Primetime Ratings Report For the week of August 21, 2006
ABC Generates its Best Numbers in 10 Weeks, the Network's
Second-Strongest Week this Summer in Viewers and Young Adults
ABC Claims 5 of the Top 20 TV Programs of the Week among Adults 18-49
A Replay "Wife Swap" at 9pm on Monday Draws the Series'
Strongest Numbers this Summer in Viewers and Adults 18-49,
Beating Fox's Series Debut of "Vanished" among Young Women
Back to Back Replays of "According to Jim" Rank Second in Adults 18-49
On Tuesday, Marking ABC's Top Non-Sports Ratings in the Time Period this Summer
ABC News' "Primetime: The Outsiders" Grows in its Second Telecast Tuesday at 10pm, Earning ABC's Best Numbers in the Hour this Summer in Viewers and Adults
ABC News' "Primetime: Medical Mysteries" Continues to Greatly Improve the Wednesday 10 O'clock Hour for ABC in Viewers and Key Adult Demographics
ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" Wins Thursday at 9pm in Adults 18-34 and Young
Women, while Producing the Series' Best-Ever Summer Repeat Performance
For the 8th Straight Week, ABC's "20/20" Wins Friday at 10pm in Adults 18-49
ABC is the Most-Watched Net on Saturday with a Replay of "Pearl Harbor"
Opposite NBC's Emmy Awards Coverage on Sunday, ABC's Repeat of "Pirates
Of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" Qualifies as TV's Most-Watched
Theatrical since December '05 and Top-Rated with Adults 18-49 Since February '05
WEEK No. 49:
ABC took second place during the week August 21, 2006, in the young adult demographics [AD18-34 - 1.8/6 (tie) and Adults 18-49 - 2.2/7 (tie)]. ABC ranked as the No. 1 network of the week with Women 18-34 (2.2/7-tie) and Women 18-49 (2.7/8 - tie).
* ABC posted its best numbers in 10 weeks among viewers and young adults, its second-strongest week this summer - best since the week of 6/12/06, when the Net aired 3 games of the 2006 NBA Finals.
* Versus the same week last summer, ABC was up by 7% in Total Viewers (6.1 million vs. 5.7 million) and by 10% among Adults 18-49 (2.2/7 vs. 2.0/6).
Rankings: ABC aired 5 of the Top 20 TV programs of the week in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic: "ABC Sunday Movie of the Week-8/27 Pirates of the Caribbean" - No. 2, "Grey's Anatomy-THU 9PM" - No. 10, "Wife Swap-MON 9P" - No. 13 and "According to Jim-TU 9:30P" and
"Grey's Anatomy-SUN" tied at No. 19. In addition, ABC's Sunday replay of Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" placed among the week's Top 5 most-watched TV programs (No. 5).
Monday
Opposite Fox's Monday night of premieres, ABC's all-repeat lineup registered its best Monday night performance this summer across each of the key adult demographics [Adults 18-34 (2.0/6 - tied), Adults 18-49 (2.3/6) and Adults 25-54 (2.5/6 - tied)], with non-sports programming.
"Wife Swap" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
Airing against the second season premiere of Fox's "Prison Break", ABC's repeat "Wife Swap" took second place in the hour among Adults 18-49 and saw week-to-week increases of 5% in Total Viewers (6.0 million vs. 5.7 million) and 10% among Adults 18-49 (2.3/7 vs. 2.1/7).
"Wife Swap" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Building on its lead-in in viewers and young adults, the 9:00 p.m. episode of "Wife Swap" earned the series' best numbers of the summer in both Total Viewers (6.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.8/7). In addition, the unscripted series delivered the Network's strongest non-sports performance in hour this summer in both Nielsen measures.
* From the first half-hour to the second half-hour, ABC's repeat "Wife Swap" increase by 12% among Adults 18-49 (2.6/7 to 2.9/8), while the series debut of Fox's "Vanished" lost 6% of its young adult viewers (3.1/8 to 2.9/7), as the two shows tied for No. 1 in the 9:30 p.m. half-hour.
* Opposite Fox's "Vanished," ABC's repeat "Wife Swap" won the hour in Women 18-34 (3.4/10) and Women 18-49 (3.7/10), posting the Net's highest ratings in the hour this summer.
Tuesday
"According to Jim" (8:00-10:01 p.m.)
Four back-to-back repeat episodes of "According to Jim" gained viewers and young adults throughout its 2-hour time period. From the first telecast to the fourth telecast, ABC increased by 1.4 million viewers (4.8 million to 6.2 million) and by 53% among Adults 18-49 (1.7/6 to 2.6/7).
* "According to Jim" finished second in each half-hour of the final three episodes among Adults 18-49 (2.1/7, 2.3/6 and 2.6/7, respectively), marking ABC's highest ratings in each time slot this summer with non-sports programming.
"Primetime: The Outsiders" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
ABC News' "Primetime: The Outsiders" delivered ABC's highest numbers in the hour this summer in Total Viewers (6.7 million) and across each of the key adult demographics: Adults 18-34 (1.9/6), Adults 18-49 (2.3/7) and Adults 25-54 (2.8/7).
* In its second telecast, "Primetime: The Outsiders" saw increases from the previous week's debut of 1.1 million viewers (6.7 million vs. 5.6 million), by 5% among Adults 18-49 (2.3/7 vs. 2.2/6) and by 12% among Adults 25-54 (2.8/7 vs. 2.5/6).
Wednesday
"Primetime: Medical Mysteries" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC News' "Primetime: Medical Mysteries" took second in the 10 o'clock hour, drawing 6.9 million viewers and a 2.5 rating 7 share among Adults 18-49. The newsmagazine led the hour among Women 18-34 (2.5/7) and Woman 18-49 (3.2/9).
* So far in its first five weeks on the air, "Primetime: Medical Mysteries" ranks second in the hour among Adults 18-49 (2.4/7 - tied), while placing first among Women 18-49 (3.1/8 - tied) and Women 25-54 (3.7/9 - tied).
* On average, Primetime: Medical Mysteries" has improved its time period for ABC by 2.7 million viewers (6.9 million vs. 4.2 million), by 50% among Adults 18-49 (2.4/7 vs. 1.6/5) and by 56% among Adults 25-54 (2.8/8 vs. 1.8/5) over the same five weeks last year (7/27 - 8/24/05).
Thursday
"Grey's Anatomy" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
The 8:00 p.m. repeat telecast of "Grey's Anatomy" delivered 6.2 million viewers and a 1.9 rating, 6 share among Adults 18-49, posting the show's best numbers yet in the 8 o'clock time period. Furthermore, the drama drew the Network's largest audience in the time slot this summer with regular programming, while posting the Net's highest young adult performance in the hour in over 2 months - since 6/22/06.
"Grey's Anatomy" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Surging from its lead-in by 1.7 million viewers and by 53% with young adults, the second episode of "Grey's Anatomy" scored the show's strongest summer numbers ever for a repeat telecast in both Total Viewers (7.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.9/8). The drama finished second in the hour in both Nielsen measures, while taking the top spot in the time slot with Adults 18-34 (2.4/8), Women 18-34 (3.6/11) and Women 18-49 (4.3/12 - tied).
* "Grey's" registered ABC's largest audience and highest young adult performance in the hour this summer with regular programming.
Friday
"20/20" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
For the 8th straight week, ABC News' "20/20" won Friday's 10 o'clock hour among Adults 18-49 (1.7/5).
Saturday
"ABC Saturday Movie of the Week: Pearl Harbor" (8:00-11:00 p.m.)
With a rebroadcast airing of "Pearl Harbor" on the "ABC Saturday Movie of the Week," ABC drew 4.3 million viewers, making ABC the most-watched Network of the night. ABC took second on the night among Adults 18-49 (1.3/4).
_ "Pearl Harbor" saw its adult audience increase throughout its telecast. The movie grew by 1.9 million viewers (3.3 million to 5.2 million) and by 125% among Adults 18-49 (0.8/3 to 1.8/6) from its first half-hour to its final half-hour.
Sunday
ABC put up a solid performance on Sunday night opposite NBC and its Emmy coverage, taking second place on the evening in Total Viewers (9.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.5/9). It was ABC's best summertime Sunday performance in nearly 2 years on both Nielsen measures - since 9/19/04.
"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (7:00-10:00 p.m.)
From 7:00-10:00 p.m. a rebroadcast of Disney's "Pirates Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" drew 10.0 million viewers and a 3.7 rating, 10 share among Adults 18-49, ABC's best numbers in the time period this summer.
* Although the movie aired head to head with the first two hours of the 2006 Emmy broadcast (from 8:00-10:00 p.m.), "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" was TV's most-watched movie and the top-rated among Adults 18-49 since April 2006 - since 4/30/06 and 4/11/06, respectively. Additionally, "Pirates of the Caribbean" stands as TV's most-watched theatrical since December 2005 and top-rated among Adults 18-49 since February 2005 - since 12/15/05 and 2/27/05, respectively.
* "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" delivered increasing returns, up from its original telecast on ABC last November by 1.6 million viewers and by 28% in Adults 18-49 (8.4 million & 2.9/7 on 11/3/05).
* "The Curse of the Black Pearl" gained audience during each half-hour of its 3-hour telecast, growing by 4.6 million viewers (7.2 million to11.8 million) and by 104% in Adults 18-49 (2.3/8 to 4.7/11) from start to finish.
Source: Nielsen Media Research (Live+SD), week of 8/21/06, or as dated.
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