Quick Take for Wednesday, October 14, 2009 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Program Ratings)

ABC's Freshman Wednesday Comedy Block is Up Week to Week

"Hank" Grows over the Previous Week with Adults 18-34

Surging from its Lead-in at 8:30pm, ABC's Freshman "The Middle" Beats Its Established Comedy Competition with Women 18-34 and Teens 12-17

Growing Week to Week in Viewers and Young Adults, ABC's "Modern Family" Is Wednesday's No. 1 TV Show in Adults 18-49 for the 2nd Time in 3 Weeks

Taking Second at 9:30pm Across Key Demos, ABC's "Cougar Town" Grows its Numbers Week to Week in Viewers and Young Adults

ABC's "Eastwick" Grows Over the Prior Week in Adults 18-34 and Adults 25-54

Wednesday Night Freshman Comedy Block (8:00-10:00 p.m.)

Opposite stiff competition throughout the 2-hour time period from CBS and Fox, ABC's all-freshman 8:00-10:00 p.m. comedy block was up week to week in the Fast Affiliate numbers in Total Viewers (7.5 million vs. 7.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.6/7 vs. 2.5/7).

� ABC's comedy block finished No. 2 in the time period among Adults 18-34 (2.1/6) to Fox ("So You Think You Can Dance"/"Glee"), leading CBS by 11% ("Old Christine"/"Gary Unmarried"/"Criminal Minds" = 1.9/6) and NBC by 17% ("Mercy"/"L&O: SVU" = 1.8/6).

"Hank" (8:00-8:30 p.m.)

At 8:00 p.m., ABC's freshman comedy "Hank" grew over the prior week by 22% with Adults 18-34 (1.1/4 vs. 0.9/3).

"The Middle" (8:30-9:00 p.m.)

Building audience for ABC at 8:30 p.m., ABC's "The Middle" jumped from its lead-in by 8% in Total Viewers (6.7 million vs. 6.2 million) and by 25% (2.0/6 vs. 1.6/5). ABC's freshman "The Middle" beat its established CBS comedy competition in the half-hour ("Gary Unmarried") among Women 18-34 (+6% - 1.8/5 vs. 1.7/5) and Teens 12-17 (+33% - 0.8/3 vs. 0.6/2).

"Modern Family" (9:00-9:30 p.m.)

Building on its lead-in at 9:00 p.m., ABC's "Modern Family" placed No. 1 in its half-hour among Adults 18-49 for the 3rd time in 4 telecasts (3.6/9-tie). The freshman ABC comedy also won with Men 18-49 for the 2nd time in 3 airings, holding a 7% advantage over second-place CBS' "Criminal Minds" (3.0/8 vs. 2.8/8).

� ABC's "Modern Family" was up from its week-ago Fast Affiliate numbers by 9% in Total Viewers (9.3 million vs. 8.5 million) and by 13% in Adults 18-49 (3.6/9 vs. 3.2/9).

� The new ABC comedy stood as Wednesday's No. 1 TV show in Adults 18-49 for the 2nd time in 3 weeks. "Modern was also the night's highest-rated program with Men 18-49.

"Cougar Town" (9:30-10:00 p.m.)

Continuing to exhibit strong lead-in retention for ABC at 9:30pm in a highly-competitive half-hour against the second-half of CBS' "Criminal Minds" and Fox's "Glee," "Cougar Town" posted week-to-week Fast Affiliate gains in Total Viewers (7.9 million vs. 7.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.2/8 vs. 3.1/8).

� "Cougar Town" finished No. 2 in its slot across the across the 18-34 and 25-54 demographics (AD/Men/Wmn), as well as with Men 18-49.

"Eastwick" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

Opposite CBS' time-period veteran "CSI: NY," ABC's freshman "Eastwick" beat out NBC's "Jay Leno" in Adults 18-34 (+15% - 1.5/5 vs. 1.3/4) and for the 3rd week in a row across each of the key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

� "Eastwick" grew its audience week to week in both Adults 18-34 (+7% - 1.5/5 vs. 1.4/4) and Adults 25-54 (+5% - 2.1/5 vs. 2.0/5).

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 33% currently, from 27% 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), 10/14/09.