Quick Take for Thursday, September 22, 2005 (Based on Fast Affiliate Ratings)

ABC Grows by 1.7 Million Viewers and 10% in Adults 18-49 from the Same Night Last Year, its Most-Watched Season Opening Thursday in 4 Years

ABC's Special "Dancing with the Stars: Dance-Off Results Show" Earns Second-Place at 9pm, Topping the Season Premiere of NBC's "The Apprentice"

Thursday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC's Thursday night delivery was up by 1.7 million viewers (8.3 million vs. 6.6 million) and by 10% among Adults 18-49 (2.2/6 vs. 2.0/5) over its performance on the same night a year ago (9/23/04). It was the Network's most-watched season opening Thursday in 4 years and its top among Adults 18-49 in 2 years - since 2001 and 2003, respectively.

"Dancing with the Stars: Dance-Off Results Show" (9:00-9:30 p.m.)

Building on its lead-in by over 2 million viewers, ABC's "Dancing with the Stars: Dance-Off Results Show" earned second place at 9:00 p.m. among Total Viewers, outdrawing the opening half-hour of NBC's season premiere of "The Apprentice" by 1.3 million viewers (10.3 million vs. 9.0 million). In fact, with 10.3 million viewers, ABC's "Dance-Off Results Show" was watched by more people than the Thursday season premieres of NBC's "Joey" (7.8 million) and "The Apprentice" (9.8 million). John O'Hurley won the popular vote for the "Dance-Off."

* The results show delivered ABC's largest non-sports audience and top Adult 18-49 rating (2.6/6) in the time period in 7 months - best since 2/24/05.

"Primetime" (9:30-11:00 p.m.)

Coming out of its solid lead-in, ABC's "Primetime" was up by 1.3 million viewers (7.7 million vs. 6.4), by 15% among Adults 18-49 (2.3/6 vs. 2.0/5) and by 16% among Adults 25-54 (2.8/6 vs. 2.4/6) over its delivery on the same night last year.

Source: NTI (Fast Affiliate Ratings) 9/22/05.