Primetime Ratings Report
For the week of June 22, 2009
(Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)
ABC is Up Week to Week by Wide Margins in Viewers and Adults 18-49
ABC's "Wipeout" and "Bachelorette" Finish in the Week's Top 10 in Adults 18-49
And ABC News' "20/20" Special on Thursday is the Week's No. 1 Newsmagazine
"The Bachelorette" Makes ABC the Most-Watched Net on Monday from 8-10pm
"Newlyweds" Beats its CBS and NBC Time Slot Competition with Adults 18-34
ABC's "Superstars" Opener Defeats NBC's Tuesday Finale of "I'm a Celebrity,"
Posting the Net's Strongest Non-Sports Numbers in the Time Slot this Summer
Against Stiff Competition from NBC's "America's Got Talent" Opener, ABC News' "Primetime: Family Secrets" Surges from on its Lead and Builds from Start to Finish
For the 3rd Straight Week, ABC is Up Year to Year on Wednesday Night
"Wipeout" Places No. 1 Wednesday at 8pm in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49,
And for the 5th Consecutive Week Ranks No. 1 Across the Key Men Demos
"Wipeout" is Up Week to Week Among Adults 18-49, Key Women and Kids 2-11
"I Survived a Japanese Game Show" Improves is Slot Year to Year in Adults 18-49
ABC News' Special "Primetime" Generates ABC's Largest Audience in
Wednesday's 10pm Hour since the Season Finale of "Lost" 6 Weeks Ago
ABC News' "20/20: Farrah Fawcett" Special is the Top TV Show in Thursday's
10pm Hour and ABC's Top Non-Sports Summer Draw in the Slot in Close to 3 Years
WEEK No. 40:
ABC's primetime results were up over the prior week by 22% in Total Viewers (4.5 million vs. 3.7 million) and by 18% in Adults 18-49 (1.3/4 vs. 1.1/4).
Rankings: ABC's "Wipeout" (No. 6) and "The Bachelorette" (No. 10) finished among the week's Top 10 TV shows among Adults 18-49. ABC News' special edition of "20/20: Farrah Fawcett: Her Life, Her Loves and Her Legacy" was TV's top-rated newsmagazine for the week in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54.
Monday
"The Bachelorette" (8:00-10:02 p.m.)
"The Bachelorette" attracted 6.8 million viewers and a 2.3 rating, 7 share in Adults 18-49, making ABC the most-watched network in the 2-hour time period. "The Bachelorette" defeated its unscripted competition in the 2-hour time period, "I'm a Celebrity�Get Me Out of Here!," by 2.6 million viewers (6.8 million vs. 4.2 million) and by 53% in Adults 18-49 (2.3/7 vs. 1.5/5), topping the NBC unscripted series by its widest margin among Adults 18-49, in their final head-to-head Monday airing (+19% on 06/08/09 and +33% on 6/15/09).
"Here Come the Newlyweds" (10:02-11:00 p.m.)
ABC's "Here Come the Newlyweds" beat out its network rivals in the 10 o'clock hour, topping both CBS ("CSI: Miami") and NBC ("Dateline") with Adults 18-34 (1.2/4) and Women 18-34 (1.6/5).
Tuesday
ABC's Tuesday saw increases over the prior week by 1.3 million viewers (3.6 million vs. 2.3 million) and by 86% in Adults 18-49 (1.3/4 vs. 0.7/2), posting the Net's best young adult performance on the night with non-sport programming this summer.
"Superstars" (8:00-9:30 p.m.)
The series premiere of "Superstars" turned in ABC's strongest non-sports numbers in the 90-minute time period this summer in Total Viewers (4.3 million) and across each of the key Adults demographics: Adults 18-34 - 1.1/4, Adults 18-49 - 1.5/5 and Adults 25-54 - 1.9/5.
� Head-to-head in the 8 o'clock hour, "Superstars" beat its unscripted competition, NBC's Tuesday finale of "I'm a Celebrity�Get Me Out of Here!" in both Total Viewers (4.4 million vs. 4.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.5/5 vs. 1.4/5).
"Primetime: Family Secrets" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Opposite stiff competition from the final hour of NBC's 2-hour season premiere of "America's Got Talent," the season opener of ABC News' "Primetime: Family Secrets," built on its lead-in by 1.5 million viewers (3.3 million vs. 1.8 million) and by 38% in Adults 18-49 (1.1/3 vs. 0.8/2).
� The ABC newsmagazine saw its audience grow from its first half-hour to its second half-hour in Total Viewers (3.1 million to 3.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.1/3 to 1.2/3).
Wednesday
For the 3rd week in a row, ABC's Wednesday results were up from the same night last summer (6/25/08) in Total Viewers (5.5 million vs. 5.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.8/6 vs. 1.7/5).
"Wipeout" (8:00-9:02 p.m.)
ABC's "Wipeout" ranked No. 1 in the 8 o'clock hour among Total Viewers (7.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.8/9), taking the top spot in its time period among young adults for the 3rd time in its 5 telecasts during the summer. "Wipeout" outperformed the season finale of "I'm a Celebrity�.Get Me Out of Here" by 3.5 million viewers (7.8 million vs. 4.3 million) and by 80% in Adults 18-49 (2.7/9 vs. 1.5/5).
� For the 5th straight week, the ABC unscripted series finished No. 1 in its time slot across all key Men demos (M18-34 � 2.1/8, M18-49 � 2.6/9 and M25-54 � 2.8/9).
� "Wipeout" grew 4% from it's week-ago Adults 18-49 performance (2.8/9 vs. 2.7/9), as well as among Women 18-49 (+7% - 3.0/10 vs. 2.8/9), Women 25-54 (+7% - 3.2/10 vs. 3.0/9) and Kids 2-11 (+21% - 2.9/12 vs. 2.4/9).
"I Survived a Japanese Game Show" (9:02-10:00 p.m.)
ABC's "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" ranked second in its time period among its network rivals among hard-to-reach Men 18-34 (1.5/5-tie), behind only the Wednesday premiere of NBC's "America's Got Talent."
� "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" improved the hour for ABC over the same night last year (6/25/08) among Adults 18-49 (1.5/5 vs. 1.4/4).
"Primetime: Questions for the President: Prescription for America" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
The ABC News special, "Primetime: Questions for the President: Prescription for America," drew 4.7 million viewers, attracting the Net's largest audience in the time period in 6 weeks � since 5/13/09.
� The ABC News Special surged from its lead-in by 18% in Total Viewers (4.7 million vs. 4.0 million), and gained audience from its first half-hour to its second half-hour (4.6 million to 4.8 million).
Thursday
"20/20: The Life and Death of Michael Jackson" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
The ABC News special edition of "20/20: The Life and Death of Michael Jackson" delivered the Net's highest non-sports ratings in the hour among Adults 18-49 (1.7/5) and Adults 25-54 (2.2/6) in 5 weeks � since 5/21/09.
"20/20: Farrah Fawcett: Her Life, Her Love and Her Legacy" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC News' "20/20: Farrah Fawcett: Her Life, Her Loves and Her Legacy" drew 8.2 million viewers, a 2.2/7 in Adults 18-49 and a 2.9/8 in Adults 25-54.
� The ABC newsmagazine registered as the top TV show the 10 o'clock hour with Total Viewers, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54, delivering the Network's highest non-sports summer numbers in the time period in close to 3 years � since 8/17/06.
� "20/20: Farrah Fawcett" qualified as Thursday's No. 1 TV program in the Adult 25-54 news demo.
Friday
"20/20" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC News' "20/20" took second in the 10 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (6.1 million), Adults 18-49 (1.5/5) and Adults 25-54 (2.0/6). The ABC newsmagazine drew its largest audience on the night this summer. In fact, "20/20" drew its largest audience on the night in 9 weeks - since 5/1/09.
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 32% 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 6/22/09, unless stated otherwise.
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