or


[05/16/06 - 12:00 AM]
Primetime Ratings Report for the Week of May 8-14, 2006

[via press release from ABC]

Primetime Ratings Report For the week of May 8-14, 2006

ABC is Up Over the Prior Week for the Third Week in a Row in Viewers And Adults 18-49, Marking its Highest Adult 18-34 Rating in 7 Weeks

For the Second Consecutive Week, ABC Airs 3 of the Top 7 TV Programs In Adults 18-49, Including the No. 1 Scripted Series with �Grey�s Anatomy�

Season to date ABC is Up the Most Among Viewers and Young Adults, Also Posting Seasonal Gains with Entertainment Series and Non-Sports Programming

�David Blaine: Drowned Alive� Attracts ABC�s Strongest Men 18-34 Number in the Monday 8-10pm Time Period with Entertainment Programming in More Than 3 Years

Up from the Most Recent David Blaine Special, ABC�s �David Blaine: Drowned Alive� Climbs Dramatically During its Telecast to Win its Final Half-hour in Adults 18-49

On its Season Finale, ABC�s �What About Brian� Posts Its Highest Young Adult Ratings in the Time Period

Wednesday�s No. 1 Scripted TV Series, ABC�s �Lost� Equals its Top Numbers since February, While Growing its Adult 18-49 Audience 6% from the Same Night Last Year

�American Inventor� Grows Week to Week in Viewers and Young Adults, Improving The Thursday 9 O�clock Hour by 3.7 Million Viewers and by 89% in Adults 18-49

�20/20� Posts its Strongest Ratings in Nearly 4 Months Across the Key Adult Demos

Winning Sunday for the 16th Consecutive Week in Adults 18-49, ABC Leads By Wide Margins Over CBS� Season Finale of �Survivor: Panama, Exile Island�

For the 4th Straight Telecast, ABC�s �America�s Funniest Home Videos� Ranks No. 1 During the Sunday 7 O�clock Hour Among Adults 18-49

ABC�s �Desperate Housewives� Dominates Sunday from 9-10pm, Outdelivering CBS� �Survivor� Finale by 3.8 Million Viewers and by 28% Among Adults 18-49

Sunday�s No. 1 TV Program in Viewers and Young Adults, Part 1 of ABC�s �Grey�s Anatomy� Season Finale Defeats NBC and CBS Combined at 10pm in Adults 18-49

WEEK No. 34:

For the third consecutive week, ABC took second place to �Idol�-fueled Fox among Adults 18-34 (2.9/9), Men 18-34 (2.3/8), Women 18-34 (3.4/10-tie) and Teens 12-17 (1.8/7). The network has held the No. 2 position in Adults 18-34 for 7 consecutive weeks.

� For the third straight frame, the Network was up from the prior week in viewers and Adults 18-49. Additionally, ABC posted its top Adult 18-34 rating in 7 weeks and its top rating among Men 18-34 in 10 weeks � since the weeks of 3/20 & 2/27/06, respectively.

� As the official 2005-06 TV Season wraps up next week (on 5/24/06), ABC is the network of growth. ABC�s primetime numbers are up by 7% in Total Viewers (10.8 million vs. 10.1 million) and by 8% in Adults 18-49 (4.0/11 vs. 3.7/10) over the same point a year ago. With its highest-rated season in 5 years (best since the 2000-01 TV Season), ABC is the only network to improve its performance over last season in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic. ABC�s increases are driven largely by its regular entertainment series programming, up by 8% in Total Viewers and by 5% in Adults 18-49 over its averages with regularly scheduled series programming at the same point last season. In addition, the Net�s non-sports numbers are up over last season by 3% in viewers and by 3% in Adults 18-49.

Rankings: For the second straight week, ABC claimed 3 of the week�s Top 7 TV programs in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic: �Grey�s Anatomy� � No. 3, �Desperate Housewives� � No. 6 and �Lost� � No. 7. Additionally, �Grey�s� (No. 5) and �Housewives� (No. 6) and �Lost� (No. 11) finished among the week�s Top 15 most-watched television programs for the week. �Grey�s Anatomy� once again qualified as TV�s No. 1 scripted program in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic.

Monday

Boosted by a strong demographic turn-out for �David Blaine Drowned Alive,� ABC earned second place on Monday night among Adults 18-34 (3.7/11), Men 18-34 (3.1/10), Women 18-34 (4.3/11) and Teens 12-17 (2.8/9), while ranking No. 1 on the night with Kids 2-11 (1.6/6-tie).

� Versus the same night last May (5/9/05), ABC was up by 2.4 million viewers (8.8 million vs. 6.4 million) and by 52% in Adults 18-49 (3.8/10 vs. 2.5/6).

�David Blaine: Drowned Alive� (8:00-10:00 p.m.)

�David Blaine Drowned Alive� took second place in its competitive 2-hour time period among Adults 18-34 (4.0/11) and ranked No. 1 with Teens 12-17 (3.4/10) and Kids 2-11 (2.1/7). Growing by 6.8 million viewers (7.1 million to 13.9 million) and by 135% in Adults 18-49 (2.6/8 to 6.1/14) from start to finish, the David Blaine special ranked No. 1 in its final half-hour among Adults 18-49, pacing ahead of Fox�s �24� (6.1/14 vs. 5.8/13).

� �David Blaine: Drowned Alive� was up over the most recent David Blaine special (ABC�s �David Blaine�s Vertigo� on 5/22/02) in Total Viewers (10.1 million vs. 8.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.2/11 vs. 4.0/10).

� �David Blaine: Drowned Alive� produced ABC�s highest Adult 18-49 rating in the time period in 13 weeks (since 2/6/06), matching the strongest number since �Monday Night Football� concluded in December. A strong draw among young men, �Drowned Alive� generated the Net�s top Men 18-34 number (3.7/11) in the time slot with entertainment programming in more than 3 years � since 1/13/03.

�What About Brian� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

In its season finale, ABC�s �What About Brian� marked its best ratings in the time period among Adults 18-49 (3.2/8-tie) and Adults 18-34 (3.1/9).

Wednesday

ABC matched its largest Wednesday night audience (10.3 million) and top Adult 18-49 rating (4.2/11) on the evening in 7 weeks � since 3/22/06.

�Alias� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Building audience from its first to its second half-hour, ABC�s �Alias� was up from the prior week by 15% in Total Viewers (6.1 million vs. 5.3 million) and by 22% in Adults 18-49 (2.2/6 vs. 1.8/5).

�Lost� (9:00-10:05 p.m.)

Starting out opposite Fox�s �American Idol� results show (9:00-9:32 p.m.), ABC�s �Lost� continued to build sharply on its lead and gain audience throughout its broadcast to finish a dominant No. 1 at 9:30pm in viewers and young adults. In its 9 o�clock time period, �Lost� (16.4 million & 6.9/16) held wide advantages over its CBS drama competition in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 (Season finale of �Criminal Minds� = 12.7 million & 3.6/8).

� �Lost� equaled its largest audience (16.4 million) and top Adult 18-49 rating (6.9/16) since February � since 2/15/06 and 2/8/06, respectively.

� Although it faced �American Idol� this year and did not on the same night last year, �Lost� was up 6% from its year-ago performance among Adults 18-49 (6.6/16 vs. 6.5/18 on 5/11/05).

� Exhibiting strong tune-in for ABC at 9:00 p.m. against �Idol,� �Lost� surged from its �Alias� lead-in by 10.3 million viewers and by 214% in Adults 18-49. From its first to its second half-hour, the ABC drama gained 2.0 million viewers (15.2 million to 17.2 million) and grew by 14% in Adults 18-49 (6.4/15 to 7.3/17). From 9:30-10:00 p.m., �Lost� dominated Fox�s �Idol�-dependent season finale of �Unanimous� by 3.0 million viewers (17.2 million vs. 14.2 million) and by 22% in Adults 18-49 (7.3/17 vs. 6.0/14).

� �Lost� stood as TV�s No. 1 scripted program on Wednesday among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. The ABC sophomore drama has been the No. 1 scripted program on Wednesday in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic in all 21 of its original telecasts this season.

�Invasion� (10:05-11:00 p.m.)

ABC�s �Invasion� marked its strongest performance since February among Total Viewers (7.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.0/8) � since 2/15/06.

Thursday

ABC was up week to week by 9% in Total Viewers (6.2 million vs. 5.7 million) and by 15% among Adults 18-49 (2.3/6 vs. 2.0/6).

�American Inventor� (9:00-10:02 p.m.)

At 9:00 p.m., the finale of �American Inventor� built on its lead-in by nearly 2 million viewers (7.0 million vs. 5.1 million) and by 69% among Adults 18-49 (2.7/7 vs. 1.6/5). The unscripted series also was up versus the prior week in both Nielsen measures (6.6 million & 2.6/7). �American Inventor� increased its audience by 1.0 million viewers (6.4 million to 7.4 million) and by 21% in Adults 18-49 (2.4/6 to 2.9/7) from its first to its second half-hour.

� On average, �American Inventor� has improved the 9 o�clock hour for ABC by 3.7 million viewers (9.2 million vs. 5.5 million) and by 89% in Adults 18-49 (3.6/9 vs. 1.9/5), as compared to the Net�s performance on the same nights last year.

�Primetime� (10:02-11:00 p.m.)

ABC News� �Primetime� saw increases over its performance from the prior week by 1.3 million viewers (6.5 million vs. 5.2 million) and by 65% among Adults 18-49 (2.8/7 vs. 1.7/5).

Friday

�20/20� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

In the final hour of prime, ABC News� �20/20,� featuring John Stossel�s latest installment of �Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity,� attracted 8.7 million viewers and a 2.9 rating, 9 share among Adults 18-49, placing second in the hour in both measures. The ABC newsmagazine led the hour among Adults 18-34 (2.3/8).

� �20/20� registered is best performance in nearly 4 months (since 1/20/06) across each of the key adult demographics: Adults 18-34 (2.3/8), Among Adults 18-49 (2.9/9) and Adults 25-54 (3.5/9).

Sunday

ABC marked its 16th straight week as the No. 1 network on Sunday among Adults 18-49, beating second-place CBS with 3 hours of �Survivor� season finale coverage by 1.0 million viewers (15.6 million vs. 14.6 million) and by 27% in Adults 18-49 (6.2/16 vs. 4.9/13). Despite the special competition from CBS� highly promoted season finale of �Survivor: Panama, Exile Island,� ABC�s Sunday lineup experienced growth during each half-hour of the night among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

� ABC continued to tally its longest Sunday winning streak in at least 15 years, standing as the No. 1 network on the night in Adults 18-49 for 16 straight weeks � its longest streak since at least September 1991, the beginning of Nielsen�s electronic database. The Net has led the night this season in the key young adult sales demo on 29 of 34 weeks.

� ABC claimed the Top 2 TV shows on Sunday in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, with �Grey�s Anatomy� and �Desperate Housewives,� respectively.

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

During the opening hour of primetime, �America�s Funniest Home Videos� ranked No. 1 in its time period for its 4th consecutive telecast among Adults 18-49 (2.5/9). The venerable ABC video clip-show also was the top-rated program in the hour across each of the key women demos (W18-34 � 2.1/8 - tie, W18-49 � 2.9/10 & W25-54 � 3.2/10 - tie), among Teens 12-17 (2.1/9) and Kids 2-11 (2.2/9).

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

Opposite the first hour of CBS� �Survivor� finale, ABC�s �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� delivered a solid second place from 8:00-9:00 p.m. in Total Viewers (10.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.2/11). The ABC unscripted series won the hour, beating �Survivor� by 9% among Women 18-34 (4.7/14 vs. 4.3/13).

�Desperate Housewives� (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

�Desperate Housewives� moved ABC up into a dominant first place during the 9 o�clock hour. ABC�s �Desperate Housewives� topped second-place CBS� �Survivor: Panama, Exile Island� by 3.8 million viewers (21.0 million vs. 17.2 million) and by 28% in Adults 18-49 (8.2/18 vs. 6.4/14).

�Grey�s Anatomy� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

The No. 1 TV program of the evening in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, part 1 of ABC�s �Grey�s Anatomy� season finale towered over its time period competition. In the hour, �Grey�s Anatomy� outdrew second-place NBC�s season finale of �Law & Order: C.I.� by 10.0 million viewers (22.6 million vs. 12.6 million) and topped the combined deliveries of CBS (�Survivor: Reunion�) and NBC (�Law & Order: C.I.� season finale) by 15% in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic (9.7/23 vs. 8.4/20).

� �Grey�s Anatomy� attracted its largest audience in 11 weeks � since 2/26/06.

� Original telecasts of �Grey�s Anatomy� have grown from original telecasts of �Desperate Housewives� among Adults 18-49 on all 7 airings since �Grey�s� post-�Super Bowl� telecast (2/5/06). In fact the sophomore ABC drama built 18% on its lead-in among Adults 18-49, its biggest-ever build on an original �Desperate Housewives.� In addition, �Grey�s Anatomy� has been the top-rated TV show of the night in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic on each of its original broadcasts since the �Super Bowl.�

Source: Nielsen Media Research (Live+SD), week of 5/8/06, or as dated.





  [may 2006]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
 


· 20/20 (ABC)
· 24 (FOX)
· ALIAS (ABC)
· AMERICAN IDOL (ABC)
· AMERICAN INVENTOR (ABC)
· AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS (ABC)
· CRIMINAL MINDS (CBS)
· DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
· EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION (HGTV)
· GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC)
· INVASION (ABC)
· LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT (USA)
· LOST (ABC)
· MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (ABC)
· SURVIVOR (CBS)
· UNAN1MOUS (FOX)
· WHAT ABOUT BRIAN (ABC)
· WHAT WOULD YOU DO? (ABC)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[09/16/26 - 02:41 PM]
"Monday Night Football" Opens Super Bowl LXI Season with Record-Setting Audience; Broncos-Chiefs Becomes Most-Watched Week 1 Game of ESPN's "MNF" Era
The season opener between the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs delivered an audience of 23.2 million viewers across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and NFL+.

[09/16/26 - 02:30 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Leaps Back Into the Ballroom as Tuesday's No. 1 Show, Delivering Nearly 7 Million Total Viewers - Scores Show's Biggest Season Premiere in 6 Years
Among Adults 18-49, the "Dancing with the Stars" season opener jumped +40% over last year's premiere, with the show's best premiere performance in the key Adult demographic in nine years.

[09/16/26 - 12:20 PM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of September 7
"Reacher," "The Grand Tour," "Sterling Point," "Off Campus," and "LOL Next" led all original series worldwide.

[09/15/26 - 04:06 PM]
US Open Men's Championship Averages 3.2M Viewers, ESPN's Largest Audience Ever
Viewership peaked at 4.0M from 5:30-5:45 p.m. ET.

[09/15/26 - 03:21 PM]
Michigan's Win Over Oklahoma Scores 8,221,000 Viewers on FOX
Plus: 3,094,000 viewers tuned in to Friday's Missouri-Kansas matchup on FOX.

[09/15/26 - 03:05 PM]
Ohio State/Texas Delivers ABC/ESPN's Top Regular Season Game in 10 Years; "College GameDay" Scores Most-Watched Week 2 Episode Ever
ABC scores two of week 2's top three games, with Alabama at Kentucky winning the afternoon by more than double the competition.

[09/15/26 - 02:58 PM]
FOX's "America's Game of the Week" Comes Out on Top in a Rare Week 1 Head-to-Head Matchup in the National 4:25 PM ET Window
20,346,000 viewers tuned-in to the Philadelphia Eagles win over the Washington Commanders in a window with head-to-head national competition.

[09/15/26 - 01:52 PM]
NBC Sports Delivers 25+ Million Viewers for Both NFL Kickoff Game and "Sunday Night Football" Opener for First Time Since 2015
Sunday's Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants matchup averaged 25.7 million on NBC and Peacock, marking the most watched NBC "Sunday Night Football" season opener since 2015 (Giants at Cowboys), based on Nielsen Big Data inclusive of first party data.

[09/15/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of September 7 - "The Gentlemen" Brings Sophistication to the No. 1 Spot in This Week's Top 10
"Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Again?" debuted at the top of the English film list, gathering 19.3 million views for its lakeside destination wedding.

[09/14/26 - 03:51 PM]
ESPN Aces Its Most-Viewed US Open Women's Semifinals Action Ever, Averaging 2.2M Viewers
Viewership peaked with 2.6M avg. viewers (9:45-10 p.m. ET) during Coco Gauff's three-set showdown against Elena Rybakina.

[09/14/26 - 11:57 AM]
NFL Gameday in Melbourne on Netflix Scores With an Average 18.5 Million US Viewers for First-Ever NFL Regular Season Game in Australia
Globally, the historic matchup averaged 21.7 million viewers, with fans from over 200 countries and territories tuning in to the first-ever NFL regular season game played in Australia.

[09/14/26 - 09:50 AM]
NFL Kickoff Game on NBC and Peacock Featuring Patriots-Seahawks Tops 25 Million Viewers for Fourth Consecutive Year
In addition, NBC Sports delivered the largest NFL Kickoff Game audience among Adults 18-49 since 2021, averaging 10.0 million viewers in the key demographic across NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital and NFL Digital properties.

[09/10/26 - 11:02 AM]
Wisconsin-Notre Dame on NBC & Peacock Is NBC Sports' Third-Most Watched Notre Dame Football Game Since 2005, Averaging 8.1 Million Viewers
The audience for the No. 4 Fighting Irish's 41-13 victory peaked at 9.7 million viewers in the second quarter (9:15-9:30 p.m. ET) as Notre Dame led 13-10.

[09/09/26 - 03:52 PM]
"College GameDay" Wins Week 1 With Top-Three Regular Season Show on Record
Coverage of Clemson/LSU was the top Saturday game of Week 1.

[09/09/26 - 03:30 PM]
ESPN's US Open Coverage Is Most-Viewed Since 2022 Through Third Round
The full-tournament average so far is up 5% over 2025 and the most viewed since 2022, the year of Serena Williams' final match before her return this year.