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[07/01/10 - 08:45 AM]
First Time in 10 Years "Nightline" Beats "Letterman" for a 2nd Quarter Among Both A25-54 & Total Viewers
ABC spins the late-night numbers for the second quarter of 2010.

[via press release from ABC]

Ratings Report for ABC News' "Nightline" For Second Quarter 2010

FIRST TIME IN 10 YEARS "NIGHTLINE" BEATS "LETTERMAN" FOR A 2nd QUARTER AMONG BOTH A25-54 & TOTAL VIEWERS

"NIGHTLINE" POSTS BEST 2nd QUARTER TOTAL VIEWER DELIVERY IN 6 YEARS

"NIGHTLINE" GROWS VS. 2nd QUARTER '09 AS CBS AND NBC DECLINE

"NIGHTLINE" CUTS A25-54 & TOTAL VIEWING GAPS WITH "THE TONIGHT SHOW" TO SMALLEST MARGIN IN 15 YEARS

ABC News "Nightline" placed second among Total Viewers, A25-54, and A18-49 for the just completed second quarter, outperforming CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" according to Nielsen Media Research. The last time "Nightline" beat Letterman for a 2nd quarter among both Total Viewers and A25-54 was in 2000. Additionally, this marks "Nightline's" best 2nd quarter total viewer delivery since 2004 and the program's best 2nd quarter A25-54 delivery since 2006.

Compared to 2nd quarter 2009, "Nightline" was the only program to increase versus the competition. Among Adults 25-54, "Nightline" averaged 1.59 million, growing +6% while NBC's "The Tonight Show" in comparison declined -27% and "Letterman" decreased -3%. Among Total Viewers, "Nightline" averaged 3.70 million, growing +2% while "The Tonight Show" declined -21% and "Letterman" decreased -7%. "Nightline" grew +3% among Adults 18-49 while "The Tonight Show" declined -33% and "Letterman" decreased -7%. "The Tonight Show" posted its lowest A25-54 and total viewer deliveries for a 2nd quarter in at least 18 years; (since at least 2nd quarter 1992 which is as far back as Research's records date). For a 2nd quarter, "Letterman" dropped to its lowest A25-54 delivery since at least 1992 and lowest total viewer delivery since 1993.

"Nightline" cut the A25-54 gap with "The Tonight Show" by -86% and the total viewing gap with NBC by -77% compared to 2nd quarter 2009, the smallest gaps for a 2nd quarter in fifteen years (since 1995).

ABC News' "Nightline" is anchored by Cynthia McFadden, Terry Moran and Martin Bashir. John Donvan and Vicki Mabrey are correspondents. James Goldston is the executive producer. The program airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m., ET on the ABC Television Network.

(Second Quarter 2009)

TOTAL VIEWERS A25-54(000)/ Rtg A18-49(000)/ Rtg

ABC "Nightline" 3,700,000 1,590,000/ 1.3 1,300,000/ 1.0

CBS "Late Show" 3,280,000 1,470,000/ 1.2 1,130,000/ .9

NBC "Tonight" 4,030,000 1,710,000/ 1.4 1,390,000/ 1.1

Source: NTI - - The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 & Adults 18-49 Live+7 (where available) for 2nd Quarter '10 (3/29/10-6/27/10) & 2nd Quarter '09 (3/30/09-6/28/09).

Fringe Ratings Report: ABC Late-Night Programming 2nd Quarter 2010

ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" is Up Over 2Q09 in Viewers and Young Adults, Posting its Best Performance in Both Measures in 5 Quarters

"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Draws its Largest 2Q Audience Ever

"JKL" Tops NBC's "Fallon" in Total Viewers in 2Q10, Outperforming the NBC Program in Viewers in 10 of 13 Weeks during 2nd Quarter

"JKL" Beats "Ferguson" in Viewers and Young Adults in 2Q10, Bettering "Ferguson" in Total Viewers during a Quarter for the 2nd Time Ever

2Q10 National Ratings:

During 2nd Quarter 2010, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" saw increases over the year-ago 2nd quarter by 10% in Total Viewers (1.705 million vs. 1.557 million) and by 6% in Adults 18-49 (716,000 vs. 673,000), standing as the only late-night entertainment program to see growth over the year-ago quarter. In fact, "JKL" delivered its strongest performance for any quarter in 5 quarters in both viewers and young adults - since 1Q09. In addition, "JKL" drew its largest 2nd quarter audience ever ("JKL" premiered in 1Q03).

· During the quarter, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" bettered NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" in Total Viewers (+5% - 1.705 million vs. 1.631 million), topping "Fallon" in viewers for the 2nd time in the last 3 quarters. In addition, "JKL" outdrew "Fallon" in viewers during the course of the 2Q10 in 10 of the 13 weeks, including the final 5 weeks of the quarter.

· ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" bested CBS' "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" in both Total Viewers (1.705 million vs. 1.695 million) and Adults 18-49 (716,000 vs. 696,000). In fact, "JKL" bettered "Ferguson" during the course of a quarter for the first time in nearly 3 years in viewers (since 4Q07) and in nearly 2 years in young adults (since 3Q08). Further, "JKL" scored a larger audience than "Ferguson" during a quarter for only the second time ever ("Ferguson" premiered on 1Q05).

During 2Q10, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" hit several milestones:

· On the week of 5/24/10, "Jimmy Kimmel Live" attracted is largest weekly audience ever.

· On the week of 6/14/10, "Jimmy Kimmel Live" registered its best Adult 18-34 number in well over 2 years and largest Adults 18-49 audience in 17 months - since w/o 2/4/08 and w/o 11/3/08, respectively.

· On Tuesday, 5/25/10, "JKL" drew its second-largest audience ever in late night (Mon-Fri telecasts).

Source: The Nielsen Company, Live + Same Day National Program Ratings - 2Q10 = 3/29 - 6/27/10 vs. 2nd Quarter 2009 = 3/30-6/28/09 (Most Current). Comparisons based on 000s.





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