Primetime Ratings Report For the week of August 23, 2010 (Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)

Growing the Most Among the Broadcasters Year to Year, ABC is Up Over the Same Week Last Year for the 15th Week in a Row

"Wipeout-TUES" Once Again Finishes Among the Top 10 TV Shows

ABC News Airs TV's No. 1 Newsmagazine for the 10th time in 11 Weeks

ABC's Summer Numbers Surge Year to Year by 21% in Viewers and By 20% in Adults 18-49, Marking its Most-Watched Summer Since 2005

Growing Week to Week, "Bachelor Pad" Remains No. 1 with Key Women

"Dating in the Dark" Boosts its Slot Year to Year for the 3rd Straight Week

ABC Increases Year to Year on Tuesday for the 7th Straight Week And on 12 of the Last 13 Weeks with Viewers and Young Adults

"Wipeout-TUES" Wins its Hour in Adults 18-49 for the 2nd Week in a Row

ABC News' Repeat "Primetime: What Would You Do?" Boosts its Tuesday 10pm Slot Over Last Year by 13% in Viewers and by 27% in Adults 18-49

Up by 93% on Thursday This Summer, ABC Builds for the 12th Straight Week

ABC's Replay "Wipeout-THURS" is a Strong No. 2 to CBS' Original "Big Brother"

"Rookie Blue" Lifts its Hour by 100% in Adults 18-49 Over the Year-Ago Night

ABC News' "Nightlineprime" Generates Double-Digit Percentage, Year-to-Year Time Period Improvement in Viewers and Adults 18-49

For the 8th Week Running, "20/20" is the No. 1 Series in its Slot in Adults 18-49

WEEK No. 49:

Up the most among the broadcasters over the year-ago week in both Total Viewers (+13% - 4.3 million vs. 3.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (+8% - 1.3/4 vs. 1.2/4), ABC grew its young adult audience year to year for the 15th week in a row.

· During the 2010 summer frame, ABC's primetime results have surged year to year by 21% in Total Viewers (5.7 million vs. 4.7 million) and by 20% in Adults 18-49 (1.8/6 vs. 1.5/5). In fact ABC is producing its most-watched summer in 5 years - since 2005. The Net is up by solid margins this summer in Adults 18-49 on 5 of 7 nights during the week: +23% on Monday, +73% on Tuesday, +93% on Thursday, +33% on Friday and +6% on Sunday. In addition, the Net ranks No. 1 with young adults on Monday, Thursday and Sunday nights.

Rankings: ABC aired 3 of the Top 20 TV shows during the week in Adults 18-49: "Wipeout-TUES" - No. 9, "Bachelor Pad" - No. 16 and "Wipeout-THURS" - No. 18. "Wipeout-TUES" also finished among the Top 10 most-watched TV shows overall for the week (No. 10). With "Primetime: What Would You Do?" on Tuesday, ABC claimed the No. 1 newsmagazine for the 2nd week in a row among Adults 18-49. In fact among young adults, ABC News aired TV's No. 1 newsmagazine for the 10th time in 11 weeks.

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 37% currently, from 32% 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.

Monday

With its lineup of "Bachelor Pad" and "Dating in the Dark," ABC was No. 1 on Monday, topping NBC with its broadcast of the "2010 Miss Universe Pageant," across all key Women demographics: Women18-34 (2.3/7), Women 18-49 (2.6/7) and Women 25-54 (2.8/7-tie).

· ABC improved on the same Monday last summer (8/24/09) by 35% in Adults 18-49 (1.8/5 vs. 1.3/4), up year to year for the 4th Monday in a row and for the 10th time on the last 11 weeks.

"Bachelor Pad" (8:00-10:01 p.m.)

"Bachelor Pad" posted week-to-week increases of 5% in Total Viewers (5.8 million vs. 5.5 million) and 5% in Adults 18-49 (2.0/6 vs. 1.9/6). The freshman unscripted series won its 2-hour time period for the 3rd week in a row among Women 18-49 (2.9/8) and Women 25-54 (3.2/8).

· "Bachelor Pad" improved on ABC's year-ago performance in the time period by 2.1 million viewers (5.8 million vs. 3.7 million) and by 43% in Adults 18-49 (2.0/6 vs. 1.4/4).

"Dating in the Dark" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)

ABC's "Dating in the Dark" was up over ABC's year-ago time period performance in Total Viewers (+6% - 3.7 million vs. 3.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (+40% - 1.4/4 vs. 1.0/3), improving its time slot for the 3 rd consecutive week.

Tuesday

ABC placed second on Tuesday in Adults 18-49 (1.9/6), topping Fox by 27% (1.5/5) and CBS by 58% (1.2/4).

· Improving on the night for the 7th consecutive week, ABC grew solidly over the year-ago Tuesday (8/25/09) in Total Viewers (+49% - 5.2 million vs. 3.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (+46% - 1.9/6 vs. 1.3/4). The Net has been up year to year on Tuesday evening on 12 of 13 weeks this summer.

"Wipeout-TUES" (8:00-9:01 p.m.)

ABC's "Wipeout" won the 8 o'clock hour among Adults 18-49 (2.7/9) for the second week in a row. "Wipeout" outperformed its unscripted competition in the hour, NBC's "Minute to Win It," by 1.8 million viewers (7.9 million vs. 6.1 million) and by 50% in Adults 18-49 (2.7/9 vs. 1.8/6).

· "Wipeout" finished as Tuesday's No. 2 TV show among Adults 18-49, while standing as the night's No. 1 program among Men 18-49 (2.4/8-tie).

"Shaq VS" (9:01-10:01 p.m.)

ABC's "Shaq VS" took second in the 9 o'clock hour among Men 18-49 (1.9/6) and Men 25-54 (2.0/6).

"Primetime: What Would You Do?" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)

At 10 p.m., ABC's repeat airing of "Primetime: What Would You Do?" finished second against its NBC (original "America's Got Talent") and CBS (encore "The Good Wife") competition among Adults 18-49, beating CBS' "The Good Wife" by 40% (1.4/4 vs. 1.0/3).

· The ABC newsmagazine was up over the Net's year-ago performance in the hour with original programming by 13% in Total Viewers (3.6 million vs. 3.2 million) and by 27% in Adults 18-49 (1.4/4 vs. 1.1/3).

Thursday

Thursday's biggest gainer among the major nets during Summer 2010 (+93% in Adults 18-49, on average), ABC surged from the year-ago night (8/27/09) in Total Viewers (+63% - 5.2 million vs. 3.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (+88% - 1.5/5 vs. 0.8/3). The Net posted its 12th straight Thursday of year-to-year primetime improvement.

"Wipeout-THURS" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

In the 8 o'clock hour, ABC's repeat "Wipeout-THURS" finished a strong second to CBS' original "Big Brother" in Total Viewers (6.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.9/7). In addition, the encore airing of the broad-appealing ABC unscripted series stood as the top-rated broadcast show in the hour in Kids 2-11.

· ABC's Thursday "Wipeout" repeat grew its numbers week to week in Adults 18-49 (+6%) and Adults 18-34 (+7%).

"Rookie Blue" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

With freshman drama "Rookie Blue," ABC finished a strong No. 1 among the major networks in the 9 o'clock hour with Adults 18-49 (1.6/5), leading CBS by 23% (1.3/4), NBC by 60% (1.0/3) and Fox by 100% (0.8/3).

· "Rookie Blue" drastically improved its time slot over the year-ago night with Total Viewers (+76% - 5.8 million vs. 3.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (+100% - 1.6/5 vs. 0.8/3).

"Nightlineprime: Secrets of Your Mind - Why We Do What We Do" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC News' "Nightlineprime: Secrets of Your Mind" continued to deliver double-digit percentage year-to-year gains in Thursday's 10 o'clock hour. Compared to the same night last year, "Nightlineprime" boosted the hour for ABC by 27% in Total Viewers (3.8 million vs. 3.0 million) and by 11% in Adults 18-49 (1.0/3 vs. 0.9/3) over its performance last summer.

Friday

"Primetime: What Would You Do?" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

A repeat airing of ABC News' "Primetime: What Would You Do?" topped the first hour of NBC's original "Dateline" by double-digit percentages once again, leading the NBC newsmagazine by 43% in Adults 18-49 (1.0/4 vs. 0.7/2) and by 15% among Adults 25-54 (1.4/4 vs. 1.0/3).

"20/20" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC News' "20/20" was the top-rated regular program in the final hour of Friday's prime in Adults 18-49, bettering the second hour of NBC's competing newsmagazine, "Dateline," by 8% in the key young adult demo (1.1/4 and 1.0/4). In fact, the ABC newsmagazine finished as the No. 1 regular show in its slot with Adults 18-49 for the 8th straight week.

Source: The Nielsen Company (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 8/23/10, unless stated otherwise. Summer = 5/31-8/29/10 vs. 5/25-8/30/09.