or


[12/05/08 - 10:46 AM]
ABC Wins Thursday in Adults 18-49
ABC spins the numbers for Thursday, December 4.

[via press release from ABC]

Quick Take for Thursday, December 4, 2008 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Wins Thursday in Adults 18-49, Drawing its Largest Audience and Highest Young Adult Performance on the Night Since Premiere Thursday

"Ugly Betty" Beats NBC's Comedies in the 8pm Hour by 3.0 Million Viewers, Ranking No. 1 in Adults 18-34 and Winning in Women 18-34 for the 10th Straight Telecast

"Grey's Anatomy" Stands as Thursday's No. 1 TV Show in Adults 18-49 for the 5th Consecutive Airing, Beating CBS' "C.S.I." by 20% in the Key Young Adult Demo

"Barbara Walters Presents the 10 Most Fascinating People of 2008" Wins its Hour in Viewers and Across All Key Adult Demos, Attracting its Biggest Audience Since 2004

Thursday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC registered its strongest performance on the night in both Total Viewers (12.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.1/11) since premiere Thursday 10 weeks ago � since 9/25/08. ABC won the night in the key young adult sales demo. ABC also led the night in Adults 18-34 (3.9/12) for the 4th time in the past 5 weeks with a best-since-premiere-Thursday performance.

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

ABC's "Ugly Betty" took second place in the 8 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (8.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.6/7), topping NBC's comedies in the time period for the 8th straight head-to-head airing, by 3.0 million viewers ("My Name is Earl"/"Kath & Kim" = 5.5 million). "Betty" ranked No. 1 in the hour with Adults 18-34 (2.3/8) for the 2nd telecast in a row. The comedy dominated its slot in Women 18-34, beating CBS' "Survivor: Gabon" by 44% (3.6/11 vs. 2.5/8). In fact the ABC series marked its 10th consecutive telecast this season as the No. 1 TV show in the hour in Women 18-34.

� "Ugly Betty" was up over its most-recent telecast in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 (8.3 million and a 2.5/7 on 11/20/08), delivering its best numbers in 4 weeks � since 11/06/08.

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

For the 5th telecast in a row and the 6th time in the last 7 airings, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" stood as Thursday's No. 1 TV show in the key Adult 18-49 sales demo. The ABC medical drama defeated CBS' drama competition in the 9 o'clock hour, "C.S.I.," by 20% in Adults 18-49 (5.5/14 vs. 4.6/11) and by a best-of-season margin of 107% in Adults 18-34 (5.6/15 vs. 2.7/7). "Grey's" qualified as the night's No. 1 show with Adults 18-34 for the 6th time in 7 telecasts.

"Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2008" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

In the final hour of primetime, ABC's "Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2008" won its time period in Total Viewers (13.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.2/12), outperforming the second place networks by 2.3 million viewers (10.9 million � CBS' "Eleventh Hour") and by 31% in Adults 18-49 (3.2/9 � NBC's "ER"). The annual special also led the hour among Adults 18-34 (3.9/12) and Adults 25-54 (4.8/12). President-elect Barack Obama was named the most fascinating person of 2008.

� ABC's "Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2008" was up by almost 2.0 million viewers over the 2007 edition (11.3 million on 12/06/07). In fact, it was the special's largest audience in 4 years (since 2004) and second-largest in nearly 10 years (since 1999).

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 21% 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 Program Ratings), 12/4/08.





  [december 2008]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
 


· CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (CBS)
· ELEVENTH HOUR (CBS)
· ER (NBC)
· GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC)
· KATH & KIM (NBC)
· MY NAME IS EARL (NBC)
· SURVIVOR (CBS)
· UGLY BETTY (ABC)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[06/09/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of June 1 - "Office Romance" Sneaks to No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Plus: "Michael Jackson: The Verdict" has grabbed viewers' attention, landing at No. 1 on the English TV list with 17.8 million views.

[06/09/26 - 10:29 AM]
May Continues ESPN Studio Shows' Year-Long Viewership Success
Combined, all ESPN studio shows were up 27 percent in viewership over May of 2025 and up 11% year-over-year (YOY) among younger viewers in the Persons ages 18-49 demographic.

[06/09/26 - 10:01 AM]
ESPN Delivers Most-Watched NCAA DI Women's College World Series on Record
The WCWS Finals, featuring Texas and Texas Tech, averaged 2.2 million viewers as the Longhorns claimed their second-straight national championship in the two-game series.

[06/08/26 - 09:03 AM]
ESPN Scores Second Most-Watched WCWS Finals on Record; Game 2 Delivers Most-Watched College Softball Game Ever
Game 2 averaged 2.5 million viewers across ESPN/ESPNU, delivering the most-watched college softball game on record.

[06/05/26 - 02:00 PM]
ABC's Most-Watched NBA Finals Game 1 Since 2018 with Average Audience of Nearly 17M Viewers (16.93M)
Game 1 peaked with nearly 20M viewers (19.63M) at 11 p.m. ET.

[06/05/26 - 01:23 PM]
ABC News Is No. 1 in Total Viewers on Sunday Morning, Friday Evening and in Late-Night
"20/20" stood as Friday's No. 1 program on broadcast and the No. 2 program on all of broadcast and cable in all key target demos on May 29.

[06/04/26 - 03:03 PM]
"The Mystery of Richard Simmons - A Diane Sawyer Special" Soars Over 10 Million Total Multiplatform Viewers Across ABC, Disney+ and Hulu
On its encore telecast on Monday, "The Mystery of Richard Simmons - A Diane Sawyer Special" averaged 2.704 million Total Viewers and ranked as the night's No. 1 program on broadcast.

[06/03/26 - 11:01 AM]
"Saturday Night Live" Season 51 Was #1 Among All Broadcast Comedy Series in the 18-49 Demo and #2 Among All Entertainment Series
The most-watched telecast of the season across all platforms was 10.1 million viewers on December 20 with host Ariana Grande and musical guest Cher.

[06/03/26 - 07:00 AM]
Fans Power UFL on ESPN to Significant Viewership Growth Across 10-Week Regular Season
ABC alone accounted for eight of the top 10 most-watched games.

[06/03/26 - 06:00 AM]
TNT Sports Caps Its Most Watched NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs with Its Most Watched Conference Final Ever
The record-setting series helped propel TNT Sports' overall coverage of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs to an average of 1.4 million viewers across TNT, TBS, truTV and HBO Max, up 50% from 2025 through the Conference Final.

[06/02/26 - 04:06 PM]
NBC and Peacock Deliver Most-Watched Conference Finals Game Since 2016 with 15.9 Million Viewers for Spurs-Thunder Game 7 on Saturday Night
Across 28 playoff games, NBC Sports' presentation of the 2026 NBA Playoffs averaged 7.2 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, up 72% versus comparable coverage last season.

[06/02/26 - 02:36 PM]
ESPN's WCWS Viewership Success Continues
Texas Tech-UCLA averaged 2.0 million viewers, with a peak of 2.6 million.

[06/02/26 - 02:13 PM]
FOX IndyCar Continues Ratings Growth with Strong Detroit Performance
Through eight races, IndyCar on FOX is averaging 2,241,000 viewers, up +12% from 2025 (2,007,000).

[06/02/26 - 02:00 PM]
FOX MLB's "Baseball Night in America" Delivers Most-Watched Baseball Telecast of the Week
2,322,000 viewers tuned-in to FOX for a two-game slate highlighted by the Cubs' 6-1 victory over the Cardinals in most of the country.

[06/02/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of May 25 - "The Boroughs" Makes Itself at Home at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Plus: "Nemesis" stole away with the No. 2 spot on the list, commanding 5.9 million views.