Nielsen Week No. 8 of the 2010-11 TV Season: (National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)

For the First-Time Ever, ABC's "The CMA Awards" Emerges as TV's No. 1 Entertainment Show for the Week

With "The 44th Annual CMA Awards," ABC Towers Over Wednesday's Competition, Beating its Nearest Competitors by 5.7 Million Viewers and by 74% in Adults 18-49

In Viewers and Young Adults, ABC Marks its Top Wednesday in 1 Year, While Posting its Highest Adult 18-49 Number on Any Night This Season

ABC's "CMA Awards" Attracts its 2nd-Largest Audience Since 2005, Earns its Best Men 18-34 Number in 4 Years and Hits its Top Kids 2-11 Number in 5 Years

ABC's 2010 "CMA Awards" Overshadows CBS' 2010 "ACM Awards" Telecast

Weekly Primetime Ratings: Week No. 8 of the 2010-11 TV Season

During the week of November 8, 2010, ABC's broadcast of "The 44th Annual CMA Awards" emerged as TV's No. 1 entertainment program in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic. In fact it represented the first-time ever for ABC's "CMA Awards" to stand as the highest-rated entertainment show during the week in which it aired. Up against highly-competitive 2010 November Sweeps programming during the week, the "CMA Awards" outperformed top-rated shows on the other networks, including Fox's "Glee," CBS' "Two and a Half Men" and NBC's "The Office."

· On the night of its broadcast (11/10/10), ABC's "44th Annual CMA Awards" towered over Wednesday's prime, winning all 6 of its half-hours and beating out its nearest competition on the evening by 5.7 million viewers (16.5 million vs. 10.8 million - CBS) and by 74% in Adults 18-49 (4.7/13 vs. 2.7/8 - CBS). In fact ABC's Adult 18-49 winning advantage on the night with the "CMA Awards" increased noticeably year to year (74% vs. 66% in 2009). Delivering a clean sweep, the Net finished No. 1 on Wednesday in Viewers, across all key Adult, Men and Women demographics (18-34/18-49/25-54), as well standing as the top-rated broadcaster with Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11.

· In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, ABC posted its strongest Wednesday results in 1 year - since 11/11/09.

· With the "CMAs," ABC hit its best Adult 18-49 number on any night this season, while delivering the top non-sports rating for any network on any evening this season.

· The "CMA Awards" generated its 2nd most-watched telecast since 2005, posted its highest Men 18-34 number in 4 years and marked its best number with Kids 2-11 in 5 years - since 2006 and 2005, respectively.

· ABC's 2010 telecast of the "CMA Awards" bested CBS' 2010 telecast of the "ACM Awards" in April by 3.5 million viewers and by 47% in Adults 18-49 (CBS' "ACM Awards" on 4/18/10 = 13.0 million viewers and 3.2/8 in AD18-49).

· An estimated 33.8 million viewers watched at least some portion of "The 44th Annual CMA Awards" on ABC during its 3-hour broadcast - unduplicated Viewers 2+ that watched 6 minutes or more of the telecast.

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 (National, Live + Same Day Program Ratings), week of 11/8/10.