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[01/04/06 - 12:00 AM]
Primetime Ratings Report for the Week of DeC. 26, 2005 - JaN. 1, 2006

[via press release from ABC]

Primetime Ratings Report For the week of Dec. 26, 2005 - Jan. 1, 2006

ABC Wins the Week in Adults 18-49, Claiming 4 of the Top 7 Programs

ABC Posts Double-Digit Gains in Viewers and Young Adults Week-to-Week

ABC News Airs the Top 3 Newsmagazines in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54

ABC Leads Monday Evening, Ranking as the No. 1 Network On the Night among Adults 18-49 on 8 of the Last 9 Weeks

Repeat Telecasts of ABC�s �George Lopez� and �Freddie� Rank No. 1 in Adults 18-49 from 8-9pm on Wednesday

On Thursday, ABC News� �Primetime� Earns its Strongest Numbers this Season

ABC News� �20/20� Wins Friday at 10pm in Adults 18-49, Ranking as the No. 1 TV Show of the Night in the Key Young Adult Demo

ABC Ranks as the No. 1 Net on New Year�s Eve in Adults 18-49, Boosted by the No. 1 TV Show in Prime, �Dick Clark�s Primetime News Year�s Rockin� Eve 2006�

ABC Wins the First Evening of 2006 in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49

Sunday�s No. 1 Program in Viewers and Adults 18-49, ABC�s �Desperate Housewives� Clip-Show Delivers a Dominant Victory in Sunday�s 9 O�clock Hour

ABC�s Series Preview of �In Justice� Wins the Sunday�s 10 O�clock Hour Outpacing its Closest Competition by 2.2 Million Viewers and by 60% in Adults 18-49

WEEK No. 15:

ABC stood as the No. 1 network during the 15th week of the 2005-06 TV Season (w/o 12/26/05) among Adults 18-49 (2.8/8). The Network also took top honors for the week among Adults 18-34 (2.1/7), across the key men demographics (M18-34 � 1.9/7, M18-49 � 2.4/7 and M25-54 � 2.9/8) and among Teen 12-17 (1.4/5). So far in the 15 complete weeks this television season, ABC has ranked as the No. 1 network on 6 weeks among Adults 18-49 and on 10 weeks among Adults 18-34.

� ABC was up 11% in Total Viewers (8.1 million vs. 7.3 million) and by 12% in Adults 18-49 (2.8/8 vs. 2.5/8) from the prior week, representing the biggest week-to-week increases among the major networks.

Rankings: ABC�s aired 4 of the Top 7 programs of the week in Adults 18-49: �NFL Monday Night Football� � No. 2, �Desperate Housewives: All the Juicy Details� � No. 3, �In Justice - Preview� � No. 5 and �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� � No. 7. With �MNF� (No. 2) and �Desperate Housewives� (No. 4), ABC also claimed 2 of the Top 4 most-watched programs of the week. In addition, �Monday Night Football� was the top show of the week in Adults 18-34 and men, while �Desperate Housewives� was the No. 1 program among Women 18-34. ABC�s repeat �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� ranked as the No. 1 broadcast of the week among Kids 2-11. ABC News� claimed the Top 3 newsmagazines of the week in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54, with �20/20,� �Primetime� and �Primetime Special,� respectively.

Monday

ABC was the No. 1 network on Monday evening among Total Viewers (12.5 million) and in each of the adult demographics: AD18-34 (3.5/12), AD18-49 (4.5/13) and AD25-54 (5.3/14).

� ABC has ranked No. 1 on Monday evening among Adults 18-49 on 8 of the last 9 weeks.

�Monday Night Football: New England at New York� (9:07 p.m. � 11.59 p.m.)

ABC�s coverage of the final �NFL Monday Night Football� game, featuring the New England Patriots versus the New York Jets, delivered an average audience of 14.4 million viewers and a 5.2 rating, 15 share among Adults 18-49. The network finale of �MNF� saw the Patriots beat the Jets 31-21.

� ABC�s �MNF� ranked as the No. 1 TV show of the evening in Total Viewers (14.4 million) and across each of the key adult demographics: Adults 18-34 (4.2/14) Adults 18-49 (5.2/15) and Adults 25-54 (6.2/16).

Wednesday

�George Lopez� (8:00-8:30 p.m.)

A repeat of �George Lopez� ranked No. 1 in its half-hour among Adults 18-49 (2.4/7 � tied). The ABC series beat its comedy competition in the time period, Fox�s �That 70s Show,� by 2.1 million viewers (7.0 million vs. 4.9 million).

�Freddie� (8:30-9:00 p.m.)

Building on its young adult lead-in by 4%, a rebroadcast of �Freddie� also ranked No. 1 in its time slot in Adults 18-49 (2.5/7 � tied). �Freddie� outperformed an original episode of the Fox comedy, �Stacked,� by 2.4 million viewers (6.2 million vs. 3.8 million) and by 39% among Adults 18-49 (2.5/7 vs. 1.8/5).

Thursday

ABC�s Thursday night line-up of a special repeat �ABC Extreme Bloopers� and back-to-back telecasts of �Primetime� drew 7.9 million viewers and a 2.4 rating, 7 share among Adults 18-49, finishing second on the night in both Nielsen measures.

�ABC Extreme Bloopers� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

�ABC Extreme Bloopers� placed second in its hour in Total Viewers (8.1 million) and among Adults 18-49 (2.4/7). The rebroadcast of the special was up by 1.0 million viewers and by 9% compared to its original telecast (7.1 million viewers & 2.2/6 on 5/25/04).

�Primetime � Special� (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

A special 9 p.m. edition of �Primetime,� featuring 2005�s most unforgettable moments caught on tape, finished second in its time-slot in viewers (7.5 million), Adults 18-49 (2.4/7) and Adults 25-54 (2.8/7).

�Primetime� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

At 10 p.m., Diane Sawyer�s hour long report on �Primetime� exploring the mystery of Pope Joan produced the newsmag�s strongest performance of the season in Total Viewers (8.0 million), Adults 18-49 (2.6/7) and Adults 25-54 (3.1/8).

Friday

�20/20� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC News� �20/20,� featuring John Stossel�s hour long look at 10 commonly held beliefs to discern fact from fiction, in �Myths, Lies and Straight Talk,� won its hour among Adults 18-34 (2.2/8) and Adults 18-49 (2.7/8). It also ranked as the No. 1 TV program of the evening on both young adults measures.

� In Adults 18-34 and Adults 18-49, �20/20� produced its top numbers in 4 weeks � since 12/2/05.

Saturday

Led by the primetime portion of �Dick Clark�s New Year�s Rockin� Eve 2006,� ABC ranked as the No. 1 network on Saturday evening among Adults 18-49 (1.8/7).

�Dick Clark�s Primetime New Year�s Rockin� Eve 2006� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC�s broadcast of �Dick Clark�s Primetime New Year�s Rockin� Eve 2006,� led the final hour of primetime in Total Viewers (7.7 million), across each of the key adult demos [Adults 18-34 (1.8/8), Adults 18-49 (2.4/8) and Adults 25-54 (2.9/9)], Teens 12-17 (2.0/9) and Kids 2-11 (2.0/9).

� �Dick Clark�s Primetime New Year�s Rockin� Eve 2006� stood as the No. 1 TV show during Saturday primetime in Total Viewers and in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic.

Sunday

ABC led Sunday evening, the first night of 2006, in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. With its special line-up, ABC bested its nearest competition on the evening by nearly 1 million viewers (10.3 million vs. 9.5 million - CBS) and by 6% in Adults 18-49 (3.8/10 vs. 3.6/10 - Fox). Please note that Fox carried a high-rated NFL football overrun during the first hour of Sunday�s prime.

� ABC aired the Top 4 TV programs on Sunday among Adults 18-49, with �Desperate Housewives: All the Juicy Details,� �In Justice - Preview,� �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� and �America�s Funniest Home Videos,� respectively. Excluding Fox�s NFL overrun.

�America�s Funniest Home Videos� (7:00-8:00 p.m.)

Airing opposite the Fox NFL overrun in the time period, a rebroadcast of �America�s Funniest Home Videos� stood as the No. 1 non-sports program in the hour among Adults 18-49 (2.6/7).

�Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

ABC�s repeat �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� made ABC a solid No. 1 from 8:00-9:00 p.m., leading the second-place networks by 52% in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic (3.8/10 vs. 2.5/7 - CBS and Fox tied).

�Desperate Housewives: All the Juicy Details� (9:00-10:01 p.m.)

Sunday�s No. 1 TV program in viewers and young adults, ABC�s �Desperate Housewives� clip-show topped its nearest competition in the hour by 3.5 million viewers (12.4 million vs. 8.9 million - CBS) and by 100% in Adults 18-49 (4.6/12 vs. 2.3/6 - Fox).

�In Justice � SP Preview� (10:01-11:00 p.m.)

With solid retention of its lead-in, the series preview of �In Justice� carried ABC�s winning momentum through the 10 o�clock hour by dominating in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. ABC�s �In Justice� beat the second second-place competition in the time period by 2.2 million viewers (10.5 million vs. 8.3 million � NBC�s �Crossing Jordan�) and by 60% in Adults 18-49 (4.0/10 vs. 2.5/6 � Fox�s movie special �Vertical Limit�).

Editors Please Note: �In Justice� moves to its regular Friday 9:00-10:00 p.m. time period on 1/6/06.

Compared to ABC�s performance in the hour on the prior Sunday (7.3 million & 2.8/9 on 12/25/05), �In Justice� improved the time period by 3.2 million viewers and by 43% in Adults 18-49.

Source: Nielsen Media Research, week of 12/26/05, or as dated.





  [january 2006]  
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· 20/20 (ABC)
· AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS (ABC)
· CROSSING JORDAN (NBC)
· DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
· EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION (HGTV)
· FREDDIE (ABC)
· GEORGE LOPEZ SHOW, THE (ABC)
· IN JUSTICE (ABC)
· MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (ABC)
· STACKED (FOX)
· THAT '70S SHOW (FOX)
· WHAT WOULD YOU DO? (ABC)





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