Primetime Ratings Report For the week of August 11, 2008 (Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)
ABC News' "20/20" and "Primetime: Medical Mysteries" Tie as the Week's No. 1 Newsmags in Adults 18-49, Marking 6 Straight Weeks ABC Has Held Top Spot
ABC's "Wanna Bet" Posts Week-to-Week Increases of Nearly 1 Million Viewers
and 40% in Adults 18-49, Hitting Series Highs in Both Measures
ABC News' Special "Primetime: Medical Mysteries" Places Second to the "Olympics"
on Tuesday at 10pm in Total Viewers, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54
Opposite NBC's Broadcast of the "Olympics," ABC News' "Primetime: Crime" Improves ABC Wednesday at 10pm Over the Same Night Last Year
by 1.3 Million Viewers and by 8% in Adults 18-49
ABC News' "20/20" is Up by Nearly 1 Million Viewers and by 17% in Adults 18-49 Over its Most Recent Telecast, Drawing Its Largest Audience Since May
A Repeat "America's Funniest Home Videos" is the No. 1 Non-"Olympics"
Program on Sunday at 7pm in Adults 18-49 and Key Women
An Encore "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" Builds on its Lead-in and
Takes Second in its 2-Hour Block in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49
WEEK No. 47:
Rankings: Opposite NBC's broadcast of the "Olympics," ABC's newsmagazines continued to stand out for the network. ABC News aired TV's Top 2 news programs of the week in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54. "20/20" and "Primetime: Medical Mysteries" tied as the No. 1 newsmagazines in Adults 18-49. In Adults 25-54, "Primetime: Medical Mysteries" ranked No. 1, while "20/20" and "Primetime: Crime" tied as the No. 2 newsmags. In addition, it is the 6th straight week that ABC News has aired the Top 2 news programs of the week in Adults 18-49.
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 18% at the same point in 2006-07, up to 26% 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.
Tuesday
"Wanna Bet" (9:02-10:00 p.m.)
Airing against NBC's broadcast of the Olympics, the time period premiere of ABC's "Wanna Bet" posted increases over the previous week's performance by nearly 1.0 million viewers (3.7 million vs. 2.8 million) and by 40% in Adults 18-49 (1.4/3 vs. 1.0/3), hitting series highs in both Nielsen measures.
"Primetime: Medical Mysteries" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
The ABC News special "Primetime: Medical Mysteries" stood as the top-ranked non-Olympics program in the 10 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (4.7 million), Adults 18-49 (1.4/4) and Adults 25-54 (1.8/4).
Wednesday
"Primetime: Crime" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC News� "Primetime: Crime" finished second in the hour, behind only NBC's broadcast of the "Olympics," in Adults 18-49 (1.3/4-tie), Women 18-49 (1.9/5) and Women 25-54 (2.4/6).
� "Primetime: Crime" improved ABC's performance in the hour over the same nights last year (8/15/07) by 1.3 million viewers (4.4 million vs. 3.1 million) and by 8% in Adults 18-49 (1.3/4 vs. 1.2/4).
Friday
"20/20" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
In the final hour of the night, ABC News' "20/20," with its investigation of the mysterious disappearances of two female students from college towns, placed second in Total Viewers (5.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.4/4), taking second in the hour in both Nielsen measures.
� "20/20" was up over its most recent telecast (7/25/08) by nearly 1.0 million viewers and by 17% in Adults 18-49 (4.7 million & 1.2/4 in Adults 18-49 on 7/25/08). In fact, the ABC newsmagazine drew its largest audience in 3 months � since 5/16/08.
Sunday
"America's Funniest Home Videos" (7:00-8:00 p.m.)
A rebroadcast "America's Funniest Home Videos" stood as the top non-"Olympics" program in the 7 o'clock hour in Adults 18-49 (1.2/4), Women 18-34 (0.9/4) and Women 18-49 (1.4/5).
"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (8:00-10:00 p.m.)
Building on its lead-in by 7% in viewers (4.5 million vs. 4.2 million) and by 25% in Adults 18-49 (1.5/4 vs. 1.2/4), "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" finished second in its 2-hour time period in both counts, behind NBC's "Olympics."
Source: Nielsen Media Research (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 8/11/08, unless stated otherwise. Summer = Memorial Day to Labor Day.
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