fox on Wednesday evening among Adults 18-34 (2.9/9), across the men demographics (M18-34 � 2.5/8, M18-49 � 3.2/9 & M25-54 � 3.9/10) and among Teens 12-17 (2.4/8).
�Lost� (9:00-10:02 p.m.)
Starting out opposite stiff competition from Fox -- with the �American Idol� results show (9:00-9:30 p.m.) coming out of a much stronger than normal lead-in from a special �House� (8:00-9:00 p.m.) -- ABC�s �Lost� jumped from its lead and gained audience throughout its telecast to rank a strong No. 1 at 9:30pm in viewers and young adults. During the 9 o�clock hour, �Lost� (15.6 million & 6.4/15) topped its CBS drama competition by wide margins in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 (�Criminal Minds� � 12.2 million & 3.5/8).
� �Lost� was up from its most recent original telecast, three weeks ago, among Adults 18-49 (6.4/15 vs. 6.3/16). The drama attracted its strongest Teen 12-17 number (4.2/13) in 11 weeks � since 2/15/06.
� Delivering strong tune-in for ABC at 9:00 p.m. against �Idol,� �Lost� jumped from its �Alias� lead-in by 10.3 million viewers and by 256% in Adults 18-49. From its first half-hour to its second half-hour, the sophomore drama gained 2.2 million viewers (14.4 million to 16.6 million) and 17% in Adults 18-49 (5.9/14 to 6.9/16). As a result from 9:30-10:00 p.m., �Lost� ranked a strong No. 1, defeating Fox�s �Idol�-fueled �Unanimous� by 2.7 million viewers (16.6 million vs. 13.9 million) and by 15% in Adults 18-49 (6.9/16 vs. 6.0/14).
� �Lost� ranked as TV�s No. 1 scripted program on Wednesday among Adults 18-49 (tie). The sophomore ABC drama has been the top-rated scripted program on Wednesday in all 20 of its original telecasts this season.
Sunday
ABC captured its 15th consecutive Sunday among Adults 18-49, leading its closest competition on the evening by 4.3 million viewers (16.0 million vs. 11.7 million - CBS) and by 97% in Adults 18-49 (6.5/17 vs. 3.3/9 - Fox). For the fourth week in a row, ABC won all 4 hours during Sunday�s primetime night in Adults 18-49. In addition, the Net built its young adult audience in each half-hour of the night.
� No. 1 on the night for the 15th straight week in the Adult 18-49 sales demographic, ABC continued to deliver its longest winning streak on the evening in at least 15 years � since at least September 1991, the start of Nielsen�s electronic database.
� ABC aired the Top 3 TV shows on Sunday among Adults 18-49, with �Grey�s Anatomy,� �Desperate Housewives� and �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.� �Grey�s Anatomy� and �Desperate Housewives� represented the Top 2 most-watched programs on Sunday.
�America�s Funniest Home Videos� (7:00-8:00 p.m.)
During the opening hour of primetime, �America�s Funniest Home Videos� put ABC into a solid first place among Adults 18-49, topping second-place CBS in the hour by 23% (2.7/9 vs. 2.2/7). The venerable ABC video clip show won its time period in young adults for its 3rd consecutive telecast.
�Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
ABC�s �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� topped its 8:00-9:00 p.m. time period in Adults 18-49, outpacing Fox�s animated comedy combo (�The Simpsons�/�Family Guy�) by 23% (4.9/13 vs. 4.0/11). The broad appealing ABC unscripted series ranked as the No. 1 TV show on Sunday evening among Kids 2-11 for the second week in a row (3.5/12).
�Desperate Housewives� (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Towering over its time period, ABC�s �Desperate Housewives� more than doubled its nearest competitors in the 9 o�clock hour. �Desperate Housewives� topped the second-place networks by 10.9 million viewers (21.3 million vs. 10.4 million � NBC) and by 132% in Adults 18-49 (8.6/20 vs. 3.7/9 � Fox).
�Grey�s Anatomy� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Building on its lead-in to become the No. 1 TV program of the evening, ABC�s �Grey�s Anatomy� outperformed CBS and NBC combined during the 10 o�clock hour in both viewers and young adults. �Grey�s� surpassed CBS and NBC together by 5% in Total Viewers (22.0 million vs. 21.0 million) and by 52% among Adults 18-49 (9.7/24 vs. 6.4/16).
� �Grey�s� was up from the prior week in Total Viewers (22.0 million vs. 20.8 million) and Adults 18-34 (9.3/25 vs. 8.9/23).
� Original telecasts of �Grey�s Anatomy� built on original telecasts of �Desperate Housewives� among Adults 18-49 on all 6 airings since �Grey�s� post-�Super Bowl� telecast (2/5/06). It has also been the top-rated TV show of the night in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic on each of its original broadcasts since the �Super Bowl.�
Source: Nielsen Media Research (Live+SD), week of 5/1/06, or as dated.
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