Quick Take for Tuesday, August 18, 2009 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

"Millionaire" is Up Week to Week on Tuesday in Viewers and Adults 18-49, Generating ABC's Biggest Audience of Summer '09 in the Time Period

Surging 21% from its Adult 18-49 Lead-in Opposite Established Unscripted Competition on NBC and CBS at 9pm, the Debut of "Shaq VS" Pulls in ABC's Top Summer Numbers in the Hour with Regular Programming in More Than 1 Year

"Primetime: The Outsiders" Takes Second to "America's Got Talent" During the 10 O'clock Hour Among Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54

"Millionaire-8/18" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

During the 8 o'clock hour, ABC's "Millionaire" was up over the prior Tuesday by 3% in Total Viewers (6.3 million vs. 6.1 million) and by 8% in Adults 18-49 (1.4/5 vs. 1.3/4).

* "Millionaire" generated ABC's biggest audience in the hour this summer and its second-highest Adult 18-49 rating (tie).

"Shaq VS" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

The series debut of ABC's "Shaq VS" jumped from its lead-in by 21% in Adults 18-49 (1.7/5 vs. 1.4/5) and gained young audience throughout its telecast (+13% build on the half-hour), opposite established unscripted time-period competition on both NBC ("America's Got Talent") and CBS ("Big Brother") from 9:00-10:00 p.m. In fact despite a decided lead-in advantage for Fox coming into 9 o'clock from "Hell's Kitchen," "Shaq VS" outdrew Fox's freshman unscripted "More To Love" by 8% in Total Viewers (4.3 vs. 4.0 million). On the show's premiere episode, Shaquille O' Neal challenged Super Bowl-winning Ben Roethlisberger, of the Pittsburgh Steelers, to a quarterbacking challenge.

* In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, "Shaq VS" produced ABC's strongest summer numbers in the hour with regular programming in more than 1 year - since 8/5/08.

"Primetime: The Outsiders" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC News' "Primetime: The Outsiders" earned second place in the 10 o'clock hour to NBC's "America's Got Talent" among Adults 18-49 (1.3/4) and Adults 25-54 (1.6/4).

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 32% currently, from 26% 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), 8/18/09.