ABC Posts Big Year-Over-Year Gains with its Mid-Season Tuesday Drama Premieres

With the mid-season premiere of its Tuesday line-up, ABC posted big year-to-year gains over its original schedule on the same night last year (1/5/10), growing by 2.7 million viewers (6.2 million vs. 3.5 million) and by 31% in Adults 18-49 (1.7/5 vs. 1.3/3). With its drama line-up, the Net earned second against its network rivals for night with Men 18-49 and ranked #1 in Men 25-54 (tie). Please note that ESPN carried the Sugar Bowl during prime, providing strong demographic competition, and will likely win the night in across all key measures (Viewers/Adults/Men).

Returning to the 8 o'clock hour for the first time since November (on 11/23/10), opposite stiff competition from the opening hour of CBS' high-profile Live to Dance and NBC's season opener of The Biggest Loser: Couples, ABC's No Ordinary Family was up by 6% among Adults 18-49 over its last airing in the time period. In addition No Ordinary Family registered sizeable year-to-year improvement for ABC in the hour, up by 3.4 million viewers (6.8 million vs. 3.4 million) and by 36% (1.9/5 vs. 1.4/4) from the year-ago night with original comedy premieres. The ABC drama finished as the #2 broadcast show in the time slot among Men 18-49 (tie).

On its 2nd season premiere in a new 9 o'clock time period opposite the second hours of the CBS and NBC premieres, ABC's V ranked #1 against its broadcast competition with key Men (M18-49/M25-54) and beat out Fox's Million Dollar Money Drop by 74% in Total Viewers (6.6 million vs. 3.8 million) and by 62% in Adults 18-49 (2.1/5 vs. 1.3/3). V surged by 20% from where it finished out its freshman season in Tuesday's 10 o'clock hour (6.6 million vs. 5.5 million on 5/18/10), topping its final 7 original airings of last season with the series' most-watched telecast since March (3/30/10). V is a highly-recorded show, posting substantial growth as time-shifted viewing is added into the final tallies. On average during its first season run, V's numbers jumped by 1.8 million viewers and by 8-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point (+25%) from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.

On its first original airing since early December, ABC's freshman Detroit 1-8-7 boosted its time slot for ABC from the year-ago night with original drama programming by 18% in Total Viewers (5.2 million vs. 4.4 million).

Quick Take for Tuesday, January 4, 2011 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Sees Big Year-to-Year Growth with its Midseason Tuesday Drama Premieres

Returning to the 8pm Hour, ABC's "No Ordinary Family" Grows over its Last Airing In the Slot with Young Adults and is Up Sharply for the Net from the Year-Ago Night

Building on its Lead-in to Rank as the Night's No. 1 TV Series in Key Men, ABC's "V" Season Premiere Draws the Series' Biggest Audience Since March

ABC's Return of "Detroit 1-8-7" Improves the Net's Performance In the 10pm Hour Over the Same Night Last Year by 18% in Total Viewers

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

With the midseason premiere of its Tuesday lineup, ABC posted big year-to-year gains over its original schedule on the same night last year (1/5/10), growing by 2.7 million viewers (6.2 million vs. 3.5 million) and by 31% in Adults 18-49 (1.7/5 vs. 1.3/3).

· With its drama lineup, the Net earned second against its network rivals for the night with Men 18-49 (1.7/5) and ranked No. 1 in Men 25-54 (2.3/6 - tie). Please note that ESPN carried the Sugar Bowl during prime, providing strong demographic competition, and will likely win the night across all key measures (Viewers/Adults/Men).

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

Returning to the 8 o'clock hour for the first time since November (on 11/23/10), and opposite stiff competition from the opening hour of CBS' high-profile "Live to Dance" debut and NBC's season opener of "The Biggest Loser: Couples," ABC's "No Ordinary Family" was up by 6% among Adults 18-49 over its last airing in the time period. In addition, "No Ordinary Family" registered sizeable year-to-year improvement for ABC in the hour, up by 3.4 million viewers (6.8 million vs. 3.4 million) and by 36% (1.9/5 vs. 1.4/4) from the year-ago night with original comedy premieres.

· The ABC drama finished as the No. 2 broadcast show in the time slot in Men 18-49 (1.7/5 - tie).

"V" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

On its 2nd season premiere in a new 9 o'clock time period opposite the second hours of the CBS and NBC premieres, ABC's "V" built substantially on its lead-in to stand as the No. 1 TV series of the night in Men 18-49 (2.3/6) and Men 25-54 (3.0/7). In the hour, "V" beat out Fox's "Million Dollar Money Drop" by 74% in Total Viewers (6.6 vs. 3.8 million) and by 62% in Adults 18-49 (2.1/5 vs. 1.3/3).

· "V" surged by 20% from where it finished out its freshman season in Tuesday's 10 o'clock hour, where it aired coming out of "Lost" (6.6 million vs. 5.5 million on 5/18/10), topping its final 7 original broadcasts of last season with the series' most-watched telecast since March (3/30/10).

· "V" is a highly-recorded show, posting substantial growth as time-shifted viewing is added into the final tallies. On average during its first season run, "V's" numbers jumped by 1.8 million viewers and by 8-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point (+25%) from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.

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

On its first original airing since early December, ABC's freshman "Detroit 1-8-7" boosted its time slot for ABC from the year-ago night with original drama programming by 18% in Total Viewers (5.2 million vs. 4.4 million - "The Forgotten").

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 2010. 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), 11/30/10.