Quick Take for Wednesday, February 25, 2009 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Ranks No. 2 to an "Idol"-filled Fox in Young Adults, Up Over the Year- Ago Wednesday by 17% with its 4th Straight Week of Year-to-Year Growth

For the 6th Straight Wednesday, "Lost" is TV's No. 1 Scripted Show in Adults 18-49

Opposite the Second Hour of "Idol," "Lost" Surges from its Lead-in, Gains Audience From Start to Finish and Dominates its 9pm Drama Competition in Young Adults

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

ABC ranked No. 2 to Fox on Wednesday night among young adults: Adults 18-49 (2.7/7-tied w/CBS) and Adults 18-34 (2.4/7). Opposite a 2-hour installment of "American Idol" on Fox, ABC (2.4/7) beat CBS by 50% (1.6/5) and NBC by 41% (1.7/5) among Adults 18-34.

� Although the Network faced stiffer demographic competition year to year from a 2-hour edition of Fox's "American Idol," compared to an "Idol"/"Back to You" combo on the year-ago night (2/27/08), ABC's Wednesday results were up from the same night last year by 5% in Total Viewers (6.8 million vs. 6.5 million) and by 17% in Adults 18-49 (2.7/7 vs. 2.3/6). In fact it was ABC's 4th straight week to register year-to-year young adult growth on the night, finishing up or even with the year-ago Wednesday for 6 weeks in a row.

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

Jumping from its lead-in by 153% and gaining young adult audience from start to finish against the second hour of Fox's expanded "Idol," self-starter "Lost" marked its 6th week in a row to emerge as Wednesday's No. 1 scripted TV show in Adults 18-49. Beating its original drama competition in the 9 o'clock hour by wide margins in Adults 18-49, ABC's "Lost" (4.3/10) topped CBS' "Criminal Minds" by 26% (3.4/8) and NBC's "Life" by 169% (1.6/4).

� Compared to "Lost's" performance opposite Fox's expanded "Idol" two weeks ago (2/11/09), the fifth-year ABC drama retained essentially all of its audience in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

Please Note: "Lost" ran 6-minutes into the 10 o'clock hour, so its numbers will likely adjust upward in the final national ratings this afternoon.

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 30% currently, from 23% at the same point in 2008. 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), 2/25/09.