Housewives Returns to Original with its Biggest Audience in Over 1 Year

Some early highlights for ABC's Sunday night, ahead of the regular release.

� Sunday Prime: ABC posted its strongest Sunday night of the season with its regular line up in both Total Viewers (11.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.7/9)�Net's best performance with a regular Sunday line up in since September 2008 in Total Viewers and tied best since November 2008 in Adults 18-49 � since 9/28/08 and 11/30/08, respectively.

� AFV: At 7pm, America's Funniest Home Videos drew its biggest overall audience (10.2 million) in over 3 years and tied its top Adult 18-49 number (2.7/7) since February 2009 � since 1/28/07 and 2/8/09, respectively.

� Desperate Housewives: Returning to original for the first time in 4 weeks (since 12/06/09) at 9pm, ABC's Desperate Housewives pulled in its biggest audience (15.2 million) and equaled its highest Adult 18-49 rating (5.2/12) in more than 1 year � since 12/7/08. Sunday's #1 non-sports TV show, Housewives registered as the night's most-watched entertainment series for its 11th straight original telecast this season, while standing as Sunday's #1 series for 9 consecutive original airings with Adults 18-49.

Quick Take for Sunday January 3, 2010 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Marks its Strongest Sunday with its Regular Lineup Since Fall 2008

"America's Funniest Home Videos" Draws its Biggest Audience in Nearly 3 Years

Returning to Original for the First Time in a Month, ABC's "Housewives" is Sunday's No. 1 Non-Sports TV Show, with its Strongest Results in More Than 1 Year

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

Despite facing NFL-driven Sunday competition on NBC ("Sunday Night Football"), CBS (primetime overrun) and Fox (primetime overrun), ABC posted its strongest performance on the night this season with its regular schedule in both Total Viewers (11.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.7/9). ABC finished as the second-most-watched network on the evening, topping CBS by 1.3 million viewers (10.5 million) and by Fox by 2.7 million viewers (9.1 million).

� The Network posted its best performance with its regular Sunday lineup since September 2008 in Viewers and matched its best performance since November 2008 in Adults 18-49 � since 9/28/08 and 11/30/08, respectively. ABC's Sunday numbers jumped over the year-ago night, also with an all-original lineup, by 13% in Total Viewers and by 6% in Adults 18-49 (10.4 million and 3.5/9 on 1/4/09).

"America's Funniest Home Videos" (7:00-8:00 p.m.)

Opposite NFL competition on each of the other nets (NBC, CBS and Fox) during the 7 o'clock hour, ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" drew its biggest overall audience (10.2 million) in nearly 3 years and tied its top Adult 18-49 number (2.7/7) since February 2009 � since 1/28/07 and 2/8/09, respectively.

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

At 8:00 p.m., ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" produced its best numbers since mid-November in Total Viewers (11.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.3/8) � since 11/15/09.

"Desperate Housewives" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

TV's No. 1 non-sports program on Sunday in Total Viewers (15.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (5.2/12), ABC's "Desperate Housewives'" returned to original for the first time in 4 weeks. Growing over its most recent original airing (14.9 million and 4.9/11 on 12/6/09), "Housewives" pulled in its biggest audience and equaled its highest Adult 18-49 rating in more than 1 year � since 12/7/08.

� "Housewives" registered as the night's most-watched entertainment series for its 11th straight original telecast this season, while standing as Sunday's No. 1 series for 9 consecutive original airings with Adults 18-49.

"Brothers & Sisters" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" placed a strong second in the 10 o'clock hour to NBC's NFL game in viewers (10.9 million) and young adults (3.6/9), while ranking a dominant No. 1 across each of the key Women demos: W18-34 (3.5/10), W18-49 (5.1/13) and W25-54 (6.1/14).

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 34% currently, from 29% at the same point in 2009. 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 Program Ratings), 12/6/09.