Primetime Ratings Report
For the week of February 8, 2010
(Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)
ABC Delivers 4 of the Week's Top 15 TV Programs Among Adults 18-49,
Including "Lost," "Grey's Anatomy," "The Bachelor" and "Modern Family"
ABC Hits a Season High on the Evening in Adults 18-49 and
Is No. 1 on Monday in Key Women for the 6th Week in a Row
"The Bachelor" Tops Fox's Original "House"/"24" Drama Combo on Monday, Marking a Season High and Growing its Audience for the 5th Straight Week
ABC is Up on Tuesday Year to Year by 3 Million Viewers and by 71% in Adults 18-49
Jumping from its Lead-in and Building Throughout its Telecast, "Lost" Wins at 9pm and is Tuesday's No. 1 Scripted Show in Adults 18-49 for the 2nd Straight Week
"Lost" is Up Substantially Over its Performance on the Same Week Last Year
And Delivers Dramatic Year-to-Year Improvement for ABC in the Time Slot
Generating its Strongest Numbers Since Fall '09, "the forgotten" Defeats
NBC's "Jay Leno" Finale and Improves its Time Slot for ABC Year to Year
ABC's Replay "A Charlie Brown Valentine" Posts its Best Numbers in 8 Years
Marking a Series High for the 2nd Straight Week, "The Middle" Wins at 8:30pm
In Adults 18-49, Posting ABC's Top Scripted Number in the Slot in Over 2 Years
Growing Against "Idol," "Modern Family" Logs the Series' 2nd-Highest Adult 18-49 Number and is Wednesday's No. 1 Scripted TV Show for its 3rd Straight Airing
Building its Overall Audience Week to Week Against a Surging "Idol,"
"Cougar Town" is the No. 1 Scripted TV Show in its Slot in Adults 18-34
"Ugly Betty" is Up Week to Week by 18% in Viewers and by 14% in Adults 18-49
"Deep End" Posts Double-Digit Week-to-Week Gains in Viewers and Young Adults
Despite Increased Competition from the "Survivor" Premiere,
ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" Grows its Overall Audience Week to Week
"Private Practice" Dominates Thursday's 10 O'clock Hour Among Adults 18-34,
Standing as No. 1 Series in the Slot for the 12th time in 13 Telecasts This Season
WEEK No. 21:
During the week of February 8, 2010, which included competition from the first 3 nights of the Vancouver Winter Olympics, ABC claimed 4 of the Top 15 TV shows in Adults 18-49: "Lost" � No. 10, "Grey's Anatomy" � No. 12, with "The Bachelor" and "Modern Family" tied at No. 13. "Lost" registered as TV's No. 1 scripted show for the week in Adults 18-34 and Men 18-34. "Grey's" stood as
the highest-scripted show with key Women (W18-34/W18-49) Although competing opposite Wednesday's edition of "American Idol," ABC's "Modern Family" once again qualified as the week's No. 1 scripted freshman series among Adults 18-49.
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 35% 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
Growing week to week, ABC hit a Monday season high among Adults 18-49 (3.6/9-tie) and drew its biggest overall audience (11.4 million) on the evening since November with the season finale of "Dancing with the Stars" on 11/23/09. The Network won Monday for the 6th straight week among key Women: W18-34 (4.7/12) and W18-49(5.1/12).
"The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love" (8:00-10:00 p.m.)
From 8:00-10:00 p.m., ABC's "The Bachelor" took second place among Total Viewers to CBS' original comedy block, drawing a larger audience than Fox's original dramas ("House"/"24") for the 2nd week in a row (12.4 million vs. 11.9 million). The ABC unscripted series finished No. 1 in its 2-hour time period for the 4th consecutive week in Adults 18-34, besting runner-up Fox by 6% (3.8/10 vs. 3.6/10). For its 6th straight telecast, "The Bachelor" overshadowed its time slot and qualified as Monday's
No. 1 TV show with Women 18-34 (5.8/14).
� "The Bachelor" marked another season high in Total Viewers and equaled last week's season high among Adults 18-49, tallying the show's 5th consecutive week of growth of its overall audience.
"Castle" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC's "Castle" earned second place in the 10 o'clock hour to CBS' original "CSI: Miami," beating out NBC's original "Jay Leno" Monday finale by 5.2 million viewers (9.5 million vs. 4.3 million) and by 127% in Adults 18-49 (2.5/7 vs. 1.1/3).
� On average season to date, "Castle" is growing its time period year to year for ABC by 1.2 million viewers over the same nights last year.
� "Castle" attracts an advertiser-coveted Upscale audience, with an annual median income of $68,000 for its Adult 18-49 audience (among the highest on broadcast television) and pulling in 22% higher ratings than the norm in homes with $100k+ annual income (index of 122).
� One of TV's biggest gainers in the 10 o'clock hour this season, ABC's "Castle" is generating substantial increases over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback, picking up an average 1.8 million viewers and an additional 6-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point (+25%) from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.
Tuesday
With its Tuesday lineup of a "Lost" replay, "Lost" and "the forgotten," ABC was up over the same night last year (2/10/09) by 3.0 million viewers (7.3 vs. 4.3 million) and by 71% in Adults 18-49 (2.9/8 vs. 1.7/4).
"Lost" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Despite facing stiff, established time period competition on CBS ("NCIS: LA") and NBC ("Biggest Loser"), as well as Fox's "American Idol"-inflated series debut of "Past Life," ABC self-starter "Lost" shot up from its lead-in by 6.3 million viewers (11.1 vs. 4.8 million) and by 194% in young adults
(5.0/12 vs. 1.7/4) and built its audience from start to finish (+5% in viewers/+6% in young adults). "Lost" dominated the 9 o'clock hour for its 2nd straight telecast in the key young Adult sales demo, defeating second-place CBS' "NCIS: LA" by 22% (4.1/10), third-place NBC's "Biggest Loser" by 25% (4.0/10) and fourth-place Fox's "Past Life" by 79% (2.8/7).
� "Lost" qualified as Tuesday's No. 1 scripted TV show for the 2nd week in a row in Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34 and across key Men (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54).
� "Lost" was up from its performance on the same week last year by 1.3 million viewers and by 14% in Adults 18-49 (9.8 million and 4.4/10, Wednesday 9:00 p.m. on 2/11/09).
� "Lost" delivered enormous year-to-year time period improvement for ABC, boosting the hour by 6.7 million viewers and by 150% in Adults 18-49 over the year-ago night with original programming (4.4 million and 2.0/5 � originals of "Scrubs").
� Excluding only last week's sixth-season premiere, "Lost" posted its highest-rated telecast in over 2 years among Adults 18-34 (5.1/14) � since 2/7/08.
"the forgotten" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC's "the forgotten" took second in its slot to CBS' "Good Wife," beating the series finale of NBC's "Jay Leno" by a best-ever 18% among Adults 18-49 (2.0/6 vs. 1.7/5).
� "the forgotten" jumped from its most recent original telecast (on 1/12/10) by 1.6 million viewers (5.9 vs. 4.3 million) and by 67% in Adults 18-49 (2.0/6 vs. 1.2/3). In fact the show drew its biggest audience since mid-November and its highest Adult 18-49 number since mid-October � since 11/17/09 and 10/13/09, respectively.
� "the forgotten" generated strong year-to-year time period improvement for ABC, growing the 10 o'clock the hour by 2.2 million viewers and by 25% in Adults 18-49 over the year-ago night with original programming (3.7 million and 1.6/4 � original "True Beauty").
Wednesday
"A Charlie Brown Valentine" (8:00-8:30 p.m.)
ABC's rebroadcast of "A Charlie Brown Valentine" ranked No. 1 at 8pm in Adults 18-49 (2.4/7), beating original competition including Fox's "Human Target" (2.3/7 � 2nd consecutive week for an ABC repeat to beat the Fox series), CBS' "Old Christine" (2.3/7) and NBC's "Mercy" (1.8/5).
� "A Charlie Brown Valentine" was up sharply over its year-ago telecast (Tuesday at 8pm on 2/10/09) in Total Viewers (+2.4 million � 7.2 million vs. 4.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (+60% - 2.4/7 vs. 1.5/4), the PEANUTS special's best numbers in 8 years � since its 2/14/02 debut on ABC.
"The Middle" (8:30-9:00 p.m.)
Marking a series high for the 2nd week in a row, ABC's "The Middle" won the 8:30pm half-hour among Adults 18-49 (2.9/8), defeating the second half-hour of Fox's "Human Target" by 7% (2.7/7), CBS' "Gary Unmarried" by a best-ever 21% (2.4/7) and NBC's "Mercy" by 61% (1.8/5). In fact, the show turned in series highs across key Adult, Men (tie) and Women demographics.
� "The Middle" registered as ABC's highest-rated scripted telecast in the half-hour in more than 2 years among Adults 18-49 � since 11/14/07.
"Modern Family" (9:00-9:30 p.m.)
Surging from its lead-in by 41% at 9pm against "American Idol," ABC's "Modern Family" stood as the highest-rated scripted show in its half-hour for its 3rd straight airing among Adults 18-49, beating CBS' "Criminal Minds" by 14% (4.1/10 vs. 3.6/9). "Modern Family" also registered as Wednesday's No. 1 scripted TV program for its 3rd telecast in a row.
� Posting its 2nd consecutive telecast of growth opposite "Idol," up 5% week to week, "Modern Family" posted the series' 2nd-highest Adult 18-49 number. The ABC comedy hit series highs with Adults 18-34, Women 18-34 (tie), key Men (M18-49-tie/M25-54-tie) and Teens 12-17.
"Cougar Town" (9:30-10:01 p.m.)
Airing against a surging "American Idol," ABC freshman "Cougar Town" finished as the No. 2 scripted program in its half-hour among Total Viewers (6.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.7/7) to CBS' veteran "Criminal Minds," while registering as the No. 1 scripted show in its slot with Adults 18-34 (2.5/7) and Women 18-34 (3.1/8). In fact, "Cougar Town" finished as Wednesday's No. 2 scripted show with Women 18-34 for its 3rd straight telecast, behind only "Modern Family."
� Despite facing the second half of "Idol," which was up sharply in the half-hour week to week, "Cougar Town" grew its overall audience week to week (6.4 million vs. 6.3 million) and was up among key Men: +19% in M18-34 and +5% in M18-49.
"Ugly Betty" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
During the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's "Ugly Betty" jumped week to week by 18% in Total Viewers (4.7 million vs. 4.0 million) and by 14% in Adults 18-49 (1.6/5 vs. 1.4/4).
Thursday
ABC finished a solid second on Thursday in Total Viewers (9.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.0/8) to CBS with its airing of the highly-promoted 2-hour premiere of "Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains." ABC topped the evening with Women 18-34 for the 6th time in 7 weeks, leading its nearest competition by 34% (3.9/11 vs. 2.9/8-CBS).
� Despite the heightened competition on the night, ABC increased its overall Thursday audience (9.2 million) for the 2nd consecutive week.
"The Deep End" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
From 8:00-9:00 p.m. against the opening hour of "Survivor," ABC's "The Deep End" posted week-to-week gains in both Total Viewers (+12% - 5.7 million vs. 5.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (+15% - 1.5/4 vs. 1.3/4).
"Grey's Anatomy" (9:00-10:01 p.m.)
Opposite the second half of "Survivor," ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" ranked No. 1 in its time slot with Adults 18-34 (4.0/12) and all key Women: W18-34 (5.9/16), W18-49 (6.3/15) and W25-54 (7.0/16).
� "Grey's" was up was up week to week in Total Viewers (12.7 million vs. 12.6 million) and Adults 25-54 (5.1/12 vs. 4.9/12).
"Private Practice" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
ABC's "Private Practice" won Thursday's 10 o'clock hour among Adults 18-34, leading its nearest competition by 29% (2.7/9 vs. 2.1/7 � CBS' "The Mentalist"). It was the 12th time in 13 original telecasts this season for the ABC sophomore drama to hold the No. 1 series position in the hour with Adults 18-34.
Source: The Nielsen Company (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 2/8/10, unless stated otherwise.
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