Quick Take for Monday, March 2, 2009 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC's Monday Lineup Towers Over its Competition with its Highest Adults 18-49 Rating on the Night in 2 1/2 Years and Posts ABC's Second-Highest Non-"Oscar" Night Performance on Any Night This Season in Adults 18-49

On a Big Night for ABC Overall, ABC News' "Nightline" Tops "Leno" and Letterman" in Adults 25-54 LPMs, while ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," with "The Bachelor's" Jason Mesnick, Beats NBC's "Jimmy Fallon" Debut by 9% in the Metered Markets

Season Closer of "The Bachelor" Draws Franchise's Largest Finale Audience in Over 5 Years and Highest Adults 18-49 Number in Over 4 Years

"The Bachelor: After the Final Rose" Hits Franchise Highs, Stands as Monday's No. 1 Program, Giving ABC its Best Numbers in the Time Period Since May 2006

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

ABC�s Monday lineup featuring the season finale of "The Bachelor" followed by "The Bachelor: After the Final Rose" lifted the Net to the No. 1 rank on the night in Total Viewers (16.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (5.8/14). ABC towered over CBS by 41% (4.1/10), Fox by 76% (3.3/8) and NBC by 115% (2.7/8), turning in its highest Adults 18-49 performance in over 2 1/2 years � since 5/15/06. In fact, excluding the night of the "Academy Awards," ABC registered its second-best rating on any night this season in Adults 18-49, behind only season premiere Thursday (9/25/08). ABC won the night across each of the key Women demographics: Women 18-34 (8.1/19), Women 18-49 (8.7/19) and Women 25-54 (9.4/19), qualifying as the No. 1 Network on the night among Women 18-34 for the last 9 weeks, while winning Monday evening among Women 18-49 for the 8th time in the past 9 weeks.

� On a big night overall for ABC, the Network's success in primetime extended well into Late Night. ABC News' "Nightline" delivered a 2.1 rating in Adults 25-54 in the LPMs, beating NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" by 17% (1.8) and CBS' "The Late Show with David Letterman" by 40% (1.5). With an appearance by "The Bachelor," Jason Mesnick, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" beat NBC's highly-promoted debut telecast of "Jimmy Fallon" in the Metered Market Households by 9% (2.5 vs. 2.3). In addition, in the LPM markets, "JKL" topped "Jimmy Fallon" by 27% among Women 18-49 (1.4 vs. 1.1) and by 50% among Women 25-54 (1.8 vs. 1.2).

"The Bachelor" (8:00-10:00 p.m.)

The 13th season finale of ABC's "The Bachelor" drew 15.5 million viewers and a 5.4 rating, 13 share in Adults 18-49, attracting the series' largest finale audience in over 5 years ("The Bachelor 4" - Bob) and top Adults 18-49 finale rating in over 4 years ("The Bachelor 5" - Jesse) � since 11/19/03 and 5/19/04, respectively). "The Bachelor" built on its most-recent telecast 2 weeks ago (12.5 million & 4.4/10 on 2/16/09) by 3.0 million viewers and by 23% in Adults 18-49. In fact, for the first time in 6 years (10 seasons/cycles ago - going back to Spring 2003) and only the 2nd time in its history, "The Bachelor" has built on the previous performance on each regular telecast since its season opener on 1/2/09 (7 consecutive telecasts), excluding the prior week's "Tell All" episode.

� Winning each half-hour in viewers and young adults, "The Bachelor" grew by nearly 4.0 million viewers (13.6 million to 17.5 million) and by 40% Adults 18-49 (4.5/11 to 6.3/14) from its first half-hour to its final half-hour.

"The Bachelor: After the Final Rose" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

Building on its lead-in by 2.0 million viewers and by 24% in Adults 18-49, "The Bachelor: After the Final Rose" won the 10 o'clock hour and stood as Monday's No. 1 program in Total Viewers (17.5 million) and across all key Adults demographics: Adults 18-34 (6.0/16), Adults 18-49 (6.7/16) and Adults 25-54 (7.3/17), posting best-ever numbers for the franchise's "After the Final Rose" specials. In fact, among the younger demos, ABC beat the combined performances in the hour of both CBS and NBC, by 8% in Adults 18-49 (6.7/16 vs. 6.2/15) and by 46% in Adults 18-34 (6.0/16 vs. 4.1/16).

� "The Bachelor: After the Final Rose" logged ABC's best numbers in the hour in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 in over 2 1/2 � since 5/15/06.

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), 3/2/09.