or


[05/18/09 - 10:40 AM]
ABC Wins the Final 5 Sundays of the 2008-09 TV Season in Adults 18-49
ABC spins the numbers for Sunday, May 17.

[via press release from ABC]

Quick Take for Sunday, May 17, 2009 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Wins the Final 5 Sundays of the 2008-09 TV Season in Adults 18-49, While Placing No. 1 on Every May Sweep Sunday for 5 Consecutive Years

The Net Marks its Top Sunday in 11 Weeks in Viewers and Young Adults

For the 5th Straight Week, ABC's "Desperate Housewives" is Sunday's No. 1 TV Show in Both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49

"Home Edition" Wins from 7-8pm in Adults 18-49, Putting ABC into First Place in the Hour for the 5th Week in a Row

Finishing a Strong No. 2 in the 8pm Hour to CBS' "Survivor" Finale, ABC's "Home Edition" Finale Posts the Series' Best Numbers in the Time Slot in 7 Weeks

Winning its 2-Hour Time Period Over CBS' "Survivor" Finale, ABC's "Housewives" Finale Attracts ABC's Biggest Non-Oscar Audience in the Time Slot Since September

Sunday Night (7:00-11:00 p.m.)

Opposite season finale programming on the night from CBS with three hours of "Survivor" finale coverage and Fox with its animated comedy finales, ABC finished No. 1 on each of the final 5 Sundays of the '08-09 TV Season among Adults 18-49 (3.6/10). In fact by winning each Sunday of the 2009 May Sweep, ABC marked its 5th consecutive May to rank No. 1 on every Sunday of the sweep period � 20 consecutive May Sundays from 2005-2009.

� In Total Viewers (10.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.6/10), ABC generated its strongest Sunday in 11 weeks � since 3/1/09.

� For the 5th consecutive Sunday, ABC's "Desperate Housewives" qualified as the No. 1 TV show in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. "Housewives" marked its 22nd time in 23 original broadcasts this season to stand as Sunday's No. 1 entertainment series with viewers and young adults.

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition-7P" (7:00-8:00 p.m.)

ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition-7P" won Sunday's 7 o'clock hour Adults 18-49 (1.9/6), beating out its nearest competitor by 27% (1.5/5 � CBS "60 Minutes"). In fact it was the 5th consecutive week for ABC to lead the opening hour on Sunday in the key young adult sales demo.

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

Against season finales on CBS ("Survivor") and Fox ("The Simpsons"/"King of the Hill") in the 8 o'clock hour, ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" surged from its lead-in by 3.2 million (9.2 million vs. 6.0 million) viewers and by 58% in Adults 18-49 (3.0/8 vs. 1.9/6) to place a strong No. 2 in the hour, ahead of the Fox animated comedy finales. "Home Edition" finished No. 1 in its time slot with Women 18-34 (2.7/8) for the 6th time in its past 7 original telecasts.

� "Home Edition" produced its best viewer and young adult numbers in the hour in 2 months � since 3/29/09.

"Desperate Housewives" (9:00-11:00 p.m.)

Sunday's No. 1 TV show, ABC's "Desperate Housewives" won its 2-hour time period, beating out CBS' "Survivor" finale coverage by 1.2 million viewers (13.9 million vs. 12.7 million) and by 9% in Adults 18-49 (4.7/12 vs. 4.3/11).

� Growing week to week by 1.6 million viewers and by 15% in Adults 18-49 (5/10/09 = 12.3 million and 4.1/11), "Housewives" attracted the series biggest audience in 2 months and hit its best Adult 18-49 number in 4 weeks � since 3/22/09 and 4/19/09, respectively.

� Excluding only Oscar Sunday, the 5th-season finale of "Desperate Housewives" generated ABC's biggest audience in the time period since season-premiere Sunday in September and its highest Adult 18-49 number in more than 5 months � since 9/28/08 and 12/7/08, respectively.

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 31% currently, from 24% 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), 5/17/09.





  [may 2009]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
     


· 60 MINUTES (CBS)
· DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
· EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION (HGTV)
· KING OF THE HILL (HULU)
· SIMPSONS, THE (FOX)
· SURVIVOR (CBS)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[09/15/26 - 04:06 PM]
US Open Men's Championship Averages 3.2M Viewers, ESPN's Largest Audience Ever
Viewership peaked at 4.0M from 5:30-5:45 p.m. ET.

[09/15/26 - 03:21 PM]
Michigan's Win Over Oklahoma Scores 8,221,000 Viewers on FOX
Plus: 3,094,000 viewers tuned in to Friday's Missouri-Kansas matchup on FOX.

[09/15/26 - 03:05 PM]
Ohio State/Texas Delivers ABC/ESPN's Top Regular Season Game in 10 Years; "College GameDay" Scores Most-Watched Week 2 Episode Ever
ABC scores two of week 2's top three games, with Alabama at Kentucky winning the afternoon by more than double the competition.

[09/15/26 - 02:58 PM]
FOX's "America's Game of the Week" Comes Out on Top in a Rare Week 1 Head-to-Head Matchup in the National 4:25 PM ET Window
20,346,000 viewers tuned-in to the Philadelphia Eagles win over the Washington Commanders in a window with head-to-head national competition.

[09/15/26 - 01:52 PM]
NBC Sports Delivers 25+ Million Viewers for Both NFL Kickoff Game and "Sunday Night Football" Opener for First Time Since 2015
Sunday's Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants matchup averaged 25.7 million on NBC and Peacock, marking the most watched NBC "Sunday Night Football" season opener since 2015 (Giants at Cowboys), based on Nielsen Big Data inclusive of first party data.

[09/15/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of September 7 - "The Gentlemen" Brings Sophistication to the No. 1 Spot in This Week's Top 10
"Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Again?" debuted at the top of the English film list, gathering 19.3 million views for its lakeside destination wedding.

[09/14/26 - 03:51 PM]
ESPN Aces Its Most-Viewed US Open Women's Semifinals Action Ever, Averaging 2.2M Viewers
Viewership peaked with 2.6M avg. viewers (9:45-10 p.m. ET) during Coco Gauff's three-set showdown against Elena Rybakina.

[09/14/26 - 11:57 AM]
NFL Gameday in Melbourne on Netflix Scores With an Average 18.5 Million US Viewers for First-Ever NFL Regular Season Game in Australia
Globally, the historic matchup averaged 21.7 million viewers, with fans from over 200 countries and territories tuning in to the first-ever NFL regular season game played in Australia.

[09/14/26 - 09:50 AM]
NFL Kickoff Game on NBC and Peacock Featuring Patriots-Seahawks Tops 25 Million Viewers for Fourth Consecutive Year
In addition, NBC Sports delivered the largest NFL Kickoff Game audience among Adults 18-49 since 2021, averaging 10.0 million viewers in the key demographic across NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital and NFL Digital properties.

[09/10/26 - 11:02 AM]
Wisconsin-Notre Dame on NBC & Peacock Is NBC Sports' Third-Most Watched Notre Dame Football Game Since 2005, Averaging 8.1 Million Viewers
The audience for the No. 4 Fighting Irish's 41-13 victory peaked at 9.7 million viewers in the second quarter (9:15-9:30 p.m. ET) as Notre Dame led 13-10.

[09/09/26 - 03:52 PM]
"College GameDay" Wins Week 1 With Top-Three Regular Season Show on Record
Coverage of Clemson/LSU was the top Saturday game of Week 1.

[09/09/26 - 03:30 PM]
ESPN's US Open Coverage Is Most-Viewed Since 2022 Through Third Round
The full-tournament average so far is up 5% over 2025 and the most viewed since 2022, the year of Serena Williams' final match before her return this year.

[09/09/26 - 12:01 PM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of August 31
"Reacher," "Sterling Point," "Off Campus," "The Grand Tour," and "The Traitors" led all original series worldwide.

[09/08/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of August 31 - "The Whisper Man" Tracks Down No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
"Death of the Pastor's Wife" held the top spot of the English TV list with 13.9 million views.

[09/08/26 - 10:09 AM]
FOX MLB Posts Best Regular Season Thursday Night Baseball Telecast Since 2022
2,668,000 viewers tuned-in to FOX Thursday for a two-game slate highlighted by the Cubs' 2-1 win over the Brewers in most of the country.