Quick Take for Thursday, May 29, 2008 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)
ABC Wins Thursday Night in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, No. 1 for
The 6th Straight Thursday in the Key Adult 18-49 Sales Demographic
Surging from its Lead-in, the "Lost" Season Finale Dominates its Slot and Towers
Over its Competitors as Thursday's No. 1 TV Show in Viewers and Young Adults
Despite Airing 8 Days After the End of the TV Season, "Lost" Draws its Biggest Audience in 3 Months and ABC's Top Men Numbers in the Time Period in 5 Months
One of the Season's Most Recorded TV Shows, "Lost" Gains 1.9 Million Viewers
And 18% in Adults 18-49 from its Initial Airing through 7 Days of DVR Playback
Thursday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)
Boosted by the fourth-season finale of "Lost," ABC won Thursday night in Total Viewers (10.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.0/11), registering its 6th straight week as the No. 1 network on Thursday in the key young adult sales demo.
"Lost Repeat Special" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
Originally telecast two weeks ago (5/15/08), a rebroadcast of Part 1 of the 3-part season finale of "Lost" took second place during the 8 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (6.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.1/7). Opposite Fox's original "So You Think You Can Dance," the repeat ABC drama paced well ahead of programming on CBS (4.9 million and 1.5/5) and NBC (3.4 million and 1.3/4) in the hour, despite the fact that NBC carried an original episode of "Last Comic Standing" starting at 8:30 p.m.
"Lost" (9:00-11:00 p.m.)
Jumping from its lead-in by 5.4 million viewers and by 133% in Adults 18-49, the fourth-season finale of "Lost" moved ABC up into a dominant first place during from 9:00-11:00 p.m. and towered above its competitors on the evening as Thursday's No. 1 TV program in Total Viewers (12.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.9/13). In fact "Lost" topped the No. 2 Thursday show, Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" (9.4 million and 3.6/11), by 2.8 million viewers and by 36% in Adults 18-49. In addition, "Lost" won its time period in Adults 18-49 for the 13th consecutive original airing, leading its slot in the key sales demo on every telecast this season. Gaining audience during each half-hour, "Lost" gained 1.0 million viewers (11.7 million to 12.7 million) and grew by 18% in Adults 18-49 (4.5/13 to 5.3/15) from start to finish.
Please Note: One of the most recorded and played back shows on TV, on average this season "Lost" has seen its overall audience grow by 1.9 million viewers and jump 18% in Adults 18-49 from its initial broadcast through 7 days of recorded DVR playback (Differential between Live + Same Day and Live + 7 Day Numbers).
� Despite airing 8 days past the end of the official TV Season into summer, "Lost" attracted its largest audience in nearly 3 months � since 3/6/08. In addition, "Lost" generated ABC's strongest Men 18-34 (3.7/11) and Men 18-49 (4.5/13) numbers in the 2-hour time period since early February and its highest Men 25-54 rating (5.0/13) since late January � since 2/7/08 and 1/31/08, respectively.
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 16% 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.
Source: Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings), 5/29/08.
|