Primetime Ratings Report For the week of April 28, 2008 (Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)
Drawing its Biggest Audience in 6 Weeks, ABC Takes Second to Fox in the
Adult Demos and Ranks No. 1 with Key Women for the 2nd Straight Week
ABC Airs 6 of the Week's Top 15 TV Shows in Adults 18-49 and Delivers the
Top 2 Scripted Series with "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy"
ABC is Monday's Most-Watched Network for the 3rd Week Running,
And for the 7th Consecutive Week Ranks No. 1 in the Key Women Demos
Growing Week to Week, ABC's "DWTS" Wins its Slot in Viewers and Adults 18-49, Standing as Monday's Most-Watched TV Program for the 7th Week in a Row
"Samantha Who?" is Up Week to Week by 5% in Viewers and 11% in Adults 18-49
For the 6th Straight Week, ABC's "DWTS Results" is Tuesday's Second-Most-Watched Program to "Idol," while Beating CBS and NBC Time Slot Premieres in Adults 18-49
ABC Wins its 2nd Consecutive Thursday of the 2008 May Sweep in Adults 18-49
ABC's "Ugly Betty" Dominates Thursday's 8pm Hour in Women 18-34, Marking its
14th Regular Original Telecast This Season to Rank No. 1 in its Slot in Young Women
Thursday's No. 1 TV Show for the 2nd Straight Week Across the Key Adult Demos, "Grey's Anatomy" Beats Second-Place CBS' "C.S.I." at 9pm by 20% in Adults 18-49
Winning its New 10pm Time Slot for the 2nd Consecutive Week in Adults 18-49, ABC's "Lost" Defeats CBS' "Without a Trace" by 42% and NBC's "ER" by 57%
With a Convincing Win on the 2nd Sunday of the May Sweep in Viewers and
Adults 18-49, ABC is No. 1 for the 11th Straight Week in the Key Sales Demo
Celebrating its 400th Episode with its Biggest Winning Advantage This Season, "America's Funniest Home Videos" Tops Sunday's 7pm Hour by 50% in Adults 18-49
Growing Week to Week in Adults 18-49 with ABC's Top Number in the Slot
In 5 Weeks, "Home Edition" Beats Second-Place Fox in the Time Period by 40%
Sunday's No. 1 TV Show for the 4th Consecutive Week, "Desperate Housewives" Dominates its Time Slot and Turns in its Best Numbers Since its Return to Originals
Winning Sunday's 10pm Hour for the 3rd Week in a Row, ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" Beats its Combined CBS and NBC Competition in the Key Young Adult Sales Demo
WEEK No. 32:
ABC earned second place during the week of April 28, 2008, across all key adult demographics: Adults 18-34 (2.3/7), Adults 18-49 (2.9/8) and Adults 25-54 (3.5/9). ABC ranked No. 1 during or the week with Women 18-49 (3.9/11-tie) and Women 25-54 (4.6/11). It was the 2nd week in a row for ABC to take second to Fox across the adult demos and deliver first place among key women.
� With is 2nd straight week of overall growth, ABC attracted its largest audience in 6 weeks (9.2 million) and, excluding the week of its Academy Awards telecast (w/o 2/19/08), hit its highest Adult 18-49 (2.9/8-tie) and Adult 18-34 (2.3/7) ratings in 5 months � since w/o 3/17/08 and 12/3/07, respectively.
Rankings: ABC aired 6 of the week's Top 15 TV programs in Adults 18-49, including the Top 2 scripted series with "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy": "Desperate Housewives" � No. 3, "Grey's Anatomy" � No. 4, "Lost" � No. 9, "Dancing with the Stars" � No. 10, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" � No. 11 and "Dancing w/Stars Results" � No. 12. In fact it was the 4th consecutive week that ABC delivered TV's highest-rated scripted series (on each week since their return to originals) in the key young adult sales demo. The Net delivered 4 of the Top 7 most-watched shows of the week: "Dancing with the Stars" � No. 3, "Dancing w/Stars Results" � No. 5, "Desperate Housewives" � No. 6 and "Grey's Anatomy" � No. 7.
A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating trends based on the Live + Same Day data stream may be somewhat distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped from over 15% at the same point in 2006-07, up to more than 24% currently. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.
Monday
For the 3rd straight week and the 6th time in the last seven weeks, ABC was Monday's most-watched TV network, outperforming second-place Fox during prime, with the return of "House," by 1.4 million viewers (13.6 million vs. 12.2 million). In addition, for the 7th consecutive Monday ABC ranked as the No. 1 network across Women 18-49 (5.5/13) and Women 25-54 (6.9/15).
� For the second time in as many weeks, ABC saw increases over the prior week (4/21/08) in Total Viewers (13.6 million vs. 13.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.7/9 vs. 3.5/9).
"Dancing with the Stars" (8:00-9:38 p.m.)
Leading its time period in Total Viewers (18.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.5/11), ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" qualified as Monday's most-watched television program for the 7th week in a row � outdrawing the No. 2 show during prime by 3.6 million viewers (Fox's "House" = 14.6 million from 9:00-10:00 p.m.).
� "DWTS" grew its delivery week to week in Total Viewers (18.2 million vs. 18.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.5/11 vs. 4.3/11) for the second week in a row.
"Samantha Who?" (9:38-10:08 p.m.)
ABC's "Samantha Who?" improved its performance of the prior week by 5% in Total Viewers (9.9 million vs. 9.4 million) and by 11% in Adults 18-49 (3.1/7 vs. 2.8/7).
"The Bachelor: London Calling" (10:08-11:00 p.m.)
ABC's "The Bachelor" outperformed NBC's "Medium" during the 10 o'clock hour by 5% among Adults 18-34 (2.0/6 vs. 1.9/5) and by 20% among Women 18-34 (3.0/8 vs. 2.5/7).
Tuesday
ABC took second place to Fox on Tuesday evening among Adults 18-49 (2.4/6-tie).
"Dancing with the Stars Results" (9:00-10:02 p.m.)
Leaping from its lead-in (+13.0 million viewers and +193% in Adults 18-49), ABC's "Dancing with the Stars Results" stood as the most-watched show in its 9 o'clock time period for the 5th consecutive week. Despite Fox's substantial lead-in advantage coming into to the hour from "American Idol," ABC's "DWTS Results" outdrew Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" by 5.2 million viewers (17.1 million vs. 11.9 million). "DWTS" delivered a strong second place in the slot among Adults 18-49 (4.1/10), defeating time period premieres of CBS' "Shark" by 86% (2.2/5) and NBC's "SNL in Prime Time" by 193% (1.4/3). Film and television star Shannon Elizabeth was the seventh celebrity dancer to leave the ABC dance contest this season.
� For the 6th week in a row, the ABC dancing results program qualified as Tuesday's No. 2 TV show in viewers, behind only Fox's "American Idol."
"Women's Murder Club" (10:02-11:00 p.m.)
Premiering on its new night and time, ABC's "Women's Murder Club" took second place to NBC's "Law & Order: SVU" among Women 18-49 (2.6/7-tie) and Women 25-54 (3.5/8-tie).
Wednesday
"Wife Swap" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
At 8:00 p.m., ABC's "Wife Swap" took second in its time period in Adults 18-49 (2.2/7), beating its unscripted competition, NBC's first hour of "Deal or No Deal," by 16% (1.9/6) and CBS' "The Price is Right" by 29% (1.7/5).
"Boston Legal" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Premiering on its new night, ABC's "Boston Legal" attracted ABC's largest audience (7.4 million) in the time period with regular series programming in over 4 months - since 11/14/07.
Thursday
ABC won its 2nd consecutive Thursday of the 2008 May Sweep among Adults 18-49 (4.4/12), defeating second-place CBS by 7% (4.1/11), third-place NBC by 42% (3.1/8) and fourth-place Fox by 83% (2.4/6). The Network, also for the second week in a row, delivered the No. 1 position on the evening in Adults 18-34 (4.2/13) and across the key women demographics: W18-34 (5.7/16), W18-49 (5.9/15) and W25-54 (6.6/15).
"Ugly Betty" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
ABC's "Ugly Betty" dominated the 8 o'clock hour among its core Women 18-34 audience, beating out its closest competition by 33% (3.6/11 vs. 2.7/8 � NBC). In fact "Betty" tallied its 14th straight regular original telecast this season as the No. 1 show in its slot with Women 18-34. The ABC sophomore series earned second place in its competitive time period among Women 18-49 (3.6/10) and Women 25-54 (4.2/11).
"Grey's Anatomy" (9:00-10:02 p.m.)
For the 2nd straight week, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" won its 9 o'clock time slot to qualify as Thursday's No. 1 TV program across each of the key adult demographics: Adults 18-34 (5.9/17), Adults 18-49 (6.1/16) and Adults 25-54 (6.6/16). Head to head in the time period, "Grey's" outperformed CBS' "C.S.I." by 20% in Adults 18-49 (6.1/16 vs. 5.1/13). "Grey's" posted its 13th consecutive original telecast this season as the No. 1 TV show on Thursday in the key young adult sales demographic.
� "Grey's Anatomy" was up from its week-earlier return to original episodes (its first original airing since early-January) by 19% in Men 18-34 (3.1/10 vs. 2.6/8).
"Lost" (10:02-11:00 p.m.)
For the 2nd consecutive week in its new time period, ABC's "Lost" towered over its 10 o'clock time period competition among Adults 18-49 (4.7/13), defeating second-place CBS' "Without a Trace" by 42% (3.3/9) and third-place NBC's "ER" by 57% (3.0/8). In fact "Lost" was No. 1 in its time slot among Adults 18-49 for its 10th straight original telecast this season. "Lost" ranked No. 1 in Thursday's 10:00 p.m. hour in all key adults, men and women.
� Continuing to exhibit strong retention of its "Grey's" lead-in with key adults, "Lost" again built on its lead-in for the 2nd straight week across all key men demos (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54). "Lost" stood as Thursday's No. 1 TV show with Men 18-49 (4.2/12) for the 2nd week in a row.
Saturday
"WWOD: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" (8:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC's broadcast premiere of "Wonderful World of Disney: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" drew 6.2 million and 2.0 rating, 6 share in Adults 18-49, representing the Net's strongest performance on the night 6 weeks - since 3/22/08. In addition, ABC finished No. 1 on the night among Adults 18-34 (1.5/6) and all key women demographics (Women 18-34 - 1.8/7, Women 18-49 - 2.3/8 and Women 25-54 - 2.7/8).
Sunday
Leading its 2nd consecutive Sunday of the '08 May Sweep, ABC beat out its nearest competition during prime by 2.8 million viewers (11.6 million vs. 8.8 million � CBS) and by 62% in Adults 18-49 (4.2/12 vs. 2.6/8 � Fox). ABC marked its 11th straight week as Sunday's No. 1 network in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic. In fact ABC swept Sunday's prime for the 3rd week in a row, ranking No. 1 during all 4 hours in Adults 18-49.
� Growing its Sunday Adult 18-49 audience for the 4th straight week, ABC tallied its highest-rated Sunday in 9 weeks � since 3/2/08. Excluding Academy Awards night, the Network turned in its top-rated Sunday in 4 months in Women 18-34 (4.4/14) and Adults 18-34 (3.3/11-tie) � since 1/6/08.
� For the 4th Sunday in a row (each week since its return), ABC's "Desperate Housewives" stood as the night's No. 1 TV show in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, standing as Sunday's highest-rated series on all 14 of its original broadcasts this season. In fact the Network aired the Top 2 TV programs on Sunday in Adults 18-49, with "Housewives" and "Home Edition," respectively.
"America's Funniest Home Videos" (7:00-8:00 p.m.)
Celebrating its 400th episode as a definitive No. 1 in its time period, ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" defeated its nearest competitor during the 7 o'clock hour by 50% in Adults 18-49 (2.4/8 vs. 1.6/6 - CBS). "AFV" matched a season-best winning advantage in the time period.
"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
ABC's "Home Edition" dominated the 8 o'clock hour among young adults, beating second-place Fox with its original animated comedies ("The Simpsons"/"King of the Hill") by 40% in Adults 18-49 (4.2/12 vs. 3.0/9).
� "Home Edition" was up 8% week to week in Adults 18-49 (4.2/12 vs. 3.9/11), producing ABC's best young adult number in the time period in 5 weeks � since 3/30/08.
"Desperate Housewives" (9:00-10:02 p.m.)
Sunday's No. 1 TV show for the 4th week running, ABC's "Desperate Housewives" towered above its 9 o'clock time period competition, defeating second-place Fox by 9.8 million viewers (16.8 million vs. 7.0 million) and by 80% in Adults 18-49 (6.3/16 vs. 3.5/9).
� With its 2nd straight week of gains, "Desperate Housewives" attracted its biggest audience and top Adult 18-49 rating since its return to original episodes on 4/13/08.
"Brothers & Sisters" (10:02-11:00 p.m.)
For the 3rd week in a row, ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" took full control of its 10 o'clock time period in viewers and young adults. In the hour, "Brothers & Sisters" outdelivered second-place CBS' season finale of "Dexter" by 3.8 million viewers (10.5 million vs. 6.7 million) and beat the combined delivery of CBS and NBC in the hour by 6% among Adults 18-49 (3.8/10 vs. 3.6/10).
Source: Nielsen Media Research (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 4/28/08, unless stated otherwise.
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