Primetime Ratings Report
For the week of October 25, 2010
(Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)
Growing its Overall Audience for the 3rd Week in a Row, ABC Marks its Strongest Results Since Season-Premiere Week in September
ABC Claims 5 of the Top 15 Non-Sports TV Shows in Adults 18-49, Including
"Modern Family," "DWTS," "Grey's" and "Housewives" and "Cougar Town"
"Modern Family" is TV's No. 1 Scripted Series in Adults 18-49 for the 4th Straight Week and "DWTS" is the Most-Watched Show Overall for the 5th Time in 6 Weeks
ABC Stands as Monday's Most-Watched Network for the 6th Week in a Row
Continuing to Top its Year-Ago Results, "DWTS" is Monday's Most-Watched Show
ABC's "Castle" Beats CBS' "Hawaii Five-0" in Adults 18-49 for the First Time Ever, While Outdrawing the CBS Drama in Total Viewers for the 2nd Week in a Row
"No Ordinary Family" Grows its Hour by 64% in Viewers and by 59% in Adults 18-49
"DWTS: The Results" is Up this Season by Wide Margins in Viewers and Adults 18-49
Up for the 2nd Straight Week, "Detroit 1-8-7" Delivers its Best Numbers in 4 Weeks
Boosted by its Halloween-Themed Comedy Block with Best-of-Season Numbers,
ABC Marks its Strongest Results Against the Start of the World Series in 3 Years
"The Middle" Generates Series-High Numbers in Viewers and Adults 18-49
"Better with You" Hits Series-Highs with Key Adults, Women and Kids
"Modern Family" Achieves Series-Highs with Viewers and Adults 18-49
Showing Continued Momentum, "Cougar Town" Builds for the 4th Straight Week
Opposite the World Series, ABC Marks its Most-Watched Thursday in 5 Weeks
ABC's Annual Broadcast of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"
Produces Season-Highs in Thursday's 8pm Hour in Viewers and Young Adults
"Grey's" is the No. 1 Series in its Hour with Adults 18-49 for the 6th Week in a Row
"Primetime: What Would You Do?" Earns Season-Highs for ABC on Friday at 9pm
"Saturday Night Football" Scores the Franchise's Top Numbers Since October 2009
"Housewives" is Sunday's No. 1 Entertainment Show in Viewers and Young Adults
WEEK No. 6:
During the week of October 25, 2010, ABC finished No. 2 among young adults: AD18-34 (2.0/6) and AD18-49 (2.6/7-tie). In fact despite NBC's decided advantage in the weekly averages with coverage of "Sunday Night Football," ABC beat out NBC by a best-of-season 13% in Adults 18-49 (2.6/7 vs. 2.3/7). The Net topped the week across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54), ranking No. 1 with Women 18-34 (2.5/8-tie) for the 6th time in 6 weeks this season.
· Growing its overall audience for the 3rd week in a row, ABC attracted its biggest audience (9.2 million) since season-premiere week in September and tied its 2nd-highest Adult 18-49 number (2.6/7) this season - since w/o 9/22/10.
Rankings: For the 4th week running, ABC's "Modern Family" stood as TV's No. 1 scripted show in Adults 18-49, while "Dancing with the Stars" registered as the No. 1 unscripted series for the 6th straight week this season. ABC claimed 5 of the Top 15 non-sports TV programs of the week in Adults 18-49: "Modern Family" - No. 1, "Dancing with the Stars" - No. 4, "Grey's Anatomy" - No. 8, "Desperate Housewives" - No. 10 and "Cougar Town" - No. 14. ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" qualified as America's most-watched TV show overall for the 5th time in 6 weeks this season. ABC's "Primetime: What Would You Do?" on Friday ranked as TV's No. 1 newsmagazine during the week in Adults 18-49.
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.
Monday
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 (17.4 million vs. 10.3 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 2.4 million viewers and by 19% in Adults 18-49 (15.0 million and 3.2/8 on 10/26/09).
"Dancing with the Stars" (8:00-10:01 p.m.)
ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" led its 2-hour time period in Total Viewers (20.4 million), winning its time slot in viewers for the 6th time in 6 weeks. "DWTS" defeated CBS' original comedy block by 10.1 million viewers (20.4 million vs. 10.3 million) and by 19% in Adults 18-49 (4.3/11 vs. 3.6/9).
· 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" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
ABC's "Castle" outperformed CBS' high-profile reboot, "Hawaii Five-0," for the first-time ever in Adults 18-49 (+4% - 2.9/8 vs. 2.8/7), while outdrawing the CBS drama in Total Viewers (+11% - 11.3 million vs. 10.2 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 (+131% - 11.3 million vs. 4.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (+123% - 2.9/8 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 1.5 million viewers (12.1 million vs. 10.6 million) and by 15% in Adults 18-49 (3.1/8 vs. 2.7/7).
Tuesday
ABC took second on Tuesday in Total Viewers (10.6 million), drawing the Net's largest audience on the night in 3 weeks - since 10/05/10.
"No Ordinary Family" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
In the Tuesday 8 o'clock hour, ABC freshman "No Ordinary Family" beat the first hour of NBC's time-period established "The Biggest Loser" by 1.1 million viewers (7.4 million vs. 6.6 million). Building audience in the opening hour of the evening, "No Ordinary Family" increased in Total Viewers (+4% - 7.2 million to 7.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (+11% - 1.9/5 to 2.1/6) from its first half-hour to its second half-hour.
· Growing its time slot by wide margins year to year, on average "No Ordinary Family" is improving the hour for ABC by 3.5 million viewers (9.0 million vs. 5.5 million) and by 59% in Adults 18-49 (2.7/7 vs. 1.7/5) from the same point last season.
"Dancing with the Stars: The Results Show" (9:00-10:01 p.m.)
Building on its lead-in and picking up audience throughout its telecast, ABC's "Dancing with the Stars: The Results" placed second at 9:00 p.m. among Total Viewers (15.9 million). "DWTS: The Results" held solid advantages over its unscripted competition in the time period, beating "The Biggest Loser" by 8.8 million viewers (15.9 million vs. 7.1 million) and by 24% in Adults 18-49 (3.1/8 vs. 2.5/7). MTV reality star Audrina Partridge was the sixth celebrity eliminated from the dance competition this season.
· The ABC dancing results show continues to trend ahead of its year-ago performance, up on average this season by 2.8 million viewers (17.0 million vs. 14.2 million) and by 23% in Adults 18-49 (3.7/9 vs. 3.0/8) from the same point a year ago.
"Detroit 1-8-7" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
Growing over the prior week for the 2nd week in a row, ABC's "Detroit 1-8-7" turned in its best performance in 4 weeks in Total Viewers (8.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.9/6) - since 9/28/10. The freshman ABC drama was once again the 2nd-most-watched TV show in the 10 o'clock hour, outdrawing NBC's sophomore drama, "Parenthood," for the 6th consecutive week (+3.6 million viewer advantage - 8.5 million vs. 4.9 million).
· "Detroit 1-8-7" is bringing more viewers to ABC in the time period, up on average this season by 5% in Total Viewers (9.0 million vs. 8.6 million) from the same point a year ago.
Wednesday
Posting strong year-over-year gains against the start of the World Series in viewers (+20% - 7.9 million vs. 6.6 million) and young adults (+13% - 2.7/8 vs. 2.4/6), ABC delivered its best numbers opposite Game 1 of the Fall Classic in 3 years - since 2007. ABC was up from the year-ago Wednesday for the 4th straight week.
· ABC's 8:00-10:00 p.m. Halloween-themed Wednesday comedy block continued to grow year to year, building by 2.3 million viewers (9.6 million vs. 7.3 million) and by 25% in Adults 18-49 (3.5/10 vs. 2.8/7) from the same night a year ago. In fact the 2-hour comedy block posted its highest numbers this season in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.
"The Middle" (8:00-8:30 p.m.)
Growing for the 2nd straight week to season-highs in both Total Viewers (9.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.9/9), ABC's "The Middle" marked its most-competitive finish this season against CBS' "Survivor: Nicaragua," while topping NBC's "Undercovers" by its biggest margins yet. The ABC sophomore won the half-hour with Women 18-34, beating out the World Series and "Survivor."
· "The Middle" rose sharply from its year-ago performance, when it aired in the 8:30pm half-hour, jumping by 3.0 million viewers and by 32% in Adults 18-49 (6.5 million and 2.2/6 on 10/28/09).
· Despite facing Game 1 of the World Series, "The Middle" produced its most-watched telecast ever and matched its highest-ever Adult 18-49 number.
"Better with You" (8:30-9:00 p.m.)
Building its numbers week to week against the game, ABC's "Better with You" continued to dominate its freshman competition in the half-hour, beating NBC's "Undercovers" by 43% in Total Viewers (7.7 million vs. 5.4 million) and by a best-ever margin of 79% in Adults 18-49 (2.5/7 vs. 1.4/4).
· "Better with You" improved its half-hour for ABC from the same night last year in both Total Viewers (+18%) and Adults 18-49 (+14%).
· The new ABC comedy matched a series-high in Adults 18-49 and drew the series' 2nd-largest audience to date. "Better with You" also posted series-highs with Adults 25-54, Women 18-49, Women 18-34 and Kids 2-11.
"Modern Family" (9:00-9:31 p.m.)
Qualifying as Wednesday's No. 1 TV show for the 6th straight week this season, ABC's "Modern Family" upset Fox's World Series opener on the night, beating out Game 1 by 9% in Adults 18-49 (5.1/14 vs. 4.7/14 from 7:53-11:36 p.m.). In doing so, "Modern Family" became the first program to top any Game 1 of the World Series since at least 1991 - pre-dating the start of Nielsen's electronic database. In the 9:00 p.m. half-hour, the ABC comedy defeated CBS' "Criminal Minds" (3.4/9) by a season-best 50% in the key young adult sales demo.
· "Modern Family" outdelivered its year-ago performance for the 6th week running this season, catapulting over the same night last year by 3.9 million viewers (13.2 million vs. 9.3 million) and by 38% in Adults 18-49 (5.1/14 vs. 3.7/9).
· "Modern Family" hit a new series high in Total Viewers and equaled its highest-ever rating with Adults 18-49. The broad-appealing comedy also achieved its best-ever ratings in Adults 25-54, all key Women and Kids 2-11.
"Cougar Town" (9:31-10:01 p.m.)
ABC's "Cougar Town" won its half-hour with Women 18-34 (3.7/11) for the 4th week in a row and also led with Women 18-49 (4.2/11). In addition, the ABC comedy finished No. 2 in the half-hour among Adults 18-34, behind only the World Series.
· Building its overall audience for the 4th week running at 9:30pm, "Cougar Town" pulled in its best viewer (8.2 million) and young adult (3.3/9) results since its season opener 5 weeks ago (on 9/22/10), generating its 2nd-biggest audience since September 2009 - since 9/30/09.
· "Cougar Town" was up from its performance on the same night last year in both viewers and young adults (7.5 million and 3.2/8).
Thursday
Up against Fox's Game 2 of the 2010 World Series during primetime on the opening night of the November Sweep, ABC stood as the No. 1 non-sports Net on Thursday for the 6th week running this season with Adults 18-34 and finished No. 1 overall with key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49) for the 6th time in as many weeks.
· Despite facing World Series competition, ABC was up week to week in Total Viewers (+10%) and Adults 18-49 (+7%). In fact ABC marked its most-watched Thursday in 5 weeks and matched its top Adult 18-49 number on the night since season-premiere Thursday (on 9/23/10).
"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
In the 8 o'clock hour, ABC's special annual rebroadcast of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" produced season-highs for the Net in the hour among viewers (7.0 million) and young adults (2.2/6). With the animated Halloween special, ABC took second place in the hour among Women 18-49 (2.9/8) and ranked No. 1 with Kids 2-11 (3.4/11).
· "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" attracted ABC's biggest in-season audience to the hour since January and its top in-season Adult 18-49 number with non-sports programming since last November - since 1/21/10 and 11/19/09, respectively. Further, the PEANUTS holiday classic posted the Net's highest Kids 2-11 rating in the time period with entertainment programming in nearly 5 years - since 11/24/05.
"Grey's Anatomy" (9:00-10:01 p.m.)
Building on its lead-in against the World Series (+54% in Viewers/+77% in Adults 18-49), ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" was the No. 1 series in Thursday's 9 o'clock hour for the 6th consecutive week in Adults 18-49. In its time period, "Grey's" (3.9/10) defeated NBC's comedies by +15% ("The Office"/"Outsourced" - 3.4/9) and CBS' "CSI" by +18% (3.3/9).
"Private Practice" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)
In the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's "Private Practice" finished as the No. 2 series in to CBS' "The Mentalist," beating out NBC's "The Apprentice" by 3.9 million viewers (7.8 million vs. 3.8 million) and by 93% in Adults 18-49 (2.7/8 vs. 1.4/4). Opposite the conclusion of the baseball game, "Private Practice" once again defeated "The Mentalist" in Adults 18-34 (2.2/7) to stand as the No. 1 scripted show in the hour for the 6th straight week. The ABC medical drama won its time period, beating out the World Series and "The Mentalist," with Women 18-34 (3.6/11) and Women 18-49 (4.1/11).
Friday
Hitting Friday season-highs for the 2nd straight week in viewers (5.4 million) and young adults (1.6/5), ABC finished as the 2nd most-watched network overall on the evening to CBS. ABC also ran in a near-tie with CBS during prime among Adults 18-49, while holding strong advantages over both NBC (+45% - 1.1/4) and Fox (+100% - 0.8/3).
"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown 2" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
ABC's second replay of "It's the Great Pumpkin," "Charlie Brown" produced season-highs for the Net in the opening hour of prime for the 2nd night in a row with viewers (5.4 million) and young adults (1.7/6). The program also aired the previous night, on Thursday (10/28/10) from 8:00-9:00 p.m.. With the animated Halloween special, ABC topped its network rivals in the hour among Adults 18-49 (1.7/6), Women 18-34 (1.5/6), Teens 12-17 (0.9/5) and Kids 2-11 (2.2/8).
· The PEANUTS holiday classic posted the Net's highest Kids 2-11 rating in the time period in nearly 1 year - since 11/20/09.
"Primetime: What Would You Do?" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
In the 9 o'clock hour, the season premiere of ABC's "Primetime: What Would You Do?" paced just 1-tenth of a rating point behind CBS' slot-regular "CSI: New York" in Adults 18-49 (1.7/5 vs. 1.8/6), while defeating the opening hour of NBC's "Dateline" by 42% (1.2/4) and Fox's "The Good Guys" by 143% (0.7/2). Attracting a younger audience in the hour, the ABC hidden-camera show topped CBS' "CSI: New York" by 20% in Adults 18-34 (1.2/5 vs. 1.0/4).
· "Primetime: What Would You Do?" generated season-highs for ABC in the time slot with Total Viewers (5.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.7/5).
"20/20" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
In the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's "20/20" defeated the second hour of NBC's 2-hour "Dateline" by 8% in Total Viewers (5.4 million vs. 5.0 million) and by 14% in Adults 18-49 (1.6/5 vs. 1.4/5). Additionally, 20/20 beat out both CBS' "Blue Bloods" and NBC's "Dateline" in the time period with Adults 18-34, Men 18-34 and Women 18-34. "20/20" featured Chris Cuomo's unique look at the growing problem of heroin addiction and its impact on American families.
· In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, "20/20" marked its strongest performance in 3 weeks - since 10/8/10. In addition, the ABC newsmagazine achieved its 2nd-highest number this season with Adults 18-34 and marked a season-high rating with Teens 12-17.
Saturday
Opposite Fox's 2010 World Series Game 3 coverage during primetime, ABC's "Saturday Night Football," featuring Oregon at USC or Ohio State at Minnesota, generated season-highs for the Net on the evening with Total Viewers (7.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.4/8). In fact on both counts, the Net posted its best results on the evening in close to 1 year - since 12/5/09.
· ABC's "Saturday Night Football" game beat out Fox's 2010 World Series Game 3 in Adults 18-34 and Men 18-34.
· In Total Viewers (7.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.5/9-tie), ABC's "Saturday Night Football" pulled the franchise's strongest numbers since October 2009 - since 10/3/09.
Sunday
"Desperate Housewives" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
On Halloween, airing against NBC's "Sunday Night Football" (Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New Orleans Saints) and Fox's 2010 World Series - Game 4, ABC's "Desperate Housewives" stood as Sunday's
No. 1 entertainment TV show in both Total Viewers (11.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.5/9) for the 3rd week in a row. "Housewives" beat its regular time period competition, CBS' "Undercover Boss," (10.7 million & 3.0/7) by 4% in Total Viewers and by 17% in Adults 18-49.
"Brothers & Sisters" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" beat its CBS drama competition, "CSI: Miami," across each of the key Women demographics: Women 18-34 (2.4/7 vs. 2.1/6), Women 18-49 (3.3/9 vs. 3.1/8) and Women 25-54 (4.4/11 vs. 3.9/9).
Source: The Nielsen Company (National, Live+ Same Day Program Ratings), week of 10/25/10, unless stated otherwise.
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