ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Posts the Largest Yearly Increase of Any Late-Night Broadcast Program in Key Adults

Some early points on Jimmy Kimmel Live's weekly numbers, ahead of the regular press release

During the week of March 14, 2011, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live saw double-digit week-to-week increases in Total Viewers (+18%), Adults 18-34 (+64%) and Adults 18-49 (+13%), marking the ABC late night program's 2nd-strongest performance in 5 weeks in viewers and Adults 18-34 - since w/o 2/7/11. In addition, JKL was up in viewers (+24%), Adults 18-34 (+76%) and Adults 18-49 (+27%) over the same week last year (w/o 3/15/10) by season-best margins, building its overall audience over the year-ago week for the 4th time in the last 5 weeks. Impressively, JKL posted the largest year-to-year increase of any late-night broadcast program in both young adult demos.

· Posting season-best telecast numbers in Total Viewers, Adults 18-34 and Adults 18-49, JKL's Monday airing (3/14/11) turned in the ABC late-night program's best numbers on the evening in more than 2 years - since 3/2/09. In fact, excluding the NBA Finals-led broadcasts in June, JKL's Monday telecast drew the late-night program's largest Adult 18-34 audience on any night in over 2 years and its 2nd-best Adult 18-49 number in almost 10 months - since 3/2/09 and 5/25/10, respectively.

· On that evening, JKL bettered CBS' Late Show with David Letterman by an impressive 59% in Adults 18-34 and also bested NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno by a strong 32%. Further, on that Monday airing, JKL topped NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon by a solid 23% in Adults 18-49 and beat CBS' The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson by a resounding 60%. In addition, JKL drew 25% more overall viewers than NBC's Fallon on the night and 45% more than CBS' Ferguson.

· During the week of March 14, ABC's JKL beat CBS' Ferguson by 3% in Total Viewers and by 2% in Adults 18-34, besting the CBS late-night program for the 10th time in the last 11 weeks in the key young adult demo.

Ratings Report for ABC News' "Nightline" For the Week of March 14, 2011

"NIGHTLINE" IS #1 AMONG TOTAL VIEWERS, ADULTS 18-49 AND ADULTS 25-54 FOR THE WEEK

"NIGHTLINE" IS #1 AMONG TOTAL VIEWERS FOR 16TH TIME THIS SEASON, THE MOST NUMBER OF WEEKS AT #1 DURING THE COURSE OF ANY SEASON IN 15 YEARS

"NIGHTLINE" IS #1 SEASON TO DATE AMONG ADULTS 25-54 AND TOTAL VIEWERS FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1993

"NIGHTLINE" HAS MOST-WATCHED MONDAY TELECAST IN 8 YEARS

During the week of March 14, 2011, ABC News' ranked No. 1 among Total Viewers (4.26 million), Adults 25-54 (1.70 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.28 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. In fact, "Nightline" ranked No. 1 in all key target demos for the 4th consecutive week. Also, "Nightline" ranked No. 1 in Total Viewers for the 16th time during the season. This represents the most number of weeks at No. 1 in Total Viewers during the course of any season, beating both "The Tonight Show" and "The Late Show," in 15 years - since 1995-96 season.

"Nightline" improved over the same week last year across all key target demos: Total Viewers (+27%), Adults 25-54 (+19%) and Adults 18-49 (+17%). In fact, the ABC late night program grew its overall audience for the 5th week in a row.

Season to date, "Nightline" ranks first in late-night among Total Viewers and Adults 25-54. This is the first time that "Nightline" has been in first place at this point in the season since at least the 1993-94 season, when "Letterman" began on CBS. In addition, "Nightline" is up by +2% in Total Viewers and by +3% in Adults 25-54 season to date compared to the same point last year.

"Nightline" outperformed CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" by it 2nd-largest margin of the season in Total Viewers (+930,000).

"Nightline" bettered NBC's "The Tonight Show" by its largest advantage in Adults 25-54 (+170,000) in over 4 months and largest margin in Adults 18-49 (+110,000) in over 2 months - since weeks of 11/8/10 and 1/3/11, respectively.

On 3/14/11, "Nightline," with continuing coverage of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, saw its most-watched Monday telecast (5.26 million) in 8 years - since 3/24/03.

Note: Due to CBS' coverage of NCAA Basketball, "The Late Show" was delayed and broken out on Thu (3/17/11) and Fri (3/18/11); ratings are excluded from the averages.

ABC News' "Nightline" is anchored by Cynthia McFadden, Terry Moran and Bill Weir. John Donvan and Vicki Mabrey are correspondents. Jeanmarie Condon is the Executive Producer. The program airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m., ET on the ABC Television Network.

(Week of March 14, 2011)

TOTAL VIEWERS A25-54(000)/ Rtg A18-49(000)/ Rtg

ABC "Nightline" 4,260,000 1,700,000/ 1.4 1,280,000/ 1.0

CBS "Late Show" 3,330,000 1,530,000/ 1.2 1,210,000/ 0.9

NBC "Tonight Show" 3,870,000 1,510,000/ 1.2 1,170,000/ 0.9

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 & Adults 18-49 Live+SD weeks of 3/14/11, 3/7/11 & 3/15/10. Live+7 (where available) & Live+SD for Season-to-date 10-11 vs. 09-10 (9/2/10-3/18/11 vs. 9/21/09-3/19/10).

Fringe Ratings Report: ABC Late-Night Programming Week of March 14, 2011

ABC Achieves a 5-Week High in Late-Night in Total Viewers

ABC is the Only Broadcast Net to Build Year to Year in Late-Night in Viewers and Key Adults

ABC's "Nightline" is No. 1 Among Total Viewers, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 for the Week

"Nightline" is No. 1 Among Adults 18-49 for 16th Time This Season, the Most Number of Weeks at No. 1 During the Course of Any Season in 15 Years

"Nightline" Has Most-Watched Monday Telecast in 8 Years

ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Sees Impressive Double-Digit Gains Over the Prior Week in Viewers and Key Adults

"JKL" Stands as Monday's No. 1 Broadcast Entertainment Program in Late-Night in Adults 18-34

On Monday, "JKL" Draws its Largest Overall Audience on the Evening in Over 2 Years

ABC Late-Night (Monday - Friday)

During the week of March 14, 2011, ABC turned in its most-watched week in late-night in 5 weeks (since w/o 2/7/11), building over the prior week (w/o 3/7/10) by 15% in Total Viewers (2.35 million vs. 2.04 million), by 13% in Adults 18-49 (827,000 vs. 735,000) and by 11% in Adults 25-54 (1.04 million vs. 938,000).

ABC saw increases over the same week last year in late-night in Total Viewers (+19%), Adults 18-49 (+18%) and Adults 25-54 (+13%) - 1.97 million, 699,000, and 922,000, respectively, on w/o 3/15/10. In fact, ABC stood as the only broadcast network in late-night to build over the year-ago week in all three measures.

"Nightline" (Monday - Friday)

During the week of March 14, 2011, ABC News' "Nightline" ranked No. 1 among Total Viewers (4.26 million), Adults 25-54 (1.70 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.28 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. In fact, "Nightline" ranked No. 1 in all key target demos for the 4th consecutive week. Also, "Nightline" ranked No. 1 in Total Viewers for the 16th time during the season. This represents the most number of weeks at No. 1 in Total Viewers during the course of any season, beating both "The Tonight Show" and "The Late Show," in 15 years - since 1995-96 season.

"Nightline" improved over the same week last year across all key target demos: Total Viewers (+27%), Adults 25-54 (+19%) and Adults 18-49 (+17%). In fact, the ABC late night program grew its overall audience for the 5th week in a row.

· Season to date, "Nightline" ranks first in late-night among Total Viewers and Adults 25-54. This is the first time that "Nightline" has been in first place at this point in the season since at least the 1993-94 season, when "Letterman" began on CBS. In addition, "Nightline" is up by 2% in Total Viewers and by 3% in Adults 25-54 season to date compared to the same point last year.

· "Nightline" outperformed CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" by it 2nd-largest margin of the season in Total Viewers (+930,000).

· "Nightline" bettered NBC's "The Tonight Show" by its largest advantage in Adults 25-54 (+170,000) in over 4 months and largest margin in Adults 18-49 (+110,000) in over 2 months - since weeks of 11/8/10 and 1/3/11, respectively.

· On 3/14/11, "Nightline," with continuing coverage of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, saw its most-watched Monday telecast (5.26 million) in 8 years - since 3/24/03.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live" (Monday - Friday)

During the week of March 14, 2011, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" saw double-digit, week-to-week increases in Total Viewers (+18% - 1.71 million vs. 1.45 million), Adults 18-34 (+64% - 266,000 vs. 162,000) and Adults 18-49 (+13% - 676,000 vs. 598,000).

In addition, "JKL" was up in viewers (+24% - 1.71 vs. 1.38 million), Adults 18-34 (+76% - 266,000 vs. 151,000) and Adults 18-49 (+27% - 676,000 vs. 531,000) over the same week last year (w/o 3/15/10), building on the year-ago week for the 3rd time in the last 4 weeks in all three measures.

· Posting season-best telecast numbers on the night in Total Viewers (2.12 million), Adults 18-34 (514,000) and Adults 18-49 (962,000), "JKL's" Monday airing (3/14/11), featuring guests Ryan Phillippe, "The Bachelorette's" Ashley Herbert and singer Ron Sexsmith, turned in the ABC late-night program's best numbers on the evening in more than 2 years - since 3/2/09. In fact, excluding the NBA Finals-led broadcasts in June, "JKL's" Monday telecast drew the late-night program's largest Adult 18-34 audience on any night in over 2 years - since 3/2/09.

· On Monday (3/14/11), "JKL" was the night's No. 1 entertainment broadcast program in late-night in Adults 18-34 (514,000), topping CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" (+59% - 323,000) and "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (+122% - 232,000) and NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (+32% - 389,000) and "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (+65% - 311,000).

· During the week, ABC's "JKL" beat CBS' "Ferguson" by 3% in Total Viewers (1.71 million vs. 1.66 million) and by 2% in Adults 18-34 (266,000 vs. 261,000), besting the CBS late-night program for the 10th time in the last 11 weeks in the key young adult demo.

Late-Night Rank: TOTAL VIEWERS A18-49(000) A25-54(000)

ABC 2,350,000 827,000 1,040,000

CBS 2,450,000 953,000 1,180,000

NBC 2,350,000 839,000 1,040,000

Source: The Nielsen Company, Live + Same Day National Program Ratings for week of 3/14/11, or as dated. Comparisons based on 000s. ABC Late-Night = "Nightline" and "JKL"; CBS Late-Night = "Letterman" and "Ferguson"; NBC Late-Night = "Tonight Show," "Fallon" and "Carson Daly."