Primetime Ratings Report
For the week of May 25, 2009
(Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)
On Memorial Day, ABC's "The Bachelorette" Gains Audience Throughout its Telecast and is Up Over the Same Night Last Year in Viewers and Adults 18-49
Showing Strong Lead-in Retention, the Season Premiere of "Here Come the Newlyweds" Beats its Network Competition Monday at 10pm in Adults 18-34
ABC Marks its Top Summer Wednesday in 1 Year in Viewers and Young Adults
Moving to Wednesday at 8pm Against Stiff Competition, ABC's "Wipeout"
Opens at No. 1 in Adult 18-49, Beating Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance"
"Wipeout" Generates ABC's Best Results in the Time Period
With Regular Summer Series Programming Since 2005
On its Series Debut, "The Goode Family" Produces ABC's Strongest
Summertime Adult 18-49 Rating in the Wednesday Slot in Nearly 1 Year
Soaring by 5.1 Million Viewers from Start to Finish, ABC's "2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee" Emerges the TV's Most-Watched Program During its Final Segment
"Spelling Bee" is Up Year to Year by 1.2 Million Viewers and by 42% in Adults 18-49
A Rebroadcast "America's Funniest Home Videos" Makes ABC No. 1
In Adults 18-49 in Sunday's 7 O'clock Hour for the 7th Week in a Row
WEEK No. 36:
Monday
On Memorial Day, ABC's Monday lineup of "The Bachelorette" and "Here Come the Newlyweds" drew 5.6 million viewers and a 2.0/6 in Adults 18-49, finishing in a virtual tie for No. 1 on the night among the broadcast networks in young adults with CBS (2.1/6). ABC topped its network competition on the night across all key Women demographics (W18-34 � 2.3/7, W18-49 � 2.9/8 and W25-54 � 3.2/8). ABC was also the top-rated broadcaster on the evening with Adults 18-34 (1.7/5) and Teens 12-17 (1.0/4).
� ABC was up over the same night last year by 6% in Total Viewers and by 5% in Adults 18-49 (5.3 million & 1.9/5 on 5/26/08).
"The Bachelorette" (8:00-10:02 p.m.)
Building audience during each its half-hours from 8:00-10:00 p.m., "The Bachelorette" increased in Total Viewers by 1.0 million (5.5 million to 6.5 million) and by 27% in Adults 18-49 (1.8/6 to 2.3/6) from its first half-hour to its final half-hour.
� "The Bachelorette" saw increases of 7% in Total Viewers (6.0 million vs. 5.6 million) and 5% in Adults 18-49 (2.1/6 vs. 2.0/5) over its year-ago telecast (5/26/09 from 9:00 � 11:00 p.m.).
"Here Come the Newlyweds" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Showing strong retention of its young adult lead-in (90% in AD18-49 and 94% in AD18-34) from "The Bachelorette," ABC's season premiere of "Here Come the Newlyweds" ranked No. 2 in the 10 o'clock hour against its broadcast competition among Adults 18-49 (1.9/5-tie) and delivered the No. 1 position among Adults 18-34 (1.6/5) and Women 18-34 (2.2/7). In addition, the ABC unscripted series led its veteran drama competition in the hour by wide margins among Adults 18-34 (1.6/5), topping NBC's original "Medium" by 33% (1.2/4) and CBS' "CSI: Miami" replay by 23% (1.3/4).
Wednesday
Boosted by the season premiere of "Wipeout," ABC turned in its strongest summer Wednesday in nearly 1 year in Total Viewers (5.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.9/5) � since 6/4/08 and 5/28/08, respectively.
"Wipeout" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
Moving to a new night and more competitive time period on its 2nd-season premiere, up against Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance," CBS' George Straight concert special and NBC's original "Law & Order: CI," ABC's "Wipeout" opened at No. 1 among Adults 18-49. During the 8:00 p.m. hour in the key young adult sales demo, "Wipeout" (3.3/10) beat Fox's hit dance program by 10% (3.0/9), CBS' concert special by 74% (1.9/6) and NBC's original crime-drama by 200% (1.1/3). "Wipeout" also finished No. 1 in the hour among Adults 25-54, across all key Men demographics (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54) and among Teens 12-17. It was the No. 1 non-sports TV show of the night with Teens 12-17, trailing only ESPN's NBA Western Conference Finals Game 5.
� From its first half-hour to its second half-hour, "Wipeout" saw its audience surge by 1.2 million viewers (8.1 million to 9.3 million) and by 24% in Adults 18-49 (2.9/10 to 3.6/10).
� "Wipeout" generated ABC's best numbers in the time period with regular series programming since November 2007 in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 (tie) � since 11/14/07. In addition, the show posted ABC's top summer results with series programming in the hour in nearly 4 years on both counts � since 7/13/05.
� Although airing against the highly-rated NBA Western Conference Finals (LA Lakers-Denver Nuggets Game 5) on ESPN in the Pacific and Mountain time zones, "Wipeout" greatly improved ABC's performance in the hour over the year-ago night (5/28/08) with original programming in both Total Viewers (+53% - 8.7 million vs. 5.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (+50% - 3.3/10 vs. 2.2/7). Last year the show aired in Tuesday's 8 o'clock hour against lesser competition, and despite the heightened competition on its new night, "Wipeout" topped its Season 1 averages for original episodes in both viewers and young adults (8.4 million and 3.1/10 in AD18-49).
"The Goode Family" (9:01-9:31 p.m.)
On its series debut, ABC's "The Goode Family" posted ABC's strongest summertime Adult 18-49 rating (1.6/4) in the time slot in nearly 1 year � since 6/4/08.
Thursday
"2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee" (8:00-10:18 p.m.)
Building its viewer and young adult audience during each half-hour, against Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance," ABC's broadcast of the "2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee" attracted an average audience of 6.1 million viewers during its 2-hour and 18-minute telecast. The program earned a 1.7 rating, 5 share among Adults 18-49. Kavya Shivashankar, a 13-year-old from Olathe, Kansas, won the finals of the "2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee." She was named the 2009 Champion after correctly spelling the word "Laodicean," which is defined as "lukewarm or indifferent in religion or politics."
� Steadily gaining audience throughout its broadcast, the "National Spelling Bee" grew by 5.1 million viewers (4.8 million to 9.9 million) and 123% in Adults 18-49 (1.3/4 to 2.9/8) from its first half-hour to its final quarter-hour. During its final 18 minutes (10:00-10:18 p.m.), as the field of finalists narrowed and the winner was determined, the "Bee" ranked as the No. 1 television program in Total Viewers (9.9 million) and across the Women demographics (W18-34 � 2.5/8, W18-49 � 3.4/9 and W25-54 � 3.9/9), while standing as the No. 1 non-sports program among Adults 18-49 (2.9/8).
� The "2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee" was up over the previous year (5/30/08) by 1.2 million viewers (6.1 million vs. 4.9 million) and by 42% in Adults 18-49 (1.7/5 to 1.2/4).
Sunday
"America's Funniest Home Videos" (7:00-8:00 p.m.)
An encore of ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" won the opening hour of Sunday's prime among Adults 18-49 (1.5/5), taking ABC to the top spot in the first hour of the night for the 7th consecutive week.
"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
A rebroadcast of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" topped its original unscripted competition in the hour, CBS' "Million Dollar Password," by 45% in Adults 18-49 (1.6/5 vs. 1.1/4). In addition, the unscripted ABC program beat its network rivals the 8 o'clock hour in Women 18-49 (2.0/6) and Women 25-54 (2.2/6).
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 31% currently, from 25% 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.
Source: Nielsen Media Research (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 5/25/09, unless stated otherwise.
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