Primetime Ratings Report For the week of February 25, 2008 (Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)
ABC Takes Second to Fox for the Week Among Adults 18-49, Claiming
6 of the Top 20 TV Shows in the Key Sales Demo, Including 3 of the Top 6
The Net Airs 4 of the Week's Top 10 Most-Watched Television Programs
With "Oprah's Big Give," "Home Edition," "Lost" and "A Raisin in the Sun"
With the Premiere of "A Raisin in the Sun," ABC Dominates Monday Night in Viewers And Adults 18-49, while Marking the Net's Top Numbers on the Evening in 3 Months
ABC News' Debut of "Primetime: What Would You Do?" Wins Tuesday's 10pm Hour, Posting the Highest Adult Ratings for Any Newsmagazine Premiere in 1-1/2 Years
Gaining Substantially Week-to-Week Opposite an "Idol"-boosted Fox in Wednesday's
9pm Hour, ABC's "Supernanny" Jumps to No. 1 in its Second Half-Hour in Key Demos
Thursday's Top Scripted TV Program, "Lost," Surges from its Lead-in
To Win Thursday's 9pm Hour for the Fifth Straight Week in Adults 18-49
Leading Thursday's 10 O'clock Hour in Adults 18-34, Men 18-34 and Men 18-49,
ABC's Freshman "Eli Stone" Posts Week-to-Week Increases Across All Key Men Demos
ABC Wins Sunday in Viewers and Adults 18-49, with the Top 3 Series in Young Adults
ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" Moves ABC into First Place Sunday at 8pm,
With the Series' Top Viewer and Young Adult Numbers in the Hour since November
Sunday's No. 1 TV Program, "Oprah's Big Give" Towers over its 9pm Time Period
In its Debut, Standing as TV's Third-Most-Watched Series Premiere of the Season
"Here Come the Newlyweds" Opens a Dominant No. 1 on its Debut in Sunday's 10pm Hour, Winning the Slot by 2.0 Million Viewers and by 95% in Adults 18-49
WEEK No. 23:
ABC earned second place to Fox (with 3 nights of "American Idol") during the week of February 25, 2008 across each of the key adult demographics: AD18-34 (2.1/6), AD18-49 (2.7/7) and AD25-54 (3.2/8).
Rankings: ABC aired 6 of the Top 20 TV programs during the week among Adults 18-49, including 3 of the Top 6 and the No. 1 scripted show with "Lost": "Lost" � No. 4, "Oprah's Big Give" � No. 5, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" � No. 6, "Here Come the Newlyweds" � No. 12, "ABC Premiere Event � 2/25 ("A Raisin in the Sun") � No. 17 and "Supernanny" � No. 19. The Net placed 4 of the Top 10 most-watched shows of the week, including "Oprah's Big Give" � No. 4, "Home Edition" � No. 6, "Lost" � No. 8 and "ABC Premiere Event � 2/25 ("A Raisin in the Sun") � No. 9. The series debut of ABC News' "Primetime: What Would You Do?" on Tuesday ranked as TV's No. 1 newsmagazine of the week in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54. In fact, it was the fourth consecutive week that ABC News had the No. 1 newsmagazine in Adults 18-49 and the second week in a row among Adults 25-54.
A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating trends based on the Live + Same Day data stream may be somewhat distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has nearly doubled from 13% at the same point in 2006, up to 23% currently. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.
Monday
"ABC Premiere Event � A Raisin in the Sun" (8:00-11:00 p.m.)
With the "ABC Premiere Event � A Raisin in the Sun," the Network posted a definitive victory on Monday night, beating second-place NBC by 2.4 million viewers (12.7 million vs. 10.3 million) and by 13% among Adults 18-49 (3.6/9 vs. 3.2/8). In doing so, ABC snapped NBC's six-week winning streak on the night in the key sales demo.
� Despite stiff original competition on the other networks, "A Raisin in the Sun" generated ABC's top numbers on the night in three months among Viewers and Adults 18-49 � since 11/26/07.
� The Sony Pictures Television film, "A Raisin in the Sun," stands as TV's highest-rated original movie since November 2005 among Women 25-54 (6.5/15) and since April 2006 among Women 18-49 (5.3/13) � since 11/27/05 and 4/10/06, respectively. In addition, the movie stood as Monday's No. 1 TV program in both key women demographics.
Tuesday
"Primetime: What Would You Do?" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Airing against all original competition, ABC News' series premiere of "Primetime: What Would You Do?" led the 10 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (7.7 million), Adults 18-49 (2.9/8) and Adults 25-54 (3.4/8), outperforming original competition in the hour, including CBS' "Jericho" (6.9 million, 2.2/6 and 2.9/7, respectively) and NBC's series premiere of "Quarterlife" (3.1 million, 1.3/4 and 1.4/3, respectively). The ABC newsmagazine, with reports using hidden cameras, filming everyday scenarios and then capturing people's reactions, dominated its hour in the key young adult sales demo, beating CBS by 32% and NBC by 123%.
� "Primetime: What Would You Do?" turned in the Net's strongest ratings in the hour in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 since November (11/27/07) -- the night of the "Dancing with the Stars" fall season finale.
� "Primetime" scored the highest ratings in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 for any newsmagazine premiere in nearly 1-1/2 years (10/11/06 � NBC's "Dateline-Wed").
Wednesday
ABC Wednesday line-up was up over the previous week by 1.1 million viewers (6.5 million vs. 5.4 million) and by 15% in Adults 18-49 (2.3/6 vs. 2.0/5). The Net placed second on the night among Women 18-49 (3.2/8) and Women 25-54 (3.7/8) to Fox with "American Idol" and "Back to You."
"Supernanny" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
"Supernanny" was up over its most recent telecast by 2.4 million viewers (8.3 million vs. 5.9 million) and by 43% in Adults 18-49 (3.3/8 vs. 2.3/5), finishing second in the hour in the key adult demo. The unscripted program also placed second in the hour among Adults 18-34 (3.0/8) and Adults 25-54 (3.6/8).
� "Supernanny" saw its audience increase by 2.2 million (7.2 million to 9.4 million) and by 35% (2.8/7 vs. 3.8/10) from its first half-hour to its second half-hour. In fact, with the release of the "American Idol" audience at 9:30 p.m., "Supernanny" moved up to the No. 1 position among Adults 18-34 (3.4/10), Women 18-34 (4.6/12) and Teens 12-17 (2.5/8).
� The ABC unscripted series stood as the No. 2 program of the night among Women 18-34 (4.1/10), behind only Fox's "American Idol."
"MEN IN TREES" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Delivering the Net's largest audience (5.6 million) in the hour in four weeks (since 1/30/08), in its return ABC's "MEN IN TREES" posted increases over its most recent telecast (on 12/07/07) across each of the key adult demos: Adults 18-34 (1.1/3 vs. 0.5/2), Adults 18-49 (1.7/5 vs. 1.2/4) and Adults 25-54 (2.3/6 vs. 1.8/6).
Thursday
ABC's Thursday line-up finished second on the night among Adults 18-34 (2.8/8) and across each of the key men demographics: Men 18-34 (2.5/8), Men 18-49 (2.9/8) and Men 25-54 (3.3/9).
"Lost" (9:00-10:02 p.m.)
Surging from its lead-in by 7.7 million viewers and by 238% in Adults 18-49 (replay of the previous week's episode = 5.2 million & 1.6/4), ABC's "Lost" drew 12.9 million viewers and a 5.4 rating, 13 share in Adults 18-49, making ABC the No. 1 Net in the 9 o'clock hour in the young adult sales demo for the fifth time in as many weeks.
� "Lost" qualified as Thursday's No. 1 TV program (tied with Fox's "American Idol") and grew its audience week-to-week among Men 18-34 (4.9/15 vs. 4.7/13).
� "Lost" ranked as Thursday's No. 1 scripted TV show in Total Viewers and across each of the key adult demographics (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54).
"Eli Stone" (10:02-11:00 p.m.)
ABC's freshman "Eli Stone" defeated its freshman drama competition in the 10 o'clock hour, NBC's "Lipstick Jungle," among Total Viewers (7.2 million vs. 5.6 million) and Adults 18-34 (2.0/6 vs. 1.9/6). The drama won the final hour of prime among Adults 18-34 (2.0/6), Men 18-49 (2.1/6) and Men 25-54 (2.6/7).
� "Eli Stone" saw increases over the previous week in all of the key men demos: Men 18-34 (1.7/5 vs. 1.5/5), Men 18-49 (2.1/6 vs. 1.9/5) and Men 25-54 (2.6/7 vs. 2.3/6).
Sunday
ABC ranked No. 1 on Sunday night in Total Viewers (12.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.3/11). In fact, after overcoming a NASCAR-overrun boosted Fox in the 7 o'clock hour, ABC dominated each hour from 8:00-11:00 p.m. in Viewers and Adults 18-49. ABC also took first place in Adults 25-54 (5.0/12) and dominated the evening across each of the key women demographics, holding wide advantages over second-place Fox: W18-34 +31% (4.2/12 vs. 3.2/9), W18-49 +72% (5.5/14 vs. 3.2/8) and W25-54 +91% (6.3/15 vs. 3.3/8). ABC posted its top numbers in the women demos, with regular programming on the night, in two months � since 1/6/08.
� ABC's debut of "Oprah's Big Give" qualified as Sunday's No. 1 TV program in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. In fact, ABC aired Sunday's Top 2 most-watched television programs and the Top 3 series among Adults 18-49, with "Oprah's Big Give," "Home Edition" and "Here Come the Newlyweds," respectively.
"America's Funniest Home Videos" (7:00-8:00 p.m.)
Opposite Fox's high-rated NASCAR overrun in the 7 o'clock hour, ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" was the top non-sports program among Adults 18-49 (2.7/8).
"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
Building on its lead-in and moving ABC up into first place in the 8 o'clock hour, ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" beat its nearest competition (Fox) in its time period by 4.2 million viewers (14.9 million vs. 10.6 million) and by 16% in Adults 18-49 (5.2/13 vs. 4.5/11).
� In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, "Home Edition" posted its best numbers in the hour since November � since 11/25/07 and 11/11/07, respectively.
"Oprah's Big Give" (9:00-10:02 p.m.)
Sunday's No. 1 TV program, ABC's debut airing of "Oprah's Big Give," towered over its 9 o'clock time period, defeating its closest competition by nearly 7.1 million viewers (15.7 million vs. 8.6 million � NBC's "Deal Or No Deal") and by 33% in Adults 18-49 (5.3/13 vs. 4.0/9 � Fox's "King of the Hill"/"Family Guy"/"Unhitched" debut).
� "Oprah's Big Give" qualifies as TV's third most-watched series debut this season, following only Fox's "Idol"-boosted premiere of "Moment of Truth" (1/23/08) and "Terminator," which aired coming out of an ultra-high-rated NFC Playoff Game (Giants-Cowboys on 1/7/08), respectively.
"Here Come the Newlyweds" (10:02-11:00 p.m.)
The debut ABC's "Here Come the Newlyweds" posted a convincing victory in the 10 o'clock hour, overshadowing its nearest competition (NBC) by 2.0 million viewers (10.1 million vs. 8.1 million) and by 95% in Adults 18-49 (4.1/11 vs. 2.1/6).
� Excluding the Academy Awards the prior week, "Here Come the Newlyweds" garnered ABC's best viewer and young adult results in the hour in seven weeks � since 1/13/08.
Source: Nielsen Media Research (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 2/25/08, unless stated otherwise.
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