Primetime Ratings Report
For the week of November 1, 2010
(Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)
Building its Overall Audience for the 4th Week Running,
ABC Marks Its Most-Watched Week Since Season Premiere Week in September
ABC Claims 5 of the Top 10 TV Shows in Adults 18-49, More than Any Other Net,
With "Modern Family," "Grey's," "Housewives," "DWTS" and "Private Practice"
"Modern Family" is TV's No. 1 Scripted Show in Adults 18-49 for the 5th Straight Week and "DWTS" is the Most-Watched Series Overall for the 6th Time in 7 Weeks
No. 1 ABC Garners its Largest Monday Audience in Any Sweeps Period in 3 Years
A Growing "DWTS" Celebrates the Franchise's 200th Episode as Monday's Top Show
ABC's "Castle" Outdraws CBS' "Hawaii Five-0" in Viewers for the 3rd Straight Week
ABC is the Definitive Winner on Election Night in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49
"DWTS: The Results" is Tuesday's No. 1 TV Show in Viewers and Young Adults
ABC News is the Top Choice for Election Night Coverage, Over NBC, CBS and Fox
The Network Generates its Strongest Wednesday Night Results in 11 Months
ABC's "The Middle" and "Better With You" Hit Series-Highs in Key Adult Demos
"Modern Family" is Wednesday's No. 1 TV Show for the 7th Week Running
ABC's "Cougar Town" Builds its Numbers Year to Year in Viewers and Young Adults
ABC's "In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts: All Access Nashville" Lead-up to Next Week's "CMA Awards" Pulls the Net's Biggest Audience in the Hour Since December
Gaining for the 2nd Straight Week, ABC Marks its Top Thursday 6 Weeks
Up Week to Week, "Grey's" is the No. 1 Series in its Slot for the 7th Week Running
A Surging "Private Practice" Marks the Series' Top Numbers in Nearly 10 Months
Up Year to Year, "Supernanny" Premiere Delivers Strong Time Slot Gains for ABC
"What Would You Do?" Draws ABC's Biggest Audience in its Hour in 6 Months
"America's Funniest Home Videos" Draws its Largest Audience Since February
ABC's "Home Edition" Produces its Most-Watched Telecast of the Season
"Housewives" Pulls in its Best Numbers in 5 Weeks in Viewers and Young Adults
WEEK No. 7:
During the week of November 1, 2010, ABC earned a solid second-place finish to an NFL overrun-boosted CBS in Total Viewers (9.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.5/7), beating out NBC and Fox on both Nielsen measures. Please note that professional sports continued to have a big impact on the weekly averages. CBS' 67-minute Sunday NFL overrun added 4-tenths of a rating point to its Adult 18-49 number for the week, NBC's results were driven by another big "Sunday Night Football" game (Dallas-Green Bay) and Fox got a big boost from carriage of the deciding Game 5 of the 2010 World Series. ABC ranked No. 1 for the 2nd straight week across all key Women demographics (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54), holding the No. 1 position among Women 18-34 (2.6/8) for the 7th week running this season.
· Building its overall audience for the 4th week running, ABC marked its most-watched week since season-premiere week in September - since w/o 9/22/10.
Rankings: For the 5th consecutive week, ABC's "Modern Family" qualified as the No. 1 scripted TV program in Adults 18-49, while "Dancing with the Stars" landed as the No. 1 unscripted series for the 7th time in 7 weeks this season. ABC claimed 5 of the Top 10 TV shows of the week in Adults 18-49, more than any other network: "Modern Family" - No. 3 (No. 1 scripted show), "Grey's Anatomy" - No. 6 (No. 1 drama), "Desperate Housewives" - No. 8 (No. 2 drama), "Dancing with the Stars" - No. 9 (No. 1 unscripted series), "Private Practice" - No. 10 (No. 1 10 o'clock show). ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" finished as America's most-watched television series overall for the 6th time in 7 weeks this season. In fact, ABC claimed 2 of the Top 3 biggest viewer draws for the week with "DWTS" and "DWTS: The Results."
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 38% currently, from 33% 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
Standing as the most-watched Net on the opening Monday of the November sweep, ABC ranked
No. 1 on the night in Total Viewers for the 7th week in a row, topping CBS by 6.4 million viewers (17.1 million vs. 10.6 million). In fact, ABC attracted its largest Monday audience during any sweeps period in nearly 3 years - since 11/19/07.
· Growing its Monday results year to year for the 7th consecutive week, ABC was up over the same night last season (11/2/09) by 2.8 million viewers (17.0 million vs. 14.3 million) and by 20% in Adults 18-49 (3.6/9 vs. 3.0/8).
"Dancing with the Stars" (8:00-10:01 p.m.)
Celebrating the show's 200th episode, ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" led its 2-hour time period in Total Viewers (19.9 million) for the 7th week running. "DWTS" defeated CBS' original comedy block in Total Viewers (19.9 million vs. 10.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.0/10 vs. 3.9/10).
· "DWTS" stood as Monday's No.1 show in Total Viewers, Women 18-49 and Women 25-54 for the 7th week in a row.
· "DWTS" improved substantially over its year-ago telecast for the 7th straight week, up by 3.2 million viewers (19.9 million vs. 16.7 million) and by 18% among Adults 18-49 (4.0/10 vs. 3.4/8).
"Castle" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
Ranking as the top scripted program in the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's "Castle" outdrew CBS' high-profile reboot, "Hawaii Five-0," in Total Viewers (+4% - 11.3 million vs. 10.9 million) for the 3rd straight week. In addition, "Castle" beat the CBS drama for the 4th consecutive week across all key Women demographics: W18-34/W18-49/W25-54.
· Building on its performance on the same night last year for the 7th time in 7 weeks this season , "Castle" is up over its year-ago telecast by 1.9 million viewers (11.3 million vs. 9.4 million) and by 13% in Adults 18-49 (2.7/7 vs. 2.4/6).
Tuesday
ABC finished as the clear winner on midterm election night, defeating its nearest competitors on Tuesday by 2.7 million viewers (12.0 million vs. 9.3 million - CBS) and by 14% in Adults 18-49 (2.4/7 vs. 2.1/6 - NBC).
· The Network generated its most-watched Tuesday since September - since 9/28/10.
"Dancing with the Stars: The Results Show" (8:00-9:30 p.m.)
Towering over its competition during its 90-minute time period from 8:00-9:30 p.m., ABC's "Dancing with the Stars: The Results" stood as Tuesday's No. 1 TV show in Total Viewers (16.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.2/9). Former Los Angeles Lakers' star Rick Fox was the seventh celebrity to leave the ABC dance competition this season.
· Despite shifting into an earlier time period, "DWTS: The Results" attracted its biggest audience in 5 weeks - since 9/28/10.
· "DWTS: The Results" outdrew its year-ago telecast for the 7th consecutive week this season.
"ABC News: Vote 2010" (9:30-10:55 p.m.)
"ABC News: Vote 2010," anchored by Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos, was the viewers' choice for election night coverage on broadcast television. Drawing an average audience of 6.8 million viewers from 9:30-10:55 p.m., ABC News' election night coverage topped second-place NBC News' special by 6% (6.4 million - "Decision 10 Prime" 9:00-10:54 p.m.), third-place CBS News' special by 15% (5.9 million - "Campaign 2010: Election" 10:00-11:00 p.m.) and fourth-place Fox News' special by 143% (2.8 million - "Fox News Election Coverage-11/2" 9:00-10:00 p.m.).
Wednesday
ABC finished a solid second on Wednesday night in Total Viewers (8.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.8/8), while winning the night in Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34. The Net tallied its top Wednesday this season in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 (tie), posting its best performance on the evening in 11 months - since 12/9/09.
· Posting strong year-over-year gains in viewers (+37%) and young adults (+33%), ABC grew over the year-ago Wednesday for the 5th straight week (6.0 million and 2.1/6 on 11/4/09).
· ABC's 8:00-10:00 p.m. comedy block continued to build year to year, surging by 2.5 million viewers (9.2 million vs. 6.7 million) and by 38% in Adults 18-49 (3.3/9 vs. 2.4/6) from the same night a year ago.
"The Middle" (8:00-8:30 p.m.)
Hitting a series-high for the 2nd week in a row in Adults 18-49, ABC's "The Middle" continued to run a competitive second at 8:00 p.m. to CBS' "Survivor: Nicaragua" among viewers (9.4 million) and young adults (2.9/9), holding wide advantages over programming on NBC and Fox. "The Middle" won its slot in Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34 (2nd week in a row), beating out "Survivor" by 5% and 22%, respectively.
· The ABC sophomore rose sharply from its year-ago performance (when it aired at 8:30 p.m. = 6.0 million and 1.9/5) and greatly improved the 8:00 p.m. half-hour for ABC year to year (5.1 million and 1.3/4).
· "The Middle" matched its highest-ever Adult 18-49 number (tying the previous week), while also hitting series-best ratings with Adults 25-54 (tie) and Adults 18-34.
"Better with You" (8:30-9:00 p.m.)
Posting a series-best for the 2nd straight week in Adults 18-49, "Better with You" earned a solid second place at 8:30 p.m. with viewers and young adults. The ABC freshman comedy once again towered over its freshman competition in the half-hour, topping NBC's "Undercovers" by 28% in Total Viewers (7.7 million vs. 6.0 million) and by a best-ever margin of 92% in Adults 18-49 (2.5/7 vs. 1.3/4).
· Like its lead-in, "Better with You" improved its half-hour for ABC from the same night last year in both Total Viewers (+28%) and Adults 18-49 (+32%).
· The new ABC comedy equaled series-highs in Adults 18-49, Adults 25-54 and Women 18-49, while achieving new highs in Women 18-34 and Teens 12-17.
"Modern Family" (9:00-9:31 p.m.)
Standing as Wednesday's No. 1 TV show for the 7th straight week this season, ABC's "Modern Family" posted a convincing victory in the 9:00 p.m. half-hour, beating CBS' "Criminal Minds" by 23% (4.8/13 vs. 3.9/11).
· "Modern Family" bettered its year-ago performance for the 7th week running this season, jumping over the same night last year by 3.4 million viewers and by 37% in Adults 18-49 (8.8 million and 3.5/9).
"Cougar Town" (9:31-10:01 p.m.)
ABC's "Cougar Town" took second place in 9:30 p.m. half-hour among young Adults (AD18-34/AD18-49) and delivered the No. 1 position with Women 18-34 for the 5th straight week.
· "Cougar Town" was up from its performance on the same night last year by 7% in Total Viewers (7.4 million vs. 6.9 million) and by 7% in Adults 18-49 (3.0/8 vs. 2.8/7).
"In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts: All Access Nashville" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
As a lead-up to next Wednesday's broadcast of the "44th Annual CMA Awards," ABC's "In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts: All Access Nashville" produced season highs for ABC in Wednesday's 10 o'clock hour with Total Viewers (6.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.8/5), drawing the Net's biggest overall audience in the time period since last December (12/9/09).
Thursday
ABC won Thursday in Adults 18-34 by a margin of +21% over its nearest competition (2.9/9 vs. 2.4/7 - NBC), qualifying as the highest-rated non-sports net on the evening for the 7th week in a row. The Net also finished No. 1 overall with key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49) for the 7th week running this season.
· Growing its viewer (8.8 million) and young adult numbers (3.1/9) for the 2nd week in a row, ABC marked its strongest performance on the night since season-premiere Thursday 6 weeks ago (on 9/23/10).
"Grey's Anatomy" (9:00-10:01 p.m.)
Launching over its lead-in (+177% in Viewers/+258% in Adults 18-49), ABC self-starter "Grey's Anatomy" soared to the top of Thursday's 9 o'clock hour in Adults 18-49, standing as the No. 1 series in the slot for the 7th week in a row. Taking full control of its time period, "Grey's" (4.3/12) topped second-place CBS' "CSI" by 30% (3.3/9), third-place NBC's comedies ("The Office"/"Outsourced") by +34% (3.2/9) and fourth-place Fox's "Fringe" by +139% (1.8/5).
· Jumping week to week by 1.1 million viewers (11.9 million vs. 10.8 million) and by 10% in Adults 18-49 (4.3/12 vs. 3.9/10), "Grey's Anatomy" posted its best results in 3 weeks - since 10/14/10
"Private Practice" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
Showing impressive lead-in retention in the 10 o'clock hour (91%), ABC's "Private Practice" (3.9/11) posted a dominant first-place finish in Adults 18-49, beating out CBS' "The Mentalist" by a best-ever +30% (3.0/9) and NBC's "The Apprentice" by +179% (1.4/4). The ABC medical drama also dominated the hour with Adults 18-34, registering as the No. 1 scripted show in the slot for the 7th straight week. The episode gained critical appraise for its handling of a character's sexual assault.
· In Total Viewers (86%) and Adults 18-49 (91%), "Private Practice" exhibited its best-ever non-crossover retention of an original "Grey's" lead-in. In addition, "Private Practice" retained 97% of its Women 18-49 lead-in and held 100% with Women 25-54.
· Hitting season highs as it shot up week to week in viewers (+32%) and young adults (+44%), "Private Practice" achieved the series' best numbers in nearly 10 months - since 1/14/10.
Friday
ABC posted a solid second-place finish against its network rivals on Friday in Total Viewers (5.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.5/5), while ranking No. 1 on the night with Women 18-34 (1.6/6). Among Adults 18-49, ABC led NBC by 36% (1.1/4) and Fox by 67% (0.9/3).
· ABC posted its 2nd-highest Friday numbers this season with viewers and young adults.
"Supernanny" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
Growing year to year, the season opener of ABC's "Supernanny" earned second place among the broadcast nets in the 8 o'clock hour with viewers (4.7 million) and young adults (1.2/4).
· "Supernanny" was up from its year-ago season opener (4.5 million and 1.1/4 on 10/23/09) in Total Viewers (+4) and Adults 18-49 (+9%). The veteran unscripted series also generated strong time-period improvement for ABC, boosting the hour by 33% in viewers and by 20% in Adults 18-49 over the Net's season-to-date averages.
"Primetime: What Would You Do?" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Growing its overall audience by 6% from its week-ago season premiere (5.7 million vs. 5.4 million) in the 9 o'clock hour, ABC's "Primetime: What Would You Do?" ranked as the No. 2 show among the broadcast networks in its time slot to CBS' slot-regular "CSI: NY." Among Adults 18-49 (1.8/6), ABC's "What Would You Do?" defeated the opening hour of NBC's "Dateline" by 38% (1.3/4) and Fox's "The Good Guys" by 125% (0.8/3). Drawing a younger audience in the hour, the ABC hidden-camera show topped CBS' CSI: NY" in Adults 18-34 for the 2nd week in a row.
· "Primetime: What Would You Do?" attracted ABC's biggest audience in the time period in nearly 6 months - since 5/14/10.
"20/20" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
In the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's "20/20" defeated the second hour of NBC's 2-hour "Dateline" by 21% in Adults 18-49 (1.7/5 vs. 1.4/5) and paced within 1-tenth of a rating point of tying CBS' "Blue Bloods" for the lead in the slot. "20/20" ranked No. 1 in the hour with key Women (W18-34/W18-49).
· The ABC newsmagazine hit its 2nd-highest numbers this season in key Adults (AD18-49/AD25-54) and tied a season-high with Women 18-49.
Sunday
Opposite sports-driven competition on the night on CBS (NFL overrun) and NBC ("Sunday Night Football"), ABC saw solid increases week to week in both Total Viewers (+1.7 million - 9.6 million vs. 7.9 million ) and Adults 18-49 (+23% - 2.7/7 vs. 2.2/6).
"America's Funniest Home Videos" (7:00-8:00 p.m.)
At 7:00 p.m., ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" improved on its week-ago performance by 1.8 million viewers (7.7 million vs. 5.9 million) and by 14% in Adults 18-49 (1.6/4 vs. 1.4/4), drawing the show's largest audience in over 8 months - since 2/28/10.
"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
Building on the previous week in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" registered its largest audience (9.3 million) of the season and saw its best young adult (2.5/6) performance in 5 weeks - since 10/3/10. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" also marked season-highs in Adults 25-54 and Women 18-49.
"Desperate Housewives" (9:00-10:01p.m.)
ABC's "Desperate Housewives" stood as Sunday's No. 1 entertainment TV show in both viewers (12.7 million) and young adults (4.1/10) for the 4th consecutive week, turning in its top numbers in 5 weeks (since 10/3/10). Additionally, "Housewives" stood as Sunday's No. 1 TV program overall across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).
"Brothers & Sisters" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" was up week to week by 7% in Total Viewers (8.7 million vs. 8.1 million) and by 9% in Adults 18-49 (2.5/7 vs. 2.3/6), drawing its biggest audience in 3 weeks (since 10/17/10). In addition, "Brothers & Sisters" beat its CBS competition, "Amazing Race"/" Undercover Boss," by strong margins across each of the key Women demographics: Women 18-34 (2.8/8 vs. 2.1/6), Women 18-49 (3.6/10 vs. 3.1/8) and Women 25-54 (4.5/12 vs. 4.0/10).
Source: The Nielsen Company (National, Live+ Same Day Program Ratings), week of 11/1/10, unless stated otherwise.
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