Primetime Ratings Report For the week of December 20, 2010 (Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)

ABC's Repeat "The Middle" Wins at 8pm Over Original Competition, Generating its 2nd-Most-Watched-Ever Encore Airing on the Night

Posting its Best-Ever Lead-in Retention and Beating Original Competition, ABC's "Better with You" Rebroadcast Jumps Week to Week by Double-Digit Percentages

ABC's Replay "Modern Family" Dominates its Network Rivals on Wednesday Night In Adults 18-49, Beating Fox's Original "Million Dollar Money Drop" by 36% at 9pm

Repeats of Holiday Programming Drive ABC to No. 1 on Thursday, Boosting ABC Year Over Year by 133% in Viewers and 150% in Young Adults

The Net Dominates Saturday in Viewers and Young Adults with Rebroadcast Theatrical "Transformers," Generating Big Year-to-Year Gains for ABC

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 34% 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.

Wednesday

"The Middle" (8:00-8:30 p.m.)

Growing week to week, ABC's repeat airing of "The Middle" stood as the most-watched TV show at 8:00 p.m., beating out Fox's original "Human Target" in Total Viewers (6.0 million vs. 5.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.5/5 vs. 1.4/5).

· "The Middle" generated its 2nd-biggest-ever repeat audience on the night.

"Better with You" (8:30-9:00 p.m.)

Jumping week to week by double-digit percentages in viewers (+16%) and young adults (+15%), ABC's repeat freshman "Better with You" topped both Fox's original "Human Target" and NBC's original "Undercovers" at 8:30 p.m. in Adults 18-49 (1.5/5), while overshadowing CBS' original holiday special ("Home for the Holidays"). In addition, "Better with You" defeated its broadcast rivals in the half-hour with Adults 18-34 (1.0/4-tie) and across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

· Delivering its best-ever lead-in retention, the new ABC comedy held 100% of its Adult 18-49 audience from "The Middle."

"Modern Family" (9:00-9:30 p.m.)

Building on its lead-in at 9:00 p.m., ABC's replay "Modern Family" led the pack by a wide margin at 9:00 p.m. in Adults 18-49, beating Fox's original "Million Dollar Money Drop" by 36% (1.9/6 vs. 1.4/4). In fact, the encore telecast of ABC's "Modern Family" dominated original competition on each of the other networks during prime, including CBS' "12th Annual Home For the Holidays" special, Fox's entire lineup ("Human Target"/"Million Dollar Money Drop") and NBC's "Undercovers."

Thursday

With its lineup of the animated special "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" from 8:00-8:30 p.m. leading into the live-action feature "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" from 8:30-11:00 p.m., ABC finished No. 1 on Thursday across all key Adult demographics (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54) and Teens 12-17.

· ABC's repeat holiday programming posted a dominant victory over Fox's original Thursday lineup, featuring a 2-hour Million Dollar Money Drop, winning by 33% among Adults 18-49 (1.5/5).

· ABC rose sharply over the same night last year, surging year over year by 133% in Total Viewers (6.3 million vs. 2.7 million) and by 150% in Adults 18-49 (2.0/7 vs. 0.8/3).

"ABC Thursday Movie of the Week: Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (8:30-11:00 p.m.)

ABC's rebroadcast of the live-action feature "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" stood as Thursday's No. 1 TV program in Adults 18-49 (2.1/7), beating its closest competitor by 17% (CBS' "The Big Bang Theory"). The live-action feature also took full control of the night with Adults 18-34 (1.8/7), key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49) and Teens 12-17 (2.0/8).

Saturday

ABC turned in a dominant victory on Saturday evening with its rebroadcast of the theatrical "Transformers," towering over CBS and FOX by 188% in Adults 18-49 and overshadowing NBC by 283% with young adults. In fact, ABC outdelivered its combined broadcast competition in Adults 18-49 (2.3/7 vs. 2.2/8 million - CBS-NBC-FOX).

"ABC Saturday Movie of the Week: Transformers" (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

· The ABC movie stood as Saturday's definitive No. 1 TV program in both Total Viewers (6.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.3/7).

· "Transformers" attracted ABC's largest audience for a Saturday night movie in over 2 years and the Net's highest Adults 18-49 number in nearly 3 years - since 5/3/08 and 2/9/08, respectively. Versus its broadcast premiere opposite Fox's "American Idol" finale (5/26/10), the "Transformers" encore produced significantly improved returns for ABC, jumping by 27% in Total Viewers (6.1 million vs. 4.8 million) and by 28% in Adults 18-49 (2.3/7 vs. 1.8/5).

· With the rebroadcast movie, ABC was up over the year-ago night (12/26/09) by 45% in Total Viewers (6.1 million vs. 4.2 million) and by 77% in Adults 18-49 (2.3/7 vs. 1.3/4).

Source: The Nielsen Company (National, Live+ Same Day Program Ratings), week of 12/20/10, unless stated otherwise.