No Ordinary Family Opens Big for ABC at 8pm

Preliminary highlights for ABC's Tuesday, ahead of the regular press release:

Tuesday Prime: With its new Tuesday line up ABC posted huge year-to-year improvement, surging over the year-ago night (9/29/09) by nearly 4 million viewers (12.3 million vs. 8.4 million) and by 50% in Adults 18-49 (3.0/8 vs. 2.0/6).

No Ordinary Family: Despite debuting against fierce established competition in Tuesday's 8 o'clock hour (opposite Fox's Glee, CBS' NCIS and NBC's The Biggest Loser), ABC's No Ordinary Family was highly competitive, gained audience throughout its premiere and generated enormous year-over-year time period improvement for ABC.

· In the opening hour of the evening, No Ordinary Family debuted with an impressive 10.5 million viewers and a 3.1/9 in Adults 18-49, beating out NBC's The Biggest Loser (6.7 million and 2.4/7) by 3.8 million viewers and by 29% in Adults 18-49. Building audience throughout its telecast, No Ordinary Family The show gained nearly 1 million viewers (10.1 million to 11.0 million) and 14% in Adults 18-49 (2.9/9 to 3.3/9) from its first half-hour to its second half-hour.

· More than doubling ABC's year-ago performance in the hour, No Ordinary Family improved the time period +119% in Total Viewers and by 107% in Adults 18-49 from the same night last year (4.8 million and 1.5/4 on 9/29/09 w/an original Shark Tank).

DWTS: The Results: Building on its lead-in and gaining audience throughout its telecast against stiff competition (CBS' NCIS: LA, NBC's second hour of The Biggest Loser and Fox's Glee-fueled comedies Raising Hope/Running Wilde), ABC's Dancing with the Stars: The Results ranked #1 in the 9 o'clock hour for the 2nd week in a row with viewers (17.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.7/10-tie). DWTS: The Results towered over its unscripted competition in the time period, topping The Biggest Loser (7.5 million and 3.0/8) by 9.6 million viewers and by 23% in Adults 18-49. Grammy-winner Michael Bolton was the second celebrity dancer to be eliminated from the competition this season.

Detroit 1-8-7: Opposite the season premiere of CBS' The Good Wife season opener in the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's Detroit 1-8-7 took second place in the 10 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (9.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.2/6). Showing strong retention of its week-ago series debut, the new ABC drama outdrew NBC's time-period established Parenthood for the 2nd week in a row, beating the NBC drama by an even wider margin of 94% on their second match-up (9.2 million vs. 4.8 million). The new ABC drama also ranked #2 in the hour for the 2nd straight week with Adults 25-54, defeating NBC's Parenthood by 25%.

· Detroit 1-8-7 improved the hour for ABC year to year in both viewers and young adults, boosting the time period over the same night last year by 23% in Total Viewers and by 10% in Adults 18-49 (Week 2 of The Forgotten on 9/29/09 = 7.5 million and 2.0/5).

Quick Take for Tuesday, September 28, 2010 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Posts Huge Year-to-Year Gains on Tuesday in Viewers and Young Adults

"No Ordinary Family" Opens Big for ABC Opposite Fierce Competition, Building Throughout its Telecast and More Than Doubling the Year-Ago Time-Slot Numbers

"DWTS: The Results" is No. 1 in the 9 O'clock Hour for the 2nd Week In a Row, Generating its Most-Watched-Ever Episode 2 in the Fall

Showing Strong Retention of its Week-Ago Debut, "Detroit 1-8-7" Beats NBC's "Parenthood" at 10pm and Improves its Hour for ABC Over the Year-Ago Night

Tuesday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

With its new Tuesday lineup in place, ABC posted huge year-to-year improvement, soaring over the year-ago night (9/29/09) by nearly 4 million viewers (12.3 million vs. 8.4 million) and by 50% in Adults 18-49 (3.0/8 vs. 2.0/6).

"No Ordinary Family" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Despite debuting against fierce established competition in Tuesday's 8 o'clock hour (opposite Fox's "Glee," CBS' "NCIS" and NBC's "The Biggest Loser"), ABC's "No Ordinary Family" was highly competitive, gained audience throughout its premiere and generated enormous year-over-year time period improvement for ABC.

· In the opening hour of the evening, "No Ordinary Family" debuted with an impressive 10.5 million viewers and a 3.1/9 in Adults 18-49, beating out NBC's opening hour of "The Biggest Loser" (6.7 million and 2.4/7) by 3.8 million viewers and by 29% in Adults 18-49. Building audience throughout its telecast, the new series gained nearly 1 million viewers (10.1 million to 11.0 million) and 14% in Adults 18-49 (2.9/9 to 3.3/9) from its first half-hour to its second half-hour.

· More than doubling ABC's year-ago performance in the hour, "No Ordinary Family" improved the time period by +119% in Total Viewers and by +107% in Adults 18-49 from the same night last year (4.8 million and 1.5/4 on 9/29/09 with an original "Shark Tank").

"Dancing with the Stars: The Results" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

Building on its lead-in and gaining audience throughout its telecast against stiff competition (CBS' "NCIS: LA," NBC's second hour of "The Biggest Loser" and Fox's "Glee"-fueled comedies "Raising Hope"/"Running Wilde"), ABC's "Dancing with the Stars: The Results" ranked No. 1 in the 9 o'clock hour for the 2nd week in a row with viewers (17.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.7/10-tie). "DWTS: The Results" towered over its unscripted competition in the time period, topping "The Biggest Loser" (7.5 million and 3.0/8) by 9.6 million viewers and by 23% in Adults 18-49. Grammy-winner Michael Bolton was the second celebrity dancer to be eliminated from the competition this season.

· "DWTS: The Results" marked it most-watched-ever Episode 2 in the Fall and its 2nd-highest Adult 18-49 number.

"Detroit 1-8-7" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

Opposite the season premiere of CBS' "The Good Wife," ABC's "Detroit 1-8-7" took second place in the 10 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (9.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.2/6). Showing strong retention of its week-ago series debut, the new ABC drama outdrew NBC's time-period established "Parenthood" for the 2nd week in a row, beating the NBC drama by an even wider margin of 94% on their second match-up (9.2 million vs. 4.8 million). The new ABC drama also ranked No. 2 in the hour for the 2nd straight week with Adults 25-54, defeating NBC's "Parenthood" by 29%.

· "Detroit 1-8-7" improved the hour for ABC year to year in both viewers and young adults, boosting the time period over the same night last year by 23% in Total Viewers and by 10% in Adults 18-49 (Week 2 of "The Forgotten" on 9/29/09 = 7.5 million and 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 38% 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.

Source: The Nielsen Company (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 9/28/10.