or


[05/31/06 - 12:00 AM]
Primetime Ratings Report for the Week of May 22-28, 2006

[via press release from ABC]

Primetime Ratings Report For the week of May 22-28, 2006

Growing its Viewer and Young Adult Audience from the Same Week Last Year, ABC Takes Second Place During the Week Across the Adult Demographics

ABC Concludes the Official 2005-06 TV Season with its Strongest Results in 5 Years and as the Only Network to Grow its Adult 18-49 Audience Year to Year

No. 1 with Women, �Oprah Winfrey�s Legends Ball� Produces ABC�s Largest Non-Sports Audience in the Monday 8-9pm Hour Since March 2003, Along with its Strongest Women Ratings in the Time Slot in Close to 3-1/2 Years

�Stephen King�s Desperation� Outperforms its NBC Movie Competition on Tuesday, Bringing ABC its Top Viewer and Young Adult Numbers on the Evening in 6 Weeks

In Viewers and Young Adults, Wednesday�s �Lost� Finale Produces ABC�s Strongest Non-Sports Performance in the Time Period Since September

Surging from its Lead-in and Throughout its Season Ender, ABC�s �Lost� Posts its Best Delivery Against �Idol� This Season and the Series� Strongest Numbers Since February

ABC Wins the First Post-Season Friday in Adults 18-49, as the Theatrical �Freaky Friday� and ABC News� �20/20� Each Hold the No. 1 Positions in Their Time Periods

ABC�s All Repeat Lineup Takes Second on Sunday to Fox�s NASCAR Coverage in Adults 18-49, with a Repeat of �Grey�s� Ranking as the No. 1 Regular Show at 10pm

WEEK No. 36:

During the week spanning the final three nights of the official 2005-06 TV Season and the first four nights of the post-season, ABC earned second place to Fox across each of the key adult measures: Adults 18-34 (2.2/7), Adults 18-49 (2.7/8) and Adults 25-54 (3.1/9 � tied w/CBS).

� ABC was up from the same week last year in Total Viewers (7.3 million vs. 7.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.7/8 vs. 2.6/8).

� ABC finished the official 2005-06 Television Season taking second place among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, with its second consecutive year of gains on both counts: Total Viewers (+7% -10.8 million vs. 10.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (+8% - 4.0/11 vs. 3.7/10). ABC was the only network to increase audience over last season in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic. The Network drew its largest audience and highest Adult 18-49 rating in 5 years � since the 2000-01 television season.

Rankings: ABC aired 4 of the week�s Top 20 TV programs among Adults 18-49: �Lost� � No. 4, �Oprah Winfrey�s Legends Ball� � No. 11, �Lost SP - 5/24 (clip show)� � No. 16 and �Alias SP - 5/22 (series finale)� � No. 18. In addition, �Lost� (No. 4) and �Oprah Winfrey�s Legends Ball� (No. 13) were among the Top 15 most-watched television programs during the week. ABC News� �Primetime� and �20/20� tied as the highest-rated newsmagazine for the week in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54.

Monday

Boosted by a strong turn-out for �Oprah Winfrey�s Legends Ball,� ABC�s primetime delivery was up from the same night last May Sweep (5/23/05) by 2.1 million viewers (8.3 million vs. 6.2 million) and by 35% in Adults 18-49 (3.1/8 vs. 2.3/6).

�Oprah Winfrey�s Legends Ball� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

ABC�s telecast of �Oprah Winfrey�s Legends Ball� ranked a strong No. 1 in its time period across each of the key women demographics (W18-34 � 5.3/14, W18-49 � 5.8/15 and W25-54 � 6.7/16), beating season finale programming on CBS (�King of Queens�/�Old Christine�) and Fox (�24�), along with NBC�s �Deal or No Deal.�

� �Oprah Winfrey�s Legends Ball� attracted ABC�s largest non-sports audience (11.6 million) in the time period since March of 2003 (since 3/17/03). The Oprah Winfrey special delivered ABC�s highest ratings in the hour in close to 3-1/2 years among Women 18-34, Women 18-49 and Women 25-54 � since 1/13/03.

�Alias� (9:00-11:00 p.m.)

In its series finale, ABC�s �Alias� delivered its highest rating of the season among Adults 18-34 (2.5/6), while matching its top number this season among and Adults 18-49 (2.7/6).

Tuesday

�ABC Premiere Event: Stephen King�s Desperation� (8:00 -11:00 p.m.)

The �ABC Premiere Event� presentation of �Stephen King�s Desperation� drew 7.5 million viewers and posted a 2.5 rating, 7 share among Adults 18-49 on average during its telecast. ABC was up by 1.7 million viewers and by 25% among Adults 18-49 compared to the Net�s performance the same night last May (5.8 million & 2.0/5 on 5/24/06).

� �Stephen King�s Desperation� brought ABC its highest Adults 18-49 performance on the night in 6 weeks � since 4/11/06.

� �Stephen King�s Desperation� outperformed its movie competition on the night, NBC�s �10.5: Apocalypse � Part 2,� (6.5 million & 2.2/6 from 9:00-11:00 p.m.) by 1.0 million viewers and by 14% among Adults 18-49.

Wednesday

Taking second to �Idol�-driven Fox on the night, ABC attracted its largest non-sports Wednesday night audience (14.7 million) and highest Adult 18-49 number (6.1/15) on the evening in 8 months � since 9/28/05.

�Lost: Reckoning� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

A replay of �Lost: Reckoning,� a clip-show recapping the season, marked ABC�s top ratings in the time period in 4 months among Total Viewers (8.4 million) and Adult 18-49 (3.2/9). ABC earned second to Fox in the hour, opposite the first hour of the �American Idol� season finale.

�Lost� (9:00-11:00 p.m.)

Going up against the second hour of Fox�s �American Idol� season finale, ABC�s �Lost� doubled its lead-in, grew throughout its 2-hour telecast to attract an average audience of 17.8 million viewers and a 7.6 rating, 18 share in Adults 18-49 from 9:00-11:00 p.m. ABC�s �Lost� held second place to Fox�s �Idol� during the 9 o�clock hour, and then went on to rank a dominant No. 1 during the 10 o�clock hour, beating the combined deliveries of CBS and NBC by 3.1 million viewers (19.2 million vs. 16.1 million) and by 59% in Adults 18-49 (8.1/21 vs. 5.1/12).

� The sophomore season finale of �Lost� generated ABC�s biggest non-sports audience and top Adult 18-49 rating in the 2-hour time period since September 2005, its second-highest numbers of the season � best since 9/21/05. In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, �Lost� marked its strongest performance of the season, when going head-to-head against �American Idol,� with its highest numbers in more than 3 months � since 2/15/06. The show marked its highest Adult 18-34 rating (6.6/17) in over 4 months � since 1/18/06.

� Doubling its lead-in against �Idol,� �Lost� grew in each half-hour of its 2-hour telecast, gaining 3.3 million viewers (16.3 million to 19.6 million) and 19% and Adults 18-49 (7.0/16 to 8.3/21) from its first half-hour to its final half-hour.

� ABC�s �Lost� qualified as TV�s No. 1 scripted program on Wednesday in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. The ABC sophomore series has been the top-rated scripted program on Wednesday in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic in all 23 of its original telecasts this season.

Friday

ABC won the first post-TV season Friday night among Adults 18-49 (2.1/7) and Adults 18-34 (1.7/7).

�ABC Friday Movie of the Week: Freaky Friday� (8:00-10:00 p.m.)

�Freaky Friday,� starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, drew 5.8 million viewers and a 2.0 rating, 7 share among Adults 18-49, winning its time period on the latter measure. The 2003 theatrical also led its 2-hour time period in Adults 18-34 (1.7/7), Teens 12-17 (1.7/8) and Kids 2-11 (1.8/8).

� The movie attracted viewers throughout its telecast. It gained 2.1 million viewers (5.0 million to 7.1 million) and 93% in Adults 18-49 (1.4/6 to 2.7/9) from its first to its final half-hour.

�20/20� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

In the final hour of prime, �20/20� ranked No. 1 in Adults 18-49 (2.3/8) and Adults 18-34 (1.6/6).

Sunday

ABC�s all repeat lineup placed second on Sunday night among Adults 18-49 (1.9/7), behind Fox�s NASCAR coverage, which ran throughout prime into the 10 o�clock hour. ABC led the evening -- beating Fox -- in each of the key women demographics: Women 18-34 (1.9/7), Women 18-49 (2.4/8) and Women 25-54 (2.8/9).

�Grey�s Anatomy� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

A repeat episode of ABC�s �Grey�s Anatomy� was the top non-sports program of the hour in Total Viewers (6.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.2/7). It won the hour, ahead of Fox�s NASCAR, across the key women demographics: Women 18-34 (2.4/8), Women 18-49 (3.2/10) and Women 25-54 (3.6/10).

Source: Nielsen Media Research (Live+SD), week of 5/22/06, or as dated.





  [may 2006]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
 


· 10.5: APOCALYPSE (NBC)
· 20/20 (ABC)
· 24 (FOX)
· ALIAS (ABC)
· AMERICAN IDOL (ABC)
· DEAL OR NO DEAL (CNBC)
· GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC)
· KING OF QUEENS, THE (CBS)
· LOST (ABC)
· NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE, THE (CBS)
· STEPHEN KING'S DESPERATION (ABC)
· WHAT WOULD YOU DO? (ABC)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[05/22/25 - 12:18 PM]
"Survivor" Finale Is CBS' Most-Watched Wednesday in a Year
The three-hour season 48 finale was the #1 broadcast of the night among Adults 25-54 with 0.9.

[05/21/25 - 02:57 PM]
"60 Minutes" Closes Out 2024-25 Season on Top as America's #1 News Program
CBS' flagship news broadcast grew compared to the previous year, with 16 billion minutes watched across linear and streaming.

[05/21/25 - 09:14 AM]
NBC Delivers More Young NFL Viewers Than Any Media Partner, as "Sunday Night Football" Finishes TV Season as Primetime's No. 1 Show for Record 14th Consecutive Year
In addition, NBC delivered more NFL viewers under age 50 than any other NFL media partner across all game windows (minimum seven games), and topped all media partners in the coveted Adult 18-34 and Adult 18-49 demographics.

[05/20/25 - 12:00 PM]
Top 10 Week of May 12: "Nonnas" Feasts Again, with Second Week at No. 1
In English TV, "American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden" took the top spot in its first week, with 12.6 million views, followed by the grisly true story of two of the UK's most prolific murderers in "Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story," which premiered at No. 2 (8.3 million views).

[05/20/25 - 10:18 AM]
Peacock's "Poker Face" Season 2 Hits Nielsen Top 5
The series' sophomore season also debuted as the #2 streaming original based on average audience in that same week.

[05/20/25 - 09:00 AM]
2025 NBA Playoffs Viewership Up 12 Percent from Last Year on ESPN Platforms
Game 7 of the Denver Nuggets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder series on ABC averaged 6,340,000 viewers, and peaked with 7,632,000 viewers at 5:15 p.m. ET.

[05/20/25 - 08:49 AM]
Most-Watched Edition of ESPN "Sunday Night Baseball" in Seven Years
The audience peaked with 3,018,000 viewers at 9:45 p.m. ET.

[05/20/25 - 08:34 AM]
ESPN Platforms Delivered Its Most-Watched WNBA Opening Weekend Doubleheader, Chicago Sky vs. Indiana Fever Averaged 2.7M Viewers
The Sky-Fever matchup, which peaked at 3.1 million viewers, was the most-watched WNBA game ever on ESPN platforms.

[05/19/25 - 04:00 PM]
"American Idol" Season Eight Finishes on High Note with Best Total Viewer Audience in Two Years
In addition, "American Idol" earned a 0.70 rating among Adults 18-49, rising over the previous week to deliver its best performance in the key Adult demo since the show's post-Oscars season premiere.

[05/16/25 - 11:48 AM]
"American Idol" Sunday and Monday "Disney" Nights Tower Over the Competition
Sunday's episode of "American Idol" earned 5.27 million Total Viewers and a 0.62 rating in Adults 18-49.

[05/15/25 - 02:07 PM]
"9-1-1" Hits Six-Month High as Show Builds Toward Season Finale
Standing as the No. 1 non-sports telecast of the night in the key Adult demo, "9-1-1" delivered 6.48 million Total Viewers and a 0.63 rating among Adults 18-49 on linear.

[05/13/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of May 5: "Nonnas" Cooked Over Mother's Day Weekend, Debuting at No. 1
"The Four Seasons" maintained its top spot on the English TV list for a second consecutive week, racking up a total of 24.4 million views across its first two weeks.

[05/12/25 - 02:29 PM]
ABC News Is No. 1 Network Across Broadcast and Cable to Cover the Papal Conclave Announcement of Pope Leo XIV - Led by "World News Tonight" Anchor David Muir from the Vatican
ABC News outdelivered its closest competitor, FOX News, by +5% in Total Viewers, by +5% in Adults 25-54 and by +11% in Adults 18-49.

[05/12/25 - 08:00 AM]
CBS Is #1 in Daytime for 39 Seasons and 1,500 Consecutive Weeks, The Longest Winning Streak on Record
CBS has been the most-watched daytime network for an impressive 39 consecutive seasons and has won every week during that time except for one.

[05/12/25 - 07:17 AM]
Food, Sports, Adventure and Relationship Content Drive 61 Percent Share for Warner Bros. Discovery's US Networks on Sunday, May 4
More than 31 million people watched one of the WBD networks that night.