Primetime Ratings Report
For the week of February 9, 2009
(Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)
ABC Grows Year to Year by 9% in Viewers and 17% in Adults 18-49,
Up or Even with the Year-Ago Week in Young Adults on 5 of 6 Weeks of 2009
ABC Airs 5 of the Week's Top 12 TV Programs in Adults 18-49, Including
The Top 3 Scripted Shows with "Grey's," "Private Practice" and "Housewives"
For the 2nd Consecutive Week, ABC's "Private Practice" is the
No. 1 10 O'clock Show on Any Network Among Adults 18-49
"The Bachelor" Hits Season Highs in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49,
Building on the Prior Week's Telecast for the 5th Consecutive Week
"The Bachelor" Stands as Monday's Top TV Show in Adults 18-34 and All Key Women, Ranking as the No. 1 Show in Adults 18-34 for the First Time This Season
Despite Facing an Extended 2-hour Installment of "Idol" This Year, ABC Marks
Its 4th Consecutive Week of Year-to-Year Wednesday Increases in Young Adults
For the 4th Straight Wednesday, "Lost" is TV's No. 1 Scripted Show in Adults 18-49
ABC Dominates Thursday in Young Adults, Registering its Highest
Ratings on the Night Since Season Premiere Thursday in September
"Grey's Anatomy" Draws its Highest Young Adult Numbers in 12 Weeks
Logging the Best-Ever Retention for Any Show to Follow "Grey's Anatomy,"
"Private Practice" Posts Series Highs for the 2nd Straight Week in Adults 18-49
"Supernanny" Wins Friday at 9pm in Adults 18-49, Beating CBS' "Flashpoint,"
Fox's Highly-Anticipated Debut of "Dollhouse" and NBC's "Friday Night Lights"
Standing as Friday's No. 1 TV Show and Topping its Slot by Nearly 2 Million Viewers, ABC News' "20/20" Attracts its Biggest Friday Night Audience in Nearly 4-1/2 Years
With Half its Lineup in Repeat Against Original Competition, ABC Dominates
Sunday in Adults 18-49, Beating Runner-Up Fox 18%, CBS by 43% and NBC 154%
Growing its Overall Audience Week to Week, "Housewives" Tops its Nearest Competition in the 9pm Hour by 3.1 Million Viewers and by 44% in Adults 18-49
"Brothers & Sisters" Posts a Definitive First-Place Victory in Sunday's 10pm Hour
WEEK No. 21:
For the 2nd consecutive week ABC earned second to Fox among Adults 18-34, outpacing both CBS and NBC by 47% (2.5/8 vs. 1.7/5 � CBS and NBC tied). Also during the week (w/o 2/9/09), ABC held wide advantages over NBC in Total Viewers (+19% - 7.6 million vs. 6.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (+29% - 2.7/7 vs. 2.1/6).
� ABC's numbers were up over the same week last year (w/o 2/11/08) by 9% in Total Viewers (7.6 million vs. 7.0 million) and by 17% in Adults 18-49 (2.7/7 vs. 2.3/6). ABC has been up or even with the year-ago frame in Adults 18-49 on 5 of 6 weeks since the beginning of 2009.
Rankings: ABC aired 5 of the week's Top 12 TV shows in Adults 18-49, including the Top 3 scripted series with "Grey's," "Private Practice" and "Housewives": "Grey's Anatomy" � No. 3, "Private Practice" � No. 4, "Desperate Housewives" � No. 5, "Lost" � No. 10 and "The Bachelor" � No. 12. ABC's "Private Practice" registered as the week's No. 1 10 o'clock show on any net in Adults 18-49, for the 2nd week in a row.
A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 30% currently, from 23% at the same point in 2008. 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
"The Bachelor" (9:02-11:02 p.m.)
Opposite all-original programming on the broadcast networks, ABC's "The Bachelor" registered season highs in both Total Viewers (11.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.2/10), building on the previous week's telecast for the 5th consecutive week. In fact "The Bachelor" has built on the prior week's performance for every telecast since its season premiere. In addition, "The Bachelor" attracted its largest non-finale audience in over 4-1/2 years and strongest Adults 18-49 rating in nearly 3 years � since 5/12/04 and 2/13/06, respectively.
� "The Bachelor" won its 2-hour time-slot and qualified as Monday's No. 1 TV program among Adults 18-34 (4.3/11) and across all key Women demos: Women 18-34 (6.5/16), Women 18-49 (6.3/14) and Women 25-54 (6.6/14). Further, Monday's telecast represented the first time this season that "The Bachelor" stood as Monday's top program among Adults 18-34, while qualifying as the top program among Women 18-34 in all 6 of its telecasts this season.
� Growing from its first hour to its second hour among Adults 18-34 (4.2/11 to 4.3/11) and Adults 18-49 (4.1/10 to 4.3/10), "The Bachelor" won the 10 o'clock hour, beating second-ranked CBS' "C.S.I.: Miami" by 65% in Adults 18-34 (4.3/11 vs. 2.6/7) and by 8% in Adults 18-49 (4.3/10 vs. 4.0/10).
Wednesday
On Wednesday night opposite a 2-hour installment of "American Idol" on Fox, ABC (2.5/7) beat CBS by 56% (1.6/5) and NBC by 108% (1.2/4) among Adults 18-34.
� Although it faced stiffer demographic competition this year from a 2-hour edition of Fox's "American Idol," versus an "Idol"/"Moment of Truth" combo a year ago, ABC's Wednesday results were up from the same night last year (2/13/08) by 8% in Adults 18-49 (2.6/6 vs. 2.4/6) and by 14% in Adults 18-34 (2.5/7 vs. 2.2/5). In fact it is ABC's 4th straight week to deliver year-to-year Wednesday gains among young adults, up on each week since the season premiere of "Lost."
"Lost" (9:00-10:02 p.m.)
Despite going up against the second hour of an extended 2-hour installment of "American Idol," self-starter "Lost" shot up from its lead-in by 5.5 million viewers (9.8 million vs. 4.3 million) and by 175% in young adults (4.4/10 vs. 1.6/4) and built its audience from start to finish. "Lost" registered as Wednesday's No. 1 scripted TV show for the 4th week in a row among Adults 18-49. In its hour,
"Lost" beat out its CBS drama competition ("Criminal Minds") by 47% in Adults 18-49 (4.4/10 vs. 3.0/7) and by 159% in Adults 18-34 (4.4/11 vs. 1.7/4). The ABC drama was also the night's highest-rated scripted series with Adults 18-34 for the 3rd consecutive week.
� "Lost" matched its highest-rated telecast in nearly a year with Men 18-34 (4.5/12) � since 2/28/08.
Please Note: Based on the first round of DVR data for the show this season released earlier this week, "Lost" saw its overall audience grow by 1.9 million viewers and jump 18% in Adults 18-49 (+0.9) from its first-reported Live + Same Day and finalized Live + 7 Day numbers, making it one of the most-recorded and played back shows on TV.
Thursday
ABC turned in a dominant first-place performance on Thursday evening, winning the night in both Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34 for the 2nd week in a row. ABC outperformed the second-place networks by 18% in Adults 18-49 (4.7/12 vs. 4.0/11 - CBS) and by 52% in Adults 18-34 (4.6/14 vs. 3.1/8 - NBC).
� Across the key Adults demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54), the Net posted its highest ratings on the night for the 2nd week running since Season Premiere Thursday in September � since 9/25/08.
"Ugly Betty" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
ABC's "Ugly Betty" earned second place in the 8 o'clock hour among Total Viewers (7.4 million), topping NBC's original comedies (6.0 million) by 1.4 million. "Betty" ranked a definitive No. 1 among its core audience of Women 18-34, leading the second-ranked season premiere of CBS' "Survivor: Tocantins" by 13% (3.4/10 vs. 3.0/9). In fact the show hit its best Women 18-34 number in 10 weeks (12/4/08), and represented the 13th time in its 14 original telecasts this season as the No. 1 series in the time period with young women.
"Grey's Anatomy" (9:00-10:02 p.m.)
Growing from its previous original airing for the 3rd consecutive telecast, Thursday's No. 1 TV program in Adults 18-49, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," defeated CBS' "C.S.I." by 20% in Adults 18-49 (5.9/15 vs. 4.9/12). "Grey's" towered over the CBS drama by an even more dominant 107% in Adults 18-34 (6.0/16 vs. 2.9/8). It was "Grey's" 9th time in the last 10 original telecasts to rank as Thursday's No. 1 entertainment show in Adults 18-49, and the 9th time in as many telecasts in Adults 18-34.
� "Grey's" marked its highest Adult 18-49 and Adults 18-34 ratings in 12 weeks � since 11/20/08.
"Private Practice" (10:02-11:00 p.m.)
The No. 2 TV show of the night to "Grey's" in the young adult sales demographic, "Private Practice" dominated the 10 o'clock hour, beating the combined performance of its original drama competition (CBS' "Eleventh Hour" and NBC's "ER") by 8% in Adults 18-49 (5.7/15 vs. 5.3/14) and by an even more impressive 68% in Adults 18-34 (5.7/16 vs. 3.4/10).
� "Private Practice" registered series highs in Adults 18-49 (5.8/15) and Adults 18-34 (5.6/16) for the 2nd week running, while drawing the series' second-largest-ever Total Viewer audience (14.2 million).
� "Private Practice" produced the best-ever retention for any series telecast to ever follow "Grey's Anatomy," retaining 93% in Viewers, 97% in Adults 18-49 and 95% in Adults 18-34.
� In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, "Private Practice" generated ABC's top numbers with regularly scheduled series programming in the time period in close to 2 years � since 2/22/07.
Friday
Boosted by big numbers for Diane Sawyer's exclusive report on "20/20" and very competitive performances for "Wife Swap" and "Supernanny," ABC topped Friday night by wide margins in Adults 18-49 (2.4/8), beating runner-up CBS with its original drama line up by 14% (2.1/7), Fox's highly-anticipated drama premieres ("Terminator"/"Dollhouse") by 41% (1.7/5) and NBC's nearly all-original schedule by 118% (1.1/4).
� Drawing a season-high performance on the evening for the 2nd week in a row, ABC's marked its highest-rated Friday among Adults 18-49 in well over 1 year - since 11/30/07.
� ABC News' "20/20" stood as Friday's No. 1 TV show in Total Viewers (11.0 million) and across all key Adult demos: AD18-34 (2.3/8), AD18-49 (3.5/11) and AD25-54 (4.2/11).
"Supernanny" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Building on its lead-in and winning the hour among young adults for the 2nd week in a row, ABC's "Supernanny" beat out all-original drama competition in the 9 o'clock hour among Adults 18-49 (2.2/7), leading Fox's series debut of "Dollhouse" by 10% (2.0/6), CBS' "Flashpoint" by 22% (1.8/6) and NBC's "Friday Night Lights" by 100% (1.1/3).
"20/20" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Soaring from its lead-in and building on the previous week's telecast for the 3rd week in a row, ABC News' "20/20" dominated the 10 o'clock hour, outdrawing second-place CBS' original "Num3ers" by nearly 2 million viewers (11.0 million vs. 9.1 million) and by 67% in Adults 18-49 (3.5/11 vs. 2.1/6). In fact "20/20" topped the combined deliveries of CBS ("Num3ers") and NBC ("Dateline") in the hour by 9% in Adults 18-49 (3.5/11 vs. 3.2/9). "20/20" featured Diane Sawyer's exclusive report on America's children living in poverty in Appalachia.
� "20/20" attracted its biggest audience on Friday night in nearly 4 -1/2 years � since 9/24/04. In addition, the ABC Friday night newsmagazine saw its top Adult 18-49 rating since April 2005 and equaled its best Adult 25-54 rating since September 2004 � since 4/29/05 and 9/24/04, respectively.
� "20/20" registered as the highest non-sports telecast on Friday night in Adults 18-49 on any net in over 2 years � since 2/9/07 with CBS' "Ghost Whisperer." In addition, the newsmagazine stood as ABC's highest rated Friday series telecast in the key young adult sales demo in 3 years � since 2/17/06 with "Dancing with the Stars � Results."
Sunday
With half of its lineup was in repeat against nearly all-original competition (among the other major nets, only Fox aired a repeat at 7:30 p.m.), ABC (3.3/8) posted a dominant first-place finish on Sunday night among Adults 18-49, outpacing second-place Fox by 18% (2.8/7), third-place CBS by 43% (2.3/6) and fourth-place NBC by 154% (1.3/3).
� "Desperate Housewives" qualified as Sunday's No. 1 TV program in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. In fact "Housewives" logged its 14th time in its 15 original broadcasts this season to stand as Sunday's top entertainment series with viewers and young adults.
"America's Funniest Home Videos" (7:00-8:00 p.m.)
ABC's repeat "America's Funniest Home Videos" won the 7 o'clock hour in Adults 18-49, beating runner-up CBS' original "60 Minutes" by 20% (2.4/7 vs. 2.0/6).
� "AFV" marked its highest-rated repeat airing with Adults 18-49 in close to 2 years � since 4/8/07.
"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
From 8:00-9:00 p.m., ABC's rebroadcast "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" paced within one-tenth of an Adult 18-49 rating point of CBS' season premiere of "The Amazing Race" (2.5/6 vs. 2.6/7), moving up to No. 1 in its second half-hour at 8:30 p.m. (2.7/7-tie). ABC's repeat "Home Edition" beat the "Amazing Race" opener in Adults 18-34 (2.0/6 vs. 1.9/6). In addition against all-original competition, ABC's repeat unscripted series ranked No. 1 in the hour with Women 18-49 (3.1/8-tie) and Women 18-34 (2.6/7).
� In Total Viewers (8.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.5/6), "Home Edition" generated its strongest repeat numbers since early last April � since 4/6/08.
"Desperate Housewives" (9:00-10:01 p.m.)
Sunday's No. 1 TV show, ABC's "Desperate Housewives" overshadowed its 9 o'clock competition, beating the second-place networks by 3.1 million viewers (14.0 million vs. 10.9 million � CBS' "Cold Case") and by 44% in Adults 18-49 (4.9/12 vs. 3.4/8 � Fox's "Family Guy"/"American Dad").
� Although its lead-in was in repeat this week, ABC's "Desperate Housewives" increased its overall audience week to week (14.0 million vs. 13.8 million), representing its 2nd consecutive original telecast to grow.
"Brothers & Sisters" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" turned in a definitive first-place finish in the 10 o'clock hour, besting second-place CBS' "The Unit" by 7% (9.0 million vs. 8.4 million) and 41% in Adults 18-49 (3.1/8 vs. 2.2/6).
Source: Nielsen Media Research (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 2/9/09, unless stated otherwise.
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