or


[09/29/08 - 11:13 AM]
ABC Projected to Win the Opening Week of the Season in Viewers and Adults 18-49
ABC spins the numbers for Sunday, September 28.

[via press release from ABC]

Quick Take for Sunday, September 28, 2008 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Projected to Win the Opening Week of the Season in Viewers and Adults 18-49

ABC's Fifth-Season Premiere of "Desperate Housewives" Stands as Sunday's No. 1 TV Show in Viewers and Young Adults, as the Net Airs the Top 2 Series in Adults 18-49

ABC's "Home Edition" is the Most-Watched Entertainment Show from 8-9pm, Beating CBS' "Amazing Race" Opener by 1.6 Million Viewers and by 19% in Adults 18-49

With its Top Numbers Since January and Pacing Well Ahead of its May Sweep Results, "Desperate Housewives" Wins Sunday's 9 O'clock Hour Over NBC's "Sunday Night Football" and Overshadows CBS' "Cold Case" Season Opener in the Hour

ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" Towers Over CBS' "The Unit" in the 10pm Hour, In Viewers and Young Adults, Marking its Biggest Numbers Since Early December

Sunday Primetime (7:00-11:00 p.m.)

Competing against NBC's "NFL Sunday Night Football" on the night (Philadelphia-Chicago) and Fox with its highly-rated NFL overrun into the first hour of primetime, ABC held second place to NBC on the opening Sunday of the season in Total Viewers (12.5 million) and ranked No. 1 across all key women demos: W18-34 (5.0/14), W18-49 (6.0/15) and W25-54 (6.7/16). With the weekend numbers in the mix, ABC is projected to win the opening week of the 2008-09 TV season in Total Viewers (12.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.8 rating).

� ABC's fifth-season premiere of "Desperate Housewives" stood as the definitive No. 1 TV program on the first Sunday of the season in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. In fact ABC aired the Top 2 entertainment programs on Sunday evening in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic, with "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers & Sisters," respectively.

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Building sharply on its lead-in during its regular time period premiere, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" ranked as the most-watched TV series during the 8 o'clock hour (11.9 million). "Home Edition" topped its unscripted competition in the hour, CBS' "The Amazing Race XIII" season premiere, by 1.6 million viewers (11.9 million vs. 10.3 million) and by 19% in Adults 18-49 (3.7/9 vs. 3.1/8).

"Desperate Housewives" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

The fifth-season premiere of ABC's "Desperate Housewives" jumped to the top of 9 o'clock hour with an average audience of 18.4 million viewers and a 7.0 rating, 16 share in Adults 18-49, beating NBC's "Sunday Night Football" (16.4 million and 6.4/14) and overshadowing CBS' "Cold Case" opener (11.2 million and 2.7/6) in the hour.

� "Desperate Housewives" drew its largest audience and top Adult 18-49 rating since January (since 1/6/08) and ran ahead of where it left off last season. "Desperate Housewives" was up over its 2008 May Sweep performance by nearly 2 million viewers and by 17% in Adults 18-49 (May Sweep Live + Same Day = 16.5 million viewers and 6.0/15 in Adults 18-49). Despite the increase in DVR penetration, "Housewives" topped its year-ago season opener with Women 18-34 (8.3/20 vs. 8.1/19).

"Brothers & Sisters" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC's third-season premiere of "Brothers & Sisters" overshadowed its CBS drama competition in the 10 o'clock hour, leading the third-season premiere of "The Unit" by 2.7 million viewers (12.4 million vs. 9.7 million) and by 81% in Adults 18-49 (4.7/12 vs. 2.6/6).

� "Brothers & Sisters" saw its best performance since early December in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 � since 12/2/07. "Brothers & Sisters" grew from the series' performance during the '08 May Sweep by 1.6 million viewers and by 24% in Adults 18-49 (May Sweep Live + Same Day = 10.8 million viewers and 3.8/10 in Adults 18-49). Despite the increase in DVR penetration year to year, "Brothers & Sisters" was up from last year's season premiere in Adults 18-34 (4.1/11 vs. 3.8/11).

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to more than 27% currently, from 19% at the same point in 2007. 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), 9/28/08.





  [september 2008]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
 


· AMAZING RACE, THE (CBS)
· BROTHERS & SISTERS (ABC)
· COLD CASE (CBS)
· DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
· EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION (HGTV)
· SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (NBC)
· UNIT, THE (CBS)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[04/25/25 - 11:45 AM]
Food Network's "Tournament of Champions" Season Six Scores with Viewers
The season reached nearly 12 million P2+ cross-platform viewers and is on track to be Food Network's highest-rated series among P25-54 for the fifth year in a row, with ratings up +91% vs. prior six-week timeslot benchmarks.

[04/24/25 - 12:00 PM]
"Yellowjackets" Sets Record with Most Watched Season in Series History on Paramount+ with Showtime
The series is now the number two most-streamed global Showtime original ever, only behind "Dexter: Original Sin."

[04/22/25 - 02:33 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers"
"Nightline" saw increases on the previous week in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54, delivering its strongest news demo performance in 5 weeks.

[04/22/25 - 12:28 PM]
2025 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship Final Reaches 1 Million Viewers
The semifinals and final finished as the most-watched gymnastics postseason ever on ESPN platforms.

[04/22/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of April 14: "Black Mirror" Assumes the No. 1 Spot on the English TV List
Joining the chart with a bang is "Ransom Canyon" - the sweeping, slow-burn Western romance debuted with 7.2 million views to lasso the No. 2 spot.

[04/22/25 - 09:08 AM]
ESPN's Viewership Rises Significantly for Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
ESPN's live telecast on Sunday drew an average of 1.5 million viewers, the second-largest U.S. television audience ever for the event.

[04/22/25 - 08:50 AM]
Most-Watched NBA Playoffs Opening Weekend Ever on ESPN Platforms
The six-game slate across Saturday, April 19, and Sunday, April 20, averaged 4,487,000 viewers, up 15 percent from last year.

[04/22/25 - 07:37 AM]
"Rock the Block" Delivers HGTV's Highest-Rated Season Premiere Since 2023
Attracting three million viewers across linear and streaming, the episode also delivered a .89 L3 rating among Women 25-54, a 207 percent lift versus the previous six weeks.

[04/18/25 - 03:22 PM]
2025 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Semifinals Become Most-Watched Semis Ever on ESPN Platforms
Sessions I & II averaged 182,000 viewers on ESPN2 and ESPN+.

[04/18/25 - 11:12 AM]
Kathy Bates-Led "Matlock" Finishes Season as Television's #1 New Series
Throughout the season, an average of 17 million viewers watch "Matlock" across broadcast and streaming on Paramount+.

[04/16/25 - 09:00 AM]
Paramount+'s Much-Anticipated "1923" Finale Explodes with 14 Million Global Viewers
The finale episode has become the most watched episode ever for the series - up +41% compared to last season's finale of 10 million viewers, with the full season average up +46% in comparison to season one.

[04/15/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of April 7: "Adolescence" Continues Ascent, Now at No. 3 on Most Popular TV List
Documentary series were popular this week with "Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing" (9.8 million views) debuting at No. 1 on the English TV list and "Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer" (3.8 million views) at No. 6.

[04/15/25 - 11:29 AM]
"American Idol" Packs a Punch With Sunday and Monday Wins
On linear, Sunday's "Hollywood Week: Showstopper" was the top entertainment program of the night in Total Viewers (5.92 million) and the top program of the night among Adults 18-49 (0.57 rating) on broadcast and cable.

[04/15/25 - 08:34 AM]
Chicago Cubs vs Los Angeles Dodgers on ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" Is Most-Watched MLB Game of Season Across All Platforms
The broadcast peaked at 9:30 p.m. ET with 2,445,000 viewers.

[04/15/25 - 08:24 AM]
ESPN Earns Its Best Nielsen Q1 Viewership Since 2017, Further Cementing a Stellar Start to 2025
In addition, ESPN's average-minute-audience was up 22% overall and 15% in the Persons 18-49 demo from Nielsen Q1 in 2024.