Primetime Ratings Report For the week of October 23, 2006
ABC Ranks No. 1 in Adults 18-49 for the 6th Straight Week, and is Up Over
The Same Week Last Year for Second Week in a Row, Even Without �MNF�
ABC Delivers its Most Competitive Season Start in Nearly 30 Years,
Representing the Best Competitive Start for Any Network in 7 Years
ABC Claims 8 of the Week�s Top 20 TV Shows Among Adults 18-49,
Including the Top 2; Network Airs the Top 3 Most-Watched Shows
ABC is Tuesday�s Most-Watched Network for the Seventh Straight Week
ABC�s �Dancing with the Stars� Ranks as Tuesday�s No. 1 TV Program Among
Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, Outdelivering Fox�s 2006 World Series Game 3
�Help Me Help You� Sees its Top Viewer and Young Adult Numbers Since its Debut
ABC Wins Wednesday in Adults 18-49 for the Fourth Straight Week
And is the Night�s Most-Watched TV Network for the Second Week in a Row
Growing its Audience for the Fifth Straight Week, �DWTS the Results Show�
Leads its Hour and Continues to Hit Series Highs in Viewers and Young Adults
�Lost� Sees its Best Viewer and Young Adult Numbers Since its Season Premiere
For the Fourth Week in a Row, ABC�s �Lost� is Wednesday�s No. 1 TV
Show in Adults 25-54, Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34 and Among Teens 12-17
ABC�s �Ugly Betty� Ranks No. 1 Thursday at 8pm in Viewers and Adults 18-49
With its Third-Strongest Repeat Performance Ever, ABC�s �Grey�s Anatomy� is No. 1 In Thursday�s 9pm Hour in Adults 18-34 and Young Women Against the World Series
Thursday from 10-11pm, a Special Repeat �Grey�s� Beats Replays of NBC�s
�ER� by 46% and CBS� �Shark� by 36% in the Key Adult 18-49 Sales Demo
A Halloween Themed Installment of ABC�s �America�s Funniest Home Videos� Scores Against CBS� NFL Overrun, Attracting the Series� Biggest Audience in Nearly 2 Years
With its Biggest Audience in 4 Weeks, ABC�s �Desperate Housewives� is also
Up Week to Week Across the Adult Demos, Dominating NBC�s NFL Football
�Brothers & Sisters� Beats its CBS Drama Competition by 29% in Adults 18-49,
Growing its Audience from the Prior Week Viewers, Adults 18-34 and Key Men
WEEK No. 6:
During the week of October 23, 2006, ABC ranked No. 1 in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic for the sixth straight week. Making the Net�s victory even more impressive was the fact that top-rated �Grey�s Anatomy� was in repeat. Among Adults 18-49, ABC (3.9/11) defeated second-place CBS by 8% (3.6/10), third-place NBC by 11% (3.5/10) and fourth-place Fox, with its World Series coverage, by 22% (3.2/9). ABC also topped its sixth consecutive weekly frame with Adults 18-34 (2.9/9-tie) and in the key women demographics: W18-34 (4.0/12), W18-49 (5.2/14) & W25-54 (6.0/14). Disney-owned ABC was once again the No. 1 broadcaster with Teens 12-17 (2.1/8) and Kids 2-11 (1.7/8).
� Although it did not have the benefit of �Monday Night Football� in its averages this year, ABC was up over the same week last year (w/o 10/24/05) by 20% in Total Viewers (11.4 million vs. 9.5 million) and by 11% in Adults 18-49 (3.9/11 vs. 3.5/9). ABC has been up over the comparable year-ago week for 6 straight weeks in Total Viewers and on 2 of 6 weeks this season in Adults 18-49 (each of the past 2 weeks).
� By delivering the No. 1 position in Adults 18-49 on each of the first six weeks this season, ABC is delivering its most competitive start to any TV Season in nearly 30 years � since the beginning of the 1977-78 TV Season. Additionally, ABC is off to the best season start for any television network in 7 years � since beginning of the �99-00 TV Season, when NBC ranked No. 1 during the opening six weeks. ABC is in the middle of its longest winning streak during the course of a television season in over 6 years � since a streak during spring 2000, during the weeks of 2/21-4/17/00, when �Millionaire� was a big hit.
� Excluding sports from the season to date averages, to adjust for the loss of �Monday Night Football,� ABC�s primetime performance is up over last season by 18% in Total Viewers (12.2 million vs. 10.3 million), by 13% in Adults 18-49 (4.3/12 vs. 3.8/10) and by 13% in Adults 18-34 (3.5/11 vs. 3.1/10). ABC is up the most for any broadcaster in the �non-sports� averages.
� ABC aired 6 of the week�s Top 10 English language TV programs among Hispanic Adults 18-49: �Housewives� � No. 1, �Lost� � No. 3, �DWTS� � No. 4, �DWTS the Results Show� and �Brothers & Sisters� tied at No. 7 and �Ugly Betty� � No. 10.
Weekly Rankings: ABC claimed 8 of the week�s Top 20 TV series in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic, including the Top 2 programs: �Desperate Housewives� � No. 1, �Lost� � No. 2, �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� � No. 7, �Dancing with the Stars� � No. 8, �DWTS the Results Show� � No. 9, �Brothers & Sisters� � No. 13, �Grey�s Anatomy - R� � No. 16 and �Ugly Betty� � No. 19. The Net aired the Top 3 most-watched TV shows of the week: �Desperate Housewives� � No. 1, �Dancing with the Stars� � No. 2 and �DWTS the Results Show� � No. 3. ABC placed each of the Top 5 broadcasts of the week with Kids 2-11: �It�s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown� � No. 1, �Home Edition� � No. 2, �Funniest Home Videos� � No. 3, �Dancing with the Stars� � No. 4 and �DWTS the Results Show� � No. 5.
Monday
�The Bachelor: Rome� (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
From 9:00-10:00 p.m. �The Bachelor� built on its lead-in and grew by 8% in Total Viewers and by 6% in Adults 18-49 from start to finish. �The Bachelor: Rome� ranked No. 2 among Adults 18-34 (2.7/7 tied) and with its core audience of Women 18-34 (3.8/9), beating CBS' comedies by 19% on the latter measure (�Two and a Half Men�/�Old Christine� � 3.2/8).
Tuesday
ABC stood as Tuesday�s most-watched TV network for the 7th straight week (15.7 million). ABC finished in a virtual tie for first place with Fox�s World Series coverage on the night among Adults 18-49 (4.3/11 vs. 4.4/11). The Net also took first place during primetime in Adults 25-54 (5.4/13) and in each of the women demos: W18-34 (4.0/11), W18-49 (5.9/15) and W25-54 (7.6/17).
� On average ABC�s Tuesday night numbers this season are up by 31% in Total Viewers (15.2 vs. 11.6 million) and by 23% in Adults 18-49 (4.3/11 vs. 3.5/9) over the same point last season.
�Dancing with the Stars� (8:00-9:31 p.m.)
Tuesday's No. 1 TV program in Total Viewers (20.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (5.4/14), ABC's �Dancing with the Stars� dominated its time slot, beating Fox�s World Series coverage (Fox = 12.1 million & 3.6/10 in Adults 18-49).
� �DWTS� ranked as Tuesday�s most-watched television program for the 7th straight week and was once again the night�s No. 1 TV show in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic.
� Against the World Series, �Dancing with the Stars� saw its second-largest audience of the season.
�Help Me Help You� (9:31-10:01 p.m.)
ABC�s �Help Me Help You� took second place in its half-hour among Total Viewers (10.6 million), while ranking No. 1 among Women 18-49 (4.5/11-tie) and Women 25-54 (5.7/13).
� �Help Me Help You� attracted its largest audience (10.6 million) and best Adults 18-49 rating (3.2/8) since its debut telecast (on 9/26/06).
�Boston Legal� (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
ABC's �Boston Legal� paced ahead of its CBS competition in the 10 o�clock hour (�Criminal Minds� repeat special) among Total Viewers (10.5 million vs. 9.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.1/8 vs. 2.9/8).
� Despite going against the World Series in parts of the country, �Boston Legal� garnered a season-high among Men 18-49 (2.5/7).
Wednesday
ABC won its fourth consecutive Wednesday in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic (5.1/13) and, for the second week in a row, also stood as the most-watched TV network of the evening (15.0 million). ABC also took top honors on the evening with Adults 18-34 (3.9/12).
� The Network was up from the prior week in both Total Viewers (15.0 million vs. 14.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (5.1/13 vs. 4.9/13).
�Dancing with the Stars the Results Show� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
Growing its delivery week to week for the fifth straight week, ABC�s �Dancing with the Stars the Results Show� took first place during Wednesday's 8 o'clock hour for the seventh week in a row. From 8:00-9:00 p.m., �DWTS the Results Show� overshadowed second-place CBS' �Jericho� by 9.4 million viewers (20.0 million vs. 10.6 million) and by 59% in Adults 18-49 (5.1/14 vs. 3.2/9). ABC�s �DWTS the Results Show� remained Wednesday�s most-watched television program.
� ABC�s �Dancing� results once again achieved series highs in viewers and young adults, delivering the Net�s largest non-sports audience in the time period since January 2005 and matching its top Adult 18-49 number since September 2005 � since 1/12/05 and 9/21/05, respectively.
�Lost� (9:00-10:01 p.m.)
The dominant No. 1 TV program of the night in Adults 18-49 for the fourth straight week (on each of its telecasts this season), ABC's �Lost� towered over second-place CBS� �Criminal Minds� in its time period by 61% (7.1/17 vs. 4.4/11). �Lost� (17.1 million) also continued to draw a larger overall audience than �Criminal Minds� (16.8 million), with two Touchstone-produced dramas combining to attract nearly 34 million Total Viewers to the time period.
� �Lost� was up from the prior week in both Total Viewers (+5% - 17.1 million vs. 16.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (+8% - 7.1/17 vs. 6.6/16), delivering its best numbers since its season premiere.
� For the fourth consecutive week, �Lost� stood as Wednesday�s No. 1 TV show in each of the key adult demos (AD18-34 � 6.0/17, AD18-49 � 7.1/17 and AD25-54 � 7.8/18) and among Teens 12-17 (4.0/13).
Thursday
Opposite Fox�s World Series coverage, ABC qualified as the top non-sports network on Thursday�s in Adults 18-49 (4.1/11). ABC ranked No. 1 on the night in Adults 18-34 (3.6/11 � tied in rating with Fox), beating the Fox�s World Series coverage across the key women demographics (W18-34 � 5.4/15, W18-49 � 6.1/15, & W25-54 � 6.8/16) and among Teens 12-17 (2.3/8).
� ABC is up substantially over its Thursday performance at the same point last season. ABC�s Thursday night delivery has grown by 8.7 million viewers (15.2 million vs. 6.5 million) and by 181% in Adults 18-49 (5.9/15 vs. 2.1/6).
�Ugly Betty� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
ABC�s �Ugly Betty� ranked No. 1 during Thursday�s 8 o�clock hour in Total Viewers (13.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.2/12), outdrawing CBS� �Survivor� in viewers and tying the clip show in Adults 18-49 (12.6 million & 4.2/12). For its fifth consecutive telecast (on each of the series� airings), ABC�s �Betty� won its time period among Women 18-34, dominating its nearest competition by 66% (5.3/16 vs. 3.2/9 � �Survivor�). �Ugly Betty� also marked its 4th time in 5 airings to hold the No. 1 position with Women 18-49 (6.1/16). The ABC freshman series also led the hour by a wide margin among Adults 18-34 (+33% - 3.6/11 vs. 2.7/8 � CBS and NBC tied in the hour) and took first place with Teens 12-17 (2.5/9)
� Delivering strong tune-in for ABC in the hour throughout its telecast, �Ugly Betty� gained 1.4 million viewers (12.5 million to 13.9 million) and 15% in Adults 18-49 (3.9/11 to 4.5/12) from its first half-hour to its second half-hour.
� Over the course of its five telecasts, �Ugly Betty� has boosted the hour for ABC by 97% in Total Viewers (14.2 million vs. 7.2 million) and by 96% in Adults 18-49 (4.5/13 vs. 2.3/6) over the same nights last year.
�Grey�s Anatomy� (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Against the World Series, ABC's repeat telecast of �Grey's Anatomy� built on its young adult lead-in to rank No. 1 in its time period among Adults 18-34 (4.1/12 � tied w/Fox), Women 18-34 (6.0/16) and Women 18-49 (6.6/16). �Grey�s� delivered the series� third-strongest repeat performance ever among Total Viewers (12.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.5/11).
�Grey�s Anatomy� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
A special second repeat episode of �Grey�s Anatomy� (3.8/10) beat its repeat drama competition in the 10 o�clock hour by wide margins in Adults 18-49, defeating NBC�s �ER� by 46% (2.6/7) and CBS� �Shark� by 36% (2.8/8). Outpacing the World Series, the replay �Grey�s Anatomy� won the time period across the women demographics: W18-34 (4.8/14), W18-49 (5.6/14) & W25-54 (6.1/15).
Friday
Opposite the deciding Game 5 of the 2006 World Series, with programming that included a special repeat �It�s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,� an original episode of �Men in Trees� and an installment of �20/20,� ABC drew its largest audience (7.6 million) and highest Adults 18-49 (2.5/8) performance on the night in 5 months � since 5/19/06. The Net took second place on Friday among Women 18-34 (2.6/9), while winning the night among Kids 2-11 (2.4/9).
�It�s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown � (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
ABC�s special annual telecast of �It�s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown� ranked No. 1 in its time period among Women 18-34 (2.8/10) and Kids 2-11 (4.9/17). The peanuts holiday classic first aired 40 years ago on October 27, 1966.
� �It�s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown� attracted ABC�s largest audience (7.8 million) in the hour in 8 months and strongest Adults 18-49 rating (2.6/9) in 10 months � since 4/7/06 and 2/24/06, respectively. Furthermore, the annual animated classic posted ABC�s strongest Kids rating in the hour in 10 months � since 12/9/05.
�Men in Trees� (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Opposite drama competition in the time period including CBS� �Close to Home� and the season premiere of NBC�s �Las Vegas,� ABC�s �Men in Trees� scored week-to-week increases in both Total Viewers (+11%; 6.9 million vs. 6.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (+29%; 2.2/6 vs. 1.7/5).
� On average, �Men in Trees� has improved ABC�s delivery in the Friday 9 o�clock hour in both viewers (7.3 million vs. 5.9 million) and young adults (2.1/7 vs. 2.0/6) over the same seven weeks last year.
�20/20� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Opposite the final hour of Fox�s coverage of the �World Series � Game 5, � ABC News� �20/20� drew its highest Adults 18-49 delivery (2.7/8) and second-largest audience (8.1 million) in over 5 months � since 5/19/06.
Saturday
�ABC Saturday Movie of the Week: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban� (8:00-11:00 p.m.)
With the �ABC Saturday Movie of the Week: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,� ABC ranked No. 1 during Saturday�s primetime among Adults 18-49 (2.0/7), across each of the key women demographics [Women 18-34 (1.5/6 - tied, Women 18-49 (2.3/8) and Women 25-54 (2.7/8)], among Teens 12-17 (2.0/8) and Kids 2-11 (1.5/7).
Sunday
Although it faced a high-rated NFL overrun on CBS during the opening hour of the night, ABC paced 28% ahead of CBS on Sunday among Adults 18-49 (5.5/14 vs. 4.3/12). ABC took second place on the night in viewers and Adults 18-49, behind NBC, which pulled the first half-hour of the night (7:00-7:30 p.m.) out of its primetime averages and considerably boosted its overall totals. ABC drew its largest Sunday audience (15.2 million) in 5 weeks, since season premiere Sunday.
� ABC�s �Desperate Housewives� qualified as Sunday�s No. 1 TV program for the sixth consecutive week among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. Also for the sixth week in a row, ABC delivered the Top 3 entertainment series on Sunday evening in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic, with �Desperate Housewives,� �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� and �Brothers & Sisters.�
�America�s Funniest Home Videos� (7:00-8:00 p.m.)
Generating strong tune-in for ABC opposite CBS� high-rated NFL overrun during the 7 o�clock hour, a Halloween themed installment of ABC�s �America�s Funniest Home Videos� turned in impressive numbers. The venerable ABC video clip show drew an average audience of 11.4 million viewers and garnered a 3.4 rating, 9 share among Adults 18-49. Against stiff competition, �AFHV� gained audience throughout the opening hour on Sunday, growing by 2.8 million viewers (10.0 million to 12.8 million) and by 39% in Adults 18-49 (2.8/8 to 3.9/10) from start to finish.
� �America�s Funniest Home Videos� produced its most-watched telecast in almost 2 years and its top Adult 18-49 rating in 8 months � since 11/28/04 & 2/19/06, respectively.
�Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
From 8:00-9:00 p.m., ABC�s �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� was the most-watched show on television (15.6 million), leading CBS (13.0 million) and NBC (14.5 million) in the hour. In addition to winning among viewers, �Home Edition� also ranked No. 1 in its time period across the women demos (W18-34 � 5.3/14, W18-49 � 7.1/16 and W25-54 � 8.0/17), Teens 12-17 (3.8/11) and Kids 2-11 (3.9/13).
� ABC�s broad skewing �Home Edition� generated its biggest Total Viewer count and top rating among Kids 2-11 since its season premiere (on 9/24/06).
�Desperate Housewives� (9:00-10:01 p.m.)
Sunday�s No. 1 show in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, ABC�s �Desperate Housewives� (21.2 million & 8.3/19) dominated its competition during the 9 o�clock hour, including NBC�s �Sunday Night Football� (18.3 million & 6.9/16).
� �Desperate Housewives� attracted its largest audience (21.2 million) in 4 weeks and grew from the prior week across each of the key adult demographics: AD18-34 (6.5/17 vs. 6.4/17), AD18-49 (8.3/19 vs. 8.1/18) and AD25-54 (9.6/20 vs. 9.2/19).
�Brothers & Sisters� (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
ABC�s freshman �Brothers & Sisters� beat its CBS drama competition during the 10 o�clock hour by 29% among Adults 18-49 (4.9/13 vs. 3.8/10 � �Cold Case�/�Without a Trace�) and won the hour, ahead of NBC�s football coverage, across each of the women demographics: W18-34 (5.3/16), W18-49 (7.0/18) and W25-54 (8.0/19).
� �Brothers & Sisters� was up from the previous week by 5% in Total Viewers (12.5 million vs. 11.9 million) and by 12% in Adults 18-34 (3.8/11 vs. 3.4/10). The ABC drama was also up from the prior week across all key men demos: M18-34/M18-49/M25-54.
Source: Nielsen Media Research, NTI and NHTI (Live+SD, Most Current), week of 10/23/06, or as dated.
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