Primetime Ratings Report
For the week of December 8, 2008
(Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)
"A Charlie Brown Christmas" Wins Monday at 8pm in Viewers, Key Women and Kids 2-11, Ranking as the No. 1 TV Program of the Evening in the Key Kids Demo
Monday's 2-Hour Series Finale of "Boston Legal" Hits a Season High, Growing
Its Audience from Start to Finish and Drawing its Largest Audience in 8 Months
Jumping from its Lead-in, "Private Practice" Takes Second in its Wednesday 9pm Slot In Viewers and Adults 18-49 and Stands as the Night's No. 1 Show in Women 18-34
ABC's Replay of "Surviving Christmas" on Saturday Beats its NBC Movie Competition
On the Night in Adults 18-49 and Increases Year to Year in Viewers and Young Adults
ABC's Sunday Rebroadcast of Disney's "The Santa Clause 2" is Up
Over its Year-Ago Telecast in Viewers, Adults 18-34, and Kids 2-11
WEEK No. 12:
During the second week of December (w/o 12/8/08), ABC outdrew its non-sports competition, Fox, by 5% in Total Viewers (6.3 million vs. 6.0 million). NBC and CBS each enjoyed big boosts to their weekly averages from NFL coverage � CBS with a huge NFL overrun on Sunday going well into the first hour of prime and NBC with one of the season's biggest primetime NFL games on "Sunday Night Football" (NY Giants-Dallas Cowboys). Also of note during the pre-holiday week, ABC's top shows were either in repeat ("Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives") or pre-empted ("Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "Brothers & Sisters").
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 29% 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.
Monday
ABC's Monday results were up over the previous week by 1.7 million viewers (10.3 million vs. 8.6 million) and 8% in Adults 18-49 (2.8/7 vs. 2.6/7).
"A Charlie Brown Christmas" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
ABC's annual broadcast of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" stood as the most-watched program (11.0 million) in the 8 o'clock hour, while taking second among Adults 18-49 (3.7/10). In addition, the animated classic led its time period among Women 18-49 (4.7/12), Women 25-54 (5.2/12) and Kids 2-11 (5.4/16). In fact "A Charlie Brown Christmas" stood as Monday night's No. 1 TV program among Kids 2-11.
"Boston Legal" (9:00-11:00 p.m.)
The 2-hour series finale of "Boston Legal" hit a season-high in Total Viewers (9.9 million), while posting a best-since-premiere performance among Adults 18-49 (2.3/6). In fact, the legal drama saw its largest audience in nearly 8 months � since 4/22/08. The final episode of the series saw its audience grow from its first hour to its second hour by 6% in Total Viewers (9.6 million to 10.2 million) and by 14% in Adults 18-49 (2.2/5 to 2.5/6).
Wednesday
"Private Practice" (9:00-10:01 p.m.)
Jumping over its lead-in, ABC's "Private Practice" attracted 6.9 million viewers and a 2.4 rating, 6 share in Adults 18-49, taking second in its hour in both Nielsen measures. The ABC sophomore drama won its time period for the second week in a row and stood as the No. 1 program on Wednesday night among Women 18-34 (3.0/8).
Saturday
"ABC Saturday Movie of the Week: Surviving Christmas" (9:00-11:00 p.m.)
The "ABC Saturday Movie of the Week: Surviving Christmas" drew 4.8 million viewers and a 1.4 rating 4 share in Adults 18-49, outperforming the NBC Movie Special, "It's a Wonderful Life" (1.3/4), in the key young adult demo.
� ABC's "Saturday Movie of the Week: Surviving Christmas" was up over its performance the previous year in both viewers and young adults (4.7 million and a 1.2/4 on 12/15/07).
Sunday
"ABC Sunday Movie of the Week: The Santa Clause 2" (8:00-10:00 p.m.)
Despite airing one hour earlier than 2007, an encore of ABC's "The Santa Clause 2" drew 8.8 million viewers and a 2.7 rating, 6 share in Adults 18-49, growing in viewers and retaining 100% of its year-ago Adult 18-49 performance (8.7 million & 2.7/8 on 12/23/07). "The Santa Clause 2" saw year-to-year increases among Adults 18-34 (2.0/6 vs. 2.0/7), Men 18-49 (2.2/5 vs. 2.1/6) and Kids 2-11 (2.9/10 vs. 2.2/8).
� ABC's "The Santa Clause 2" led in its 2-hour time period and stood as the night's No. 1 program among the broadcast networks in Kids 2-11. In addition, the theatrical delivered the Net's highest Kids 2-11 performance in the time-slot in 9 months - since 3/2/08.
Source: Nielsen Media Research (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 12/8/08, unless stated otherwise.
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