Quick Take for Monday, October 25, 2010 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Ranks No. 1 on Monday Night in Total Viewers for the 6th Week in a Row, Beating CBS by a Season-Best 7.1 Million Viewers and by 15% in Adults 18-49

"Dancing with the Stars" Wins its 2-Hour Time Slot in Viewers and Adults 18-49, Towering Over CBS' Comedy Block by 9.8 Million Viewers and 20% in Young Adults

ABC's "Castle" Beats CBS' "Hawaii Five-0" in Adults 18-49 for the First Time Ever, While Outdrawing the CBS Drama in Viewers for the 2nd Week in a Row

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

ABC ranked No. 1 on Monday night in Total Viewers for the 6th week in a row. During prime, ABC beat CBS by a season-best 7.1 million viewers (17.3 million vs. 10.2 million) and 15% in Adults 18-49 (3.8/10 vs. 3.3/9). In addition, ABC turned in its strongest performance on the night in both viewers and young adults in 4 weeks - since 9/27/10.

· Growing its Monday results year to year for the 6th straight week, ABC was up over the same night last season by 2.3 million viewers and by 19% in Adults 18-49 (15.0 million and 3.2/8 on 10/26/09).

"Dancing with the Stars" (8:00-10:00 p.m.)

ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" led its 2-hour time period in Total Viewers (20.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.2/11), winning its time slot in viewers for the 6th time in 6 weeks. "DWTS" defeated CBS' original comedy block (10.3 million & 3.5/9) by 9.8 million viewers and by 20% in Adults 18-49.

· Season to date, "DWTS" is improving substantially over its year-ago averages by 3.3 million viewers (20.8 million vs. 17.5 million) and by 21% among Adults 18-49 (4.6/11 vs. 3.8/9).

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

ABC's "Castle" outperformed CBS' high-profile reboot, "Hawaii Five-0," for the first-time ever in Adults 18-49 (+7% - 3.0/8 vs. 2.8/7), while outdrawing the CBS drama in Total Viewers (+18% - 11.8 million vs. 10.0 million) for the 2nd week in a row. In addition, "Castle" hit season-best numbers in viewers and young adults, delivering the ABC drama's strongest performance in both measures since April - since 4/12/10.

· More than doubling the performance of its NBC drama competition, ABC's "Castle" towered over NBC's "Chase" for the 6th week running with its widest margins to date in both Total Viewers (+141% - 11.8 million vs. 4.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (+131% - 3.0/8 vs. 1.3/4).

· Topping its performance on the same night last year for the 6th consecutive telecast, "Castle" is up over its averages over the same weeks last year by 1.6 million viewers (12.2 million vs. 10.6 million) and by 19% in Adults 18-49 (3.2/8 vs. 2.7/7).

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 33% 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), 10/25/10.