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[10/14/08 - 12:59 PM]
ABC Grows Week to Week Among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49
ABC spins the numbers for the week of October 6-12.

[via press release from ABC]

Primetime Ratings Report For the week of October 6, 2008 (Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)

ABC Grows Week to Week Among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49

ABC Claims 5 of the Week's Top 20 TV Programs in Adults 18-49, Including 2 of the Top 3 Shows with "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy"

The Net Places 4 of the Top 10 Most-Watched Television Shows of the Week

Monday's Most-Watched TV Program for the 3rd Week in a Row, ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" Wins its 2-Hour Time Slot in Viewers and Adults 18-49

"Boston Legal" Posts Week-to-Week Increases in Viewers and Young Adults

ABC Takes First Place on Tuesday in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 with "Dancing with the Stars Results" and ABC News Presidential Debate Analysis

ABC News Once Again Claims the Most-Watched Presidential Debate Analysis

For the 2nd Straight Wednesday, ABC Ranks No. 1 in Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34

"Pushing Daisies" Delivers 100% Retention of its Week-Earlier Season Premiere Young Adult Audience and Grows from its Season Opener with Women 18-34

Surging from its Lead-in, "Private Practice" is No. 1 in its Slot with Adults 18-34 And, for the 2nd Week in a Row, Is Wednesday's No. 1 TV Show in Women 18-34

For the 2nd Consecutive Week, ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money" Leads its NBC Sophomore Drama Competition in the 10pm Hour, "Lipstick Jungle," in Viewers & Young Adults

Growing Week to Week in Viewers and Young Adults, "Ugly Betty" Takes Second In its Slot in Viewers and Wins the Hour for the 3rd Straight Week in Women 18-34

ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" Tops the Season Opener of "C.S.I" in Adults 18-34 And Stands as the Thursday's No. 1 Television Program in Women 18-34

Beating CBS' "Eleventh Hour" Debut in Thursday's 10pm Hour in Key Adults, ABC's "Life on Mars" Opens as TV's No. 1 New Drama Debut This Season in Adults 18-49

Each of ABC's Friday Shows Grow in Viewers and Young Adults Over the Net's Week-Ago Season Premiere of the Night, Including "Wife Swap," "Supernanny" and "20/20"

A Growing "Housewives" is Sunday's No. 1 TV Show in Adults 18-49 for the 3rd Week in a Row, as ABC Airs the Night's Top 3 Entertainment Shows in the Key Demo

WEEK No. 3:

During the week of October 6, 2008, ABC earned second place in Total Viewers (9.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.0/8). The Net ranked No. 1 for the 3rd straight week with Women 18-34 (3.0/9) and Women 18-49 (3.9/10).

� ABC was up from the prior week by 4% in Total Viewers and by 7% in Adults 18-49 (w/o 9/29/08 = 9.2 million & 2.8/8).

Rankings: ABC claimed 5 of the week's Top 20 TV programs in Adults 18-49, including 2 of the Top 3 with "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy": "Desperate Housewives" � No. 2, "Grey's Anatomy" � No. 3, "Dancing with the Stars" � No. 11, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" � No. 18 and "Life on Mars" � No. 19. ABC's Thursday debut of "Life on Mars" stood as TV's No. 1 new drama during the week in Adults 18-49, also qualifying and the top-rated freshman drama premiere of the season. The Net aired 4 of the week's Top 8 most-watched television shows overall: "Dancing with the Stars" � No. 2, "Desperate Housewives" � No. 6, "DWTS Results SP" � No. 7 and "Grey's Anatomy" � No. 8.

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 28% currently, from 20% 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.

Monday

For the 3rd time in as many weeks, ABC qualified as Monday's most-watched network, outdelivering second-place CBS by 3.8 million viewers (15.3 million vs. 11.5 million). ABC also took the No. 1 ranking Monday night across each of the key women demos: Women 18-34 (3.4/9), Women 18-49 (5.1/12) and Women 25-54 (6.3/14).

"Dancing with the Stars" (8:00-10:00 p.m.)

Monday's most-watched program for the 3rd week in a row, ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" won its 2-hour time period, defeating second-place CBS by 8.3 million viewers (18.6 million vs. 10.3 million) and by 8% in Adults 18-49 (4.3/11 vs. 4.0/10). "DWTS" also qualified as Monday's No. 1 show among Women 18-49 (6.3/15) and Women 25-54 (7.7/17)

� "Dancing with the Stars" saw its audience grow by 2.5 million viewers (16.9 million to 19.4 million) and by 21% in Adults 18-49 (3.9/11 to 4.7/11) from start to finish.

"Boston Legal" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

For the 2nd straight week, ABC's "Boston Legal" beat NBC's special telecast of "Life" by 3.2 million viewers (8.8 million vs. 5.6 million).

� "Boston Legal" was up over the prior week in both Total Viewers (8.8 million vs. 8.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.2/6 vs. 2.0/6).

Tuesday

With "Dancing with the Stars Results-SP" and ABC News' post-Presidential Debate analysis, ABC ranked No. 1 in Tuesday prime among Adults 18-49 (3.4/9) and Adults 25-54 (4.4/11-tie). ABC took a strong second in Total Viewers (13.6 million).

"Dancing with the Stars Results - SP" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Due to a schedule adjustment for the Presidential Debate, a one time only special airing at 8:00 p.m. of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars Results" won its hour and stood as the No. 1 program on Tuesday night among Women 18-49 (4.8/12) and Women 25-54 (6.1/14). The show took second in the hour in Total Viewers (15.1 million) and finished in a virtual tie for first-place among Adults 18-49 with CBS' "NCIS" (3.6/10 vs. 3.7/10). "DWTS Results" beat out its unscripted competition in the time period, NBC's "The Biggest Loser: Families," by 7.8 million viewers and by 16% in Adults 18-49 ("Loser" = 7.3 million and 3.1/8). Due to the injury suffered by Olympic gold-medalist Misty May-Treanor, who had to drop out of the dance competition, the remaining stars got a one-week reprieve.

"ABC News Vote '08: Presidential Debate" (9:00-10:35 p.m.)

Based on Nielsen's "sustained" ratings, ABC News' Coverage of the Presidential Debate drew 13.2 million viewers.

"Vote 2008: Analysis-TUE" (10:35-11:00 p.m.)

From 10:35-11:00 p.m. ET, for the 2nd straight Presidential Debate, ABC News ranked No. 1 with its post-Presidential debate coverage among both the broadcast and cable nets. ABC's "Vote 2008: Analysis-TUE" ranked No.1 with its post-Presidential debate analysis in Total (9.9 million), Adults 18-49 (2.9/7-tie) and Adults 25-54 (3.6/8).

Wednesday

For the 2nd week in a row, ABC ranked No. 1 on Wednesday in both Adults 18-34 (2.1/6-tie) and Women 18-34, holding 25% advantage over its nearest competition in the latter demographic (3.0/8 vs. 2.4/7 � Fox and CW tied).

"Pushing Daisies" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

During the 8 o'clock hour, ABC's "Pushing Daisies" tied NBC's "Knight Rider" in Adults 18-34 (1.8/6). Additionally, "Daisies" continued to lead its NBC drama competition in the hour by wide margins across the Women demos: W18-34 +73% (2.6/8 vs. 1.5/4), W18-49 +25% (2.5/7 vs. 2.0/5) and W25-54 +23% (2.7/7 vs. 2.2/5).

� "Daisies" retained 100% of its Adult 18-49 and Adult 18-34 audience from its week-earlier season premiere and was up week to week in Women 18-34 (2.6/8 vs. 2.5/7) and Men 18-49 (1.4/4 vs. 1.3/4).

"Private Practice" (9:00-10:02 p.m.)

Building on its lead-in and gaining audience during the 9 o'clock hour, opposite competition including CBS' "Criminal Minds," "Private Practice" took second place in Total Viewers (7.4 million) and ranked No. 1 in the time period for the 2nd straight week among Adults 18-34 (+9% - 2.5/7 vs. 2.3/7 � CBS). For the 2nd week in a row, "Private Practice" qualified as Wednesday's No. 1 TV program in Women 18-34 (3.8/10).

"Dirty Sexy Money" (10:02-11:00 p.m.)

In the final hour of the night opposite CBS' veteran drama "C.S.I.: NY," ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money" earned second place in its time period, beating its sophomore drama competition, NBC's "Lipstick Jungle," in both Total Viewers (5.9 million vs. 4.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.0/6 vs. 1.9/5).

� "Dirty Sexy Money" increased from its week-ago season premiere with Women 18-34 (2.5/7 vs. 2.4/7).

Thursday

Against the premiere of CBS' Thursday dramas, ABC earned second place in Total Viewers (11.6 million) and across all key Adult demos: AD18-34 (3.4/10), AD18-49 (4.0/10-tie) and AD25-54 (4.7/11). ABC posted a dominant first place on the evening in Women 18-34, besting its nearest competition by 23% (4.9/14 vs. 4.0/11 - NBC).

"Ugly Betty" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Growing week to week, ABC's "Ugly Betty" took second place in its hour among Total Viewers (8.5 million) to CBS' "Survivor: Gabon," topping NBC's comedies, which included the debut of "Kath & Kim," by 1.2 million viewers ("My Name is Earl"/"Kath & Kim" = 7.3 million). Leading its nearest competition in the hour by 16% in Women 18-34 (3.7/11 vs. 3.2/10 - CBS), "Betty" ranked No. 1 in its time period for the 3rd week in a row among young women.

� "Ugly Betty" was up week to week in both Total Viewers (8.5 million vs. 8.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.6/8 vs. 2.5/7).

"Grey's Anatomy" (9:00-10:01 p.m.)

Opposite the highly-promoted season premiere of CBS' "C.S.I. in the 9 o'clock hour," ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" took second in the hour to stand as Thursday's No. 2 TV show in both Total Viewers (14.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (5.6/13). "Grey's" beat the "C.S.I." premiere by 18% among Adults 18-34 (5.3/14 vs. 4.5/12). The ABC medical drama led the hour by 46% (7.9/19 vs. 5.4/13 � CBS and NBC tied) and registered as Thursday's No. 1 TV show with Women 18-34.

"Life on Mars" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)

TV's highest-rated drama debut of the season, ABC's series debut of "Life on Mars" topped CBS' series premiere of "Eleventh Hour" by solid margins in the 10 o'clock hour across all key Adult demos: AD18-34 +14% (2.5/8 vs. 2.2/6), AD18-49 +16% (3.7/10 vs. 3.2/9) and AD25-54 +15% (4.7/12 vs. 4.1/10). In addition, "Life on Mars" ranked No. 1 in the hour in Adults 25-54, and was the top-rated broadcast show in the slot with Teens 12-17 (1.3/5).

� "Life on Mars" stands as TV's No. 1 drama debut of the season in Adults 18-49, and the highest-rated Fall drama opener in 1 year � since 10/3/07.

� "Life on Mars" improved the time period for ABC over the same night last year (w/"Big Shots" on 10/11/07) by 2.8 million viewers (11.3 million vs. 8.5 million), by 3% in Adults 18-49 (3.7/10 vs. 3.6/10) and by 15% in Adults 25-54 (4.7/12 vs. 4.1/11).

� "Life on Mars" retained a strong 93% of its lead-in among Men 18-49 (2.8/8 vs. 3.0/8) and built on Grey's Anatomy by 6% in Men 25-54 (3.7/10 vs. 3.5/8).

Friday

Up from its week-ago season-premiere Friday during each hour of the evening with "Wife Swap," "Supernanny" and "20/20," ABC earned second place among the broadcast nets on the night Adults 18-49 (1.8/6). In Adults 18-49, ABC outdelivered Fox by 20% (1.5/4) and NBC by 38% (1.3/4). The Network ranked No. 1 on Friday with Women 18-34 (1.9/7-tie).

� ABC was up from its week-ago season-opening Friday by 10% in Total Viewers and by 13% in Adults 18-49 (10/3/08 = 4.9 million & 1.6/5).

"Wife Swap" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

In its second airing on its a new night against time period-veteran "Ghost Whisperer," ABC's "Wife Swap" was the highest-rated unscripted show its new time slot among Adults 18-49 (1.5/5), topping unscripted competition on NBC by 25% ("America's Toughest Jobs" = 1.2/4) and on Fox by 15% ("Smarter than a 5th Grader" = 1.3/4).

� "Wife Swap" jumped from its week-earlier season premiere numbers by 11% in Total Viewers (4.1 million vs. 3.7 million) and by 15% in Adults 18-49 (1.5/5 vs. 1.3/5).

"Supernanny" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

Surging from lead-in for its 2nd consecutive telecast in its new slot, "Supernanny" finished in a near-tie with CBS' "The Ex List" for the No. 1 entertainment program in the hour in Adults 18-49, pacing within one-tenth of a rating point and tied in audience share (1.8/6 vs. 1.9/6). The close finish for first occurred despite CBS' decided lead-in advantage coming into the time period from "Ghost Whisperer," as "Ex List" declined precipitously from its lead-in (-4.1 million viewers and -30% in Adults 18-49). "Supernanny" defeated its NBC and Fox unscripted competition in the 9 o'clock hour by strong margins in the key young adult sales demo, beating "Deal or No Deal" by 20% (1.5/5) and "Don't Forget the Lyrics" by 29% (1.4/4).

� Versus its week-ago season opener, "Supernanny" shot up by 19% in Total Viewers (5.0 million vs. 4.2 million) and by 20% in Adults 18-49 (1.8/6 vs. 1.5/5).

"20/20" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

Building sharply on its lead-in with viewers and young adults, ABC News' "20/20" ranked No. 1 among the broadcasters during the 10 o'clock hour among Adults 18-49 (2.2/7 � tied w/CBS' "Num3ers") and across all key Women demos: W18-34 (2.1/7), W18-49 (3.1/9) and W25-54 (3.6/10-tie). Also in the time period, the ABC newsmagazine continued to pace well ahead of NBC's "Life," beating out the NBC sophomore drama by 2.0 million viewers (7.0 million vs. 5.0 million) and by 57% in Adults 18-49 (2.2/7 vs. 1.4/4).

� For its 2nd straight telecast, "20/20" was up over its previous airing in the hour in both Total Viewers and Adults 19-49 (10/3/08 = 6.8 million & 1.9/6).

Sunday

Competing against NBC's "NFL Sunday Night Football" on the night (Patriots-Chargers) and Fox with another highly-rated NFL primetime overrun into the 7 o'clock hour leading into its coverage MLB's National Championship Series Game 3 (Dodgers-Phillies), ABC was the clear choice for non-sports programming on Sunday, beating out CBS with its regular Sunday lineup by 8% in Total Viewers (10.8 million vs. 10.0 million) and by 52% in Adults 18-49 (3.8/10 vs. 2.5/7). For the 3rd week in a row, ABC stood as the No. 1 television network on Sunday night across all key women demos: W18-34 (4.0/12), W18-49 (5.1/13) and W25-54 (5.8/13).

� For the 3rd week in a row, ABC's "Desperate Housewives" registered as Sunday Night's No. 1 TV program among Adults 18-49 and the most-watched show overall. In fact ABC aired the Top 3 entertainment programs on Sunday evening in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic, with "Desperate Housewives," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "Brothers & Sisters," respectively.

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

Building sharply on its lead-in, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" ranked No. 1 in the 8 o'clock hour with Total Viewers (11.3 million) and across all key women demos: W18-34 (3.6/10), W18-49 (4.8/12) and W25-54 (5.6/13). The unscripted series stood as the top non-sports program in the hour among Adults 18-49 (3.8/10), beating CBS' "Amazing Race" (2.9/7) by 31%.

� Despite airing against sports, including Game 3 of the 2008 National League Baseball Championship Fox and NFL games on both Fox and NBC, "Home Edition" still hit a season high among Men 18-34 (2.1/6).

"Desperate Housewives" (9:00-10:01 p.m.)

ABC's "Desperate Housewives" topped the 9 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (15.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (5.9/14), defeating NBC's "Sunday Night Football" (14 million and 5.6/13) and towering over CBS' "Cold Case" (11.0 million and 2.7/6).

� "Desperate Housewives" saw week-to-week increases in Adults 18-49 (5.9/14 vs. 5.8/13) and Adults 18-34 (5.0/13 vs. 4.8/12).

"Brothers & Sisters" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)

ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" outperformed its CBS drama competition ("The Unit") in the 10 o'clock hour by 9% in Total Viewers (9.9 million vs. 9.1 million) and by 38% in Adults 18-49 (3.6/9 vs. 2.6/7). For the 3rd week running, the ABC drama ranked No. 1 in the hour across each of the key women demographics: W18-34 (3.8/11), W18-49 (5.1/13) and W25-54 (5.8/14).

Source: Nielsen Media Research (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 10/6/08, unless stated otherwise.





  [october 2008]  
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· 20/20 (ABC)
· AMAZING RACE, THE (CBS)
· AMERICA'S TOUGHEST JOBS (NBC)
· ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A FIFTH GRADER? (NICKELODEON)
· BIG SHOTS (ABC)
· BIGGEST LOSER, THE (USA)
· BOSTON LEGAL (ABC)
· BROTHERS & SISTERS (ABC)
· COLD CASE (CBS)
· CRIMINAL MINDS (CBS)
· CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (CBS)
· CSI: NEW YORK (CBS)
· DANCING WITH THE STARS (ABC)
· DEAL OR NO DEAL (CNBC)
· DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
· DIRTY SEXY MONEY (ABC)
· DON'T FORGET THE LYRICS! (FOX)
· ELEVENTH HOUR (CBS)
· EX LIST, THE (CBS)
· EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION (HGTV)
· GHOST WHISPERER (CBS)
· GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC)
· KATH & KIM (NBC)
· KNIGHT RIDER (NBC)
· LIFE (NBC)
· LIFE ON MARS (ABC)
· LIPSTICK JUNGLE (NBC)
· MY NAME IS EARL (NBC)
· NCIS (CBS)
· NUMB3RS (CBS)
· PRIVATE PRACTICE (ABC)
· PUSHING DAISIES (ABC)
· SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (NBC)
· SUPERNANNY (LIFETIME)
· SURVIVOR (CBS)
· UGLY BETTY (ABC)
· UNIT, THE (CBS)
· WIFE SWAP (PARAMOUNT)





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