'HEROES' FLEXES RATINGS MUSCLE AS THE #1 NEW SHOW OF THE WEEK AND THE SEASON IN 18-49

'HEROES' FLEXES RATINGS MUSCLE AS THE #1 NEW SHOW OF THE WEEK AND THE SEASON IN 18-49

NBC IS UP 12 PERCENT IN 18-49 THROUGH THE FIRST FIVE WEEKS OF THE 2006-07 SEASON

BURBANK, Calif. � October 24, 2006 � "Heroes" continued to soar as the #1 new series on television in adults 18-49 and other key adult demos, as NBC averaged a 3.2 rating and 9 share in 18-49 and 8.9 million viewers overall for the week of October 16-22, according to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research.

For the first five weeks of the 2006-07 television season, NBC is the only network showing year-to-year gains in adults 18-49, where the network is up 12 percent versus the same period last year (3.7 rating versus 3.3). In that same comparison, CBS is flat, ABC is down 2 percent and Fox is down 6 percent. Season-to-date in total viewers, three of the four major networks are up year-to-year, with NBC reporting the biggest increases. NBC is up versus the opening four weeks of the season last year by 8 percent (10.230 million vs. 9.510 million) while CBS is up 1 percent, ABC is up 6 percent and Fox is down 3 percent.

NBC's "Heroes" was the highest-rated first-year series on television this week in the key demographic of adults 18-49, ranking #8 among all 92 programs last week in that key demo. Season-to-date, "Heroes" ranks #7 (tie) among all 107 programs in adults 18-49 and is the top-ranked freshman series in the demo.

"Heroes" was also the top-ranked new series in adults 18-34, ranking #3 overall and averaging a 5.8/15 in that demo. "Heroes" outperformed all programs on television last week in that demo excepting only "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives." "Heroes" was also the top freshman series in the adult 25-54 demographic, in which it averaged a 5.9/13 and ranked #16 among all 92 shows.

Also pacing NBC's week was the continued ratings strength of the new show "1 vs 100," which led NBC to a nightlong win Friday in 18-49 with dramatic gains of 39 percent in 18-49 and 32 percent in overall viewers versus the same night last year.

Primetime averages for the week of October 16-22 in adults 18-49 were ABC (4.0/11), CBS (3.8/10), Fox (3.8/11), NBC (3.2/9), CW (1.5/4), UNI (1.3/4) and Telemundo (0.4/1). In overall total viewers the weekly averages were CBS (12.6 million), Fox (11.9 million), ABC (11.2 million), NBC (8.9 million), CW (3.6 million), Univision (3.0 million) and Telemundo (0.8 million).

NBC highlights for the week of October 16-22:

* On Friday, "1 vs 100" was the top-rated television show of the night in adults 18-49 and the most-watched television show in total viewers. "1 vs 100" won its time period in 18-49, 18-34, 25-54 and total viewers.

* Paced by "1 vs 100," NBC won Friday night in adults 18-49, up 39 percent in 18-49 versus the same Friday night last year. This marks NBC's fourth Friday win in 18-49 in five weeks this season.

* On Monday, "Heroes" won its hour in adults 18-49 by more than a full rating point over second place. "Heroes" was up 43 percent in 18-49 versus NBC's 2005-06 non-sports season average for the time period

* Also on Monday, "Deal or No Deal" hit its highest numbers of the current season for any "Deal" telecast on any night. It was a dominant #1 in its time period, winning in adults 18-49, 18-34 and 25-54 as well as total viewers. With 17.5 million total viewers, Monday's "Deal" ranked #9 among all programs this week in overall viewership.

* NBC won Monday night in adults 18-49, marking the fourth time in the first five weeks this season that the network has won Monday night in the key demo.

* On Tuesday, "Friday Night Lights," in its third original telecast, was up 23 percent in 18-49 and 12 percent in total viewers versus the prior week.

* On Thursday, "The Office," built on the lead-in from "My Name is Earl" by 14 percent in adults 18-49, and was up 21 percent compared with NBC's year-ago performance in the time period. "The Office" ranked #1 in adults 18-34 in its highly competitive time period, outperforming Game 7 of the National League Championship Series, "Ugly Betty" and "Survivor." Among adults 18-34, "The Office" was the #10-ranked program this week (tied with "CSI: Miami").

* Also on Thursday, "ER" was the #1 non-sports program for its time period versus game 7 of the NLCS, airing against rival dramas that benefited from sizable lead-in advantages. In adults 18-49, "ER" built on NBC's rating from the previous hour by 81 percent, while CBS' "Shark" declined by 39 percent versus its "CSI" lead-in and ABC's "Six Degrees" declined by 64 percent versus its lead-in from "Grey's Anatomy." "ER" ranked #9 for the week among all programs in 18-49,

* On Tuesday, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" locked up another time period win in 18-49, total viewers and other key measures, with a 23 percent advantage in 18-49 over NLCS baseball on Fox.

* On Wednesday, "The Biggest Loser" hit its highest 18-49 rating so far this season.

Ratings reflect "live plus same day" data unless otherwise noted.

Additional NBC highlights for the week of October 16-22:

On Monday, Oct. 16 at 8 p.m. ET, "Deal or No Deal" (5.2 rating, 14 share in 18-49, 17.5 million viewers overall) hit its highest numbers of the season for any "Deal" telecast on any night. "Deal" was up 18 percent in 18-49 rating versus the prior week and 41 percent versus two weeks earlier. "Deal" was a decisive #1 in its time period by all key measures, including adults 18-49, adults 18-34, adults 25-54 and total viewers.

Monday at 9 p.m. ET, "Heroes" (5.7/13 in 18-49, 13.0 million viewers overall) won the hour in most key demographic measures. In adults 18-49, its advantage over second place was more than a full ratings point (5.7 vs. a 4.6 from 9-10 p.m. for CBS' comedies). "Heroes" was up 43 percent in 18-49 rating versus NBC's 2005-06 season average in the time period, excluding sports (5.7 vs. 4.0).

In adults 18-49, "Heroes" has now generated the highest second-week, third-week and fourth-week ratings of any new series this season, even though some other rookie series are benefiting from lead-ins from some of the highest-rated shows on television, including "Six Degrees" following "Grey's Anatomy," "Shark" following "CSI," "The Nine" following "Lost" and "Brothers and Sisters" following "Desperate Housewives."

Monday at 10 p.m. ET, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" averaged a 3.1/8 in 18-49 and 7.8 million viewers overall.

NBC won Monday night in adults 18-49. This marks the network's fourth Monday win in the key demo in five weeks this season.

On Tuesday, Oct. 17 at 8 p.m. ET, "Friday Night Lights" (2.7/7 in 18-49, 6.6 million viewers overall) was up 23 percent in 18-49 and 12 percent in total viewers versus the prior week, matching its premiere numbers of two weeks earlier in 18-49. "Lights" increased by 16 percent in 18-49 rating from its first to its second half-hour (to a 2.9 from a 2.5).

On Tuesday from 9-10 p.m. ET, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (3.8/9 in 18-49, 11.0 million viewers overall) ranked #2 (tied) in adults 18-49. "Criminal Intent" grew from half-hour to half-hour by 17 percent in 18-49 to a 4.1/10 from a 3.5/9 and jumped from third place in 18-49 from 9-9:30 p.m. to #1 from 9:30-10 p.m.

Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET, "Law & Order: SVU" (4.9/13 in adults 18-49, 13.0 million viewers overall) locked up the time period in adults 18-49, total viewers and other key measures. In adults 18-49, "SVU" generated a 23 percent margin of victory over second-place (4.9 vs. 4.0 for NLCS baseball on Fox). "SVU" built by 29 percent in 18-49 rating from the previous hour.

On Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 8 p.m. ET, "30 Rock" averaged a 2.3/7 in 18-49 and 5.7 million viewers overall. At 8:30 p.m., "Twenty Good Years" (2.0/5 in 18-49, 5.1 million viewers overall) retained 87 percent of the 18-49 lead-in from "30 Rock."

Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET, "The Biggest Loser" (3.2/8 in 18-49, 7.5 million viewers overall) hit its highest 18-49 rating of the season. "Loser" was up was up 23 percent in 18-49 rating versus NBC's performance in this time period on the same Wednesday last year (3.2 vs. a 2.6). At 10 p.m. ET, "Dateline NBC" averaged a 2.6/7 in 18-49 and 7.3 million viewers overall.

On Thursday, Oct. 19 at 8 p.m. ET, "My Name is Earl" (3.6/10 in 18-49, 8.6 million viewers overall) was up 24 percent in 18-49 versus NBC's performance in the time period on the same night last year (3.6/10 vs. 2.9/9).

Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET, "The Office" (4.1/10 in 18-49, 8.5 million viewers overall) was #1 in its time period among adults 18-34, outperforming "Survivor" on CBS, "Ugly Betty" on ABC and baseball on Fox in that demographic.

"The Office" built by 14 percent in 18-49 on its "Earl" lead-in, marking the fifth time in a row and the fifth time ever that "Office" has matched or built on a lead-in from an original "Earl." Compared with its corresponding performance last year at this time as a Tuesday regular (October 18 at 9:30), "The Office" has moved from exhibiting a 27 percent decline in 18-49 versus its "Earl" lead-in to generating 14 percent growth versus that lead-in. "The Office" was also up versus NBC's rating in the Thursday 8:30 time period on the same night last year by 21 percent in 18-49 (4.1/10 vs. 3.4/9).

From 9-10:01 p.m. ET, "Deal or No Deal" averaged a 3.1/7 in 18-49 and 10.0 million viewers overall.

Thursday from 10:01-11 p.m. ET, "ER" (5.6/15 in 18-49, 13.7 million viewers overall) was the #1 non-sports program in the time period (versus game 7 of the National League Championship Series), outperforming rival dramas that benefited from sizable lead-in advantages. In 18-49, "ER" built on NBC's rating from the previous hour by 81 percent, while CBS' "Shark" declined by 39 percent versus its "CSI" lead-in (to a 4.2 from a 6.9) and ABC's "Six Degrees" declined by 64 percent versus its lead-in from "Grey's Anatomy" (to a 3.5 from a 9.6). In overall total viewers, "ER" grew by 37 percent versus its lead-in (or by more than 3.6 million viewers), while "Shark" declined by 33 percent (or more than 6.7 million viewers) and "Six Degrees" fell by 62 percent (or more than 13.6 million viewers) versus their respective lead-ins.

"ER" ranked in the week's top 10 by all key adult demographic measures, ranking #9 in adults 18-49, #6 (tie) in adults 18-34 and #8 (tie) in adults 25-54.

Paced by "1 vs. 100," which was the highest rated show on television Friday, NBC won the night in adults 18-49, with a 39 percent increase in the demo versus the same night last year (3.2/11 vs. 2.3/7). In total viewers, NBC was up 32 percent versus the same Friday last year (11.081 million vs. 8.313 million).

On Friday, Oct. 20 from 8-9 p.m. ET, "Deal or No Deal" (2.9/10 in 18-49, 11.1 million viewers overall) finished 0.1 of a rating point out of first place in 18-49 and ranked #1 in total viewers. In 18-49, "Deal" was up 45 percent versus NBC's performance in the time period on the same night last year (2.9/10 vs. 2.0/7).

Friday at 9 p.m. ET, "1 vs. 100" (3.7/12 in 18-49, 12.0 million viewers overall) won its time period in adults 18-49 and numerous other key demos, as well as in total viewers. In 18-49, it won with a 32 percent margin of victory over second place (3.7/12 vs. 2.8/9 for CBS' "Close to Home").

"1 vs 100," which built on its lead-in from the previous hour by 28 percent in 18-49, was up by 42 percent in the demo versus NBC's performance in this hour on the same night last year (3.7/12 vs. 2.6/8).

Friday at 10 p.m. ET, "Law & Order" (3.1/10 in 18-49, 10.2 million viewers overall) ranked #2 in adults 18-49 and #1 in adults 18-34.

On Saturday, Oct. 21, "Dateline NBC" (2.0/7 in 18-49, 6.5 million viewers overall) reported NBC's highest non-sports 18-49 rating in the time period since April 1 and was up 82 percent in 18-49 versus NBC's performance in the slot on the same night last year (2.0 vs. 1.1). "Dateline" was the hour's top non-sports program in adults 18-49, total viewers and other key measures. At 9 p.m., "Kidnapped" averaged a 1.2/4 in 18-49 and 4.2 million viewers overall. At 10 p.m., an encore "Law & Order: SVU" (1.9/6 in 18-49, 6.9 million viewers overall) was up 27 percent in 18-49 versus the same night last year (1.9 vs. 1.5).

On Sunday, Oct. 29, NBC broadcast three encore telecasts of "Heroes." From 8-9 p.m. ET, "Heroes" averaged a 2.3/6 in 18-49 and 5.8 million viewers overall. The 9-10 p.m. "Heroes" delivered a 2.4/5 in 18-49 and 5.6 million viewers overall. And "Heroes" at 10 p.m. averaged a 2.6/6 in 18-49 and 5.7 million viewers overall.

Also on Sunday, "Football Night in America 2" from 7:30-8 p.m. ET averaged a 1.5/5 in 18-49, 3.6 million viewers overall and a 2.4/4 in households. Note: "Football Night in America" from 7-7:30 p.m. ET was sustaining programming and does not figure in the nightly or weekly primetime averages.