Primetime Ratings Report
For the week of January 18, 2010
(Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)
ABC Airs 5 of the Week's Top 20 TV Shows in Adults 18-49, with "Grey's,"
"Modern Family," "The Bachelor," "Private Practice" and "Cougar Town"
ABC's Monday Night Grows in Adults 18-49 for the 5th Straight Week
Hitting Season Highs, ABC's "The Bachelor" Beats Fox's "24" in Adults 18-49
"Castle" Marks a Season High in Adults 18-49 and a Series High in Adults 18-34
ABC's Repeat "The Middle" Beats NBC's Original "Mercy" by 31% in Adults 18-49
"Modern Family" Matches a Series High Adult 18-49 Number
And Sets New Series Highs with Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34
Posting its Highest Young Adult Numbers in 4 Months, "Cougar Town"
Beats Fox's "Idol"-Fueled Wednesday Premiere of "Human Target" by 17%
At 10 pm, ABC's "Ugly Betty" Grows is Overall Audience Week to Week
ABC Leads its 3rd Straight Thursday in Adults 18-49 and Generates
Its Biggest Overall Non-Sports Audience on the Night in 2 Months
"The Deep End" Boosts ABC's Thursday 8pm Numbers Week to Week, with the
Net's Top Non-Sports Numbers in the Time Period Since the Start of December
Overshadowing its 9pm Competition in Adults 18-49, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy"
Registers as Thursday's No. 1 TV Series for the 11th Straight Original Telecast
Finishing No. 1 in Thursday's 10pm Hour for the 2nd Week in a Row,
ABC's "Private Practice" Dominates its Time Slot Among Young Adults
ABC is No. 1 on Friday in Viewers and Adults 18-49, as "20/20" Wins at 10pm
And Ranks No. 1 in its Slot for 10th Time in 11 Regular Telecasts in Adults 18-49
Opposite Fox's Huge NFC Championship Vikings-Saints Overtime Game,
ABC Stands as Sunday's No. 1 Non-Sports Net in Viewers and Adults 18-49
A Repeat "America's Funniest Home Videos" Beats Newsmags on CBS and NBC
At 7pm in Adults 18-49, Leading "60 Minutes" by 25% and "Dateline" by 150%
Sunday's No. 1 Non-Sports TV Show in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, ABC's
"Home Edition" Defeats its Nearest Competition from 8-10pm by Wide Margins
WEEK No. 18:
During the week of January 18, 2010, ABC earned second place to Fox among Adults 18-34 (1.8/5) and key Women demographics: W18-34 (2.5/7) and W18-49 (2.8/7).
� ABC matched its second-highest weekly Adult 18-49 number (2.1/6) since November, trailing only two weeks ago with coverage of the BCS Championship � since w/o 11/30/09.
Rankings: ABC claimed 5 of the week's Top 20 television shows in Adults 18-49: "Grey's Anatomy" � No. 7, "Modern Family" � No. 8, "The Bachelor" � No. 12, "Private Practice" � No. 14 and "Cougar Town" � No. 20. For the 2nd straight week, "Grey's Anatomy" qualified as the No. 1 scripted program in Adults 18-34 and key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). ABC News' "20/20" finished out the week as TV's No. 1 newsmagazine with Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54.
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 34% currently, from 29% at the same point in 2009. 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
Posting its 5th straight week of Monday growth and matching its highest Adult 18-49 number this season, ABC (3.5/9-tie) took second place on the night to CBS' original lineup, beating NBC's originals by 84% (1.9/5 � "Chuck"/"Heroes"/"Jay Leno"). ABC ranked No. 1 on the night among Adults 18-34 (3.3/9-tie), Women 18-34 (4.6/12) and Women 18-49 (4.9/12), standing as the top Net for the 3rd week running among the key Women demos.
� ABC was up over the year-ago night in both Total Viewers (+1.7 million - 10.3 million vs. 8.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (+6% - 3.5/9 vs. 3.3/8).
"The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love" (8:00-10:00 p.m.)
From 8:00-10:00 p.m., ABC's "The Bachelor" defeated Fox's 2-hour Monday season opener of "24" in head-to-head competition by +9% in Adults 18-49 (3.8/9 vs. 3.5/8) and ranked No. 1 with Adults 18-34 (3.7/10) and key Women (W18-34/W18-49). The broad-appealing unscripted show also made ABC the top-rated broadcaster in the time period with Teens 12-17 (1.7/5) and Kids 2-11 (1.3/4).
� "The Bachelor" qualified as Monday's No. 1 TV program among Women 18-34 (4.8/12) for the 3rd telecast in a row.
� "The Bachelor" posted a season-high with its 2nd straight week of Total Viewer (10.7 million) and Adult 18-49 (3.8/9) growth, and was up over the same night last year on both Nielsen counts.
"Castle" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Growing its Adult 18-49 audience (2.8/8 � a season high) for its 2nd straight original telecast, ABC's "Castle" finished a strong second to CBS' "CSI: Miami" in the 10 o'clock hour, topping NBC's "Jay Leno" by a best-ever 115% (1.3/3). The ABC sophomore drama ranked No. 1 in its time slot with Women 18-34 (3.3/9), beating "CSI: Miami" (3.2/9) for the first time ever.
� "Castle" hit season-high rating with Adults 18-49 (2.8/8) and marked a series-high with Adults 18-34 (2.5/7).
� "Castle" boosted ABC's performance in the hour over the same night a last year by 3.6 million viewers (9.4 million vs. 5.8 million) and by 8% in Adults 18-49 (2.8/8 vs. 2.6/7 - an original "True Beauty" on 1/19/09).
Wednesday
Opposite "American Idol" from 8:00-9:00 p.m., repeats of "Modern Family" and "The Middle" gained Adult 18-49 audience (+6%) for ABC in the hour. In fact ABC was the only broadcaster to grow in the time period.
� At 8:30 p.m., a replay ABC's "The Middle" defeated NBC's original "Mercy" by 31% in Adults 18-49 (1.7/4 vs. 1.3/4). Despite facing "Idol," "The Middle" posted its second-highest repeat number to date.
"Modern Family" (9:00-9:30 p.m.)
Shooting up from its lead-in by an astounding +147% in Adults 18-49, ABC's "Modern Family" (4.2/11) won its half-hour, beating CBS' veteran "Criminal Minds" by 2% (4.1/11) and the first half of Fox's "Idol"-fueled Wednesday premiere of "Human Target" by 11% (3.8/10).
� "Modern Family" stood as Wednesday's No. 1 scripted TV show in Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34, Women 18-34 and key Men (M18-34/M18-49).
� "Modern Family" tied a series-high Adult 18-49 number and set new series-highs among Adults 18-34 (3.7/11) and Women 18-34 (4.3/12).
"Cougar Town" (9:30-10:01 p.m.)
Growing 10% week to week in Adults 18-49, ABC freshman "Cougar Town" took second place at 9:30 p.m., beating out the second half-hour of Fox's freshman Wednesday debut of "Human Target" by 17% (3.4/9 vs. 2.9/8). The ABC comedy ranked No. 1 in the half-hour with Adults 18-34 (3.1/9-tie) and Women 18-34 (4.0/11). "Cougar Town" finished as the No. 2 scripted TV show of the night with Adults 18-34 (3.1/9), Men 18-34 (2.2/7-tie) and Women 18-34 (4.0/11), behind only "Modern Family."
� "Cougar Town" marked the series' highest young Adult and Women numbers (AD18-34/AD18-49/W18-34/W18-49) since September � since 9/30/09.
"Ugly Betty" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
Opposite CBS' veteran "CSI: NY" in the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's "Ugly Betty" defeated NBC's "Jay Leno" by a best-ever 33% among Adults 18-49 (1.6/4 vs. 1.2/4).
� "Betty" increased its overall audience week to week (4.5 million vs. 4.4 million).
Thursday
ABC won its 3rd straight Thursday in Adults 18-49 (3.4/9), leading second-place Fox by 10% (3.1/8), third-place CBS by 21% (2.8/8) and fourth-place NBC by 55% (2.2/6).
� ABC marked its most-watched (9.8 million) non-sports Thursday in 2 months � since 11/19/09.
"The Deep End" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
The series debut of "The Deep End" boosted ABC's 8 o'clock numbers week to week by 1.7 million viewers (7.1 million vs. 5.4 million) and by 29% in Adults 18-49 (1.8/5 vs. 1.4/4), delivering the Net's strongest results with non-sports programming in the hour since the beginning of December � since 12/3/09.
"Grey's Anatomy" (9:00-10:01 p.m.)
Thursday's No. 1 TV show for the 2nd week in a row among Adults 18-49, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" (4.7/12) dominated its time slot and stood as the top-rated series on the night for its 11th consecutive
original airing this season. Winning the 9 o'clock hour by wide margins over all-original competition, "Grey's" (4.7/12) outdelivered NBC's "The Office"/"30 Rock" combo by 47% (3.2/8), CBS' "CSI" by 52% (3.1/8) and Fox's "Fringe" by 81% (2.6/7). "Grey's" was also once again Thursday's No. 1 show in Adults 18-34 (4.6/13).
"Private Practice" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
Finishing No. 1 in the 10 o'clock hour for the 2nd straight Thursday, ABC's "Private Practice" beat out second-place CBS' original "The Mentalist" by 16% in Adults 18-49 (3.6/10 vs. 3.1/8). The ABC sophomore drama beat the combined delivery of CBS and NBC in the slot with Adults 18-34 for the 2nd week in a row (3.4/10 vs. 3.2/9 � CBS and NBC combined).
Friday
ABC placed No. 1 on Friday night among Total Viewers (6.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.5/5).
"20/20" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC's "20/20" ranked No. 1 during Friday's 10 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (6.4 million), Adults 18-49 (1.5/5) and Adults 25-54 (2.0/6). "20/20" beat out its NBC newsmagazine competition in the time period, topping "Dateline" by 1.4 million viewers and by 11% in the key Adult 25-54 news demographic ("Dateline" = 5.0 million and 1.8/5). The ABC newsmagazine has finished as the No. 1 regular program during Friday's 10 o'clock hour on 10 of its last 11 telecasts among Adults 18-49. ABC News' "20/20" aired a live broadcast from New York, following the "Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief" telethon, bringing viewers a wrap-up of the telethon and Hollywood's rescue effort to help the people of Haiti. The newsmagazine also featured Barbara Walters' interview with breakout star Lady Gaga, an eye-opening report by Brian Ross on sexual harassment involving teenagers in the workplace, and a report from Deborah Roberts on the recent US Department of Justice's $24 million dollar settlement with FORBA Holdings LLC, a dental management company that provided services to 69 clinics around the country.
� "20/20" grew week to week by 1.0 million viewers, by 7% in Adults 18-49 and by 11% in Adults 25-54. Leading its CBS and NBC competition in the hour by wide margins, "20/20" posted its second-highest number this season with Teens 12-17.
Sunday
Opposite an NFL-fueled Fox, with enormous numbers from the overtime Vikings-Saints NFC Championship Game, ABC (6.4 million and 1.9/5) stood as Sunday's No. 1 non-sports network. In fact among Adults 18-49 (1.9/5), ABC topped CBS by 46% (1.3/3) and NBC by 171% (0.7/2).
"America's Funniest Home Videos" (7:00-8:00 p.m.)
Beating CBS and NBC newsmagazines in the 7 o'clock hour, ABC's repeat "America's Funniest Home Videos" qualified as the No. 1 non-sport program in Adults 18-49 (1.5/4), outdelivering "60 Minutes Presents" by 25% (1.2/3) and "Dateline" by 150% (0.6/1).
"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (8:00-10:00 p.m.)
Sunday's No. 1 non-sports program in Total Viewers (7.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.5/6), ABC's 2-hour "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" beat out its nearest non-sports competition from 8:00-10:00 p.m. by 2.2 million viewers and by 127% in Adults 18-49 (CBS = 5.7 million and 1.1/3).
� Against the NFL Championship Game, "Home Edition" built steadily throughout its telecast, gaining 1.3 million viewers (7.3 million to 8.6 million) and 27% in Adults 18-49 (2.2/5 to 2.8/6) from its first half-hour to its final half-hour.
Source: The Nielsen Company (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 1/18/10, unless stated otherwise.
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