Quick Take for Thursday, April 14, 2011 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Sees Week to Week Increases Opposite an "Idol"-Fueled Fox and NBC's All-Original Comedy Lineup

Taking Second to Fox's "American Idol" at 8pm, ABC's Spring "Wipeout" Dominates NBC's Comedy Block by 2.8 Million Viewers and by 46% in Young Adults

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

With 1 original and 2 repeat programs, ABC posted gains week to week in both Total Viewers (+13% - 4.4 million vs. 3.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (+8% - 1.3/4 vs. 1.2/4) opposite an "Idol"-led Fox and NBC's all-original lineup.

"Wipeout" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

From 8:00-9:00 p.m. against Fox's "American Idol," ABC's Spring "Wipeout" finished second in the hour in Adults 18-49, topping NBC's original comedies, including the highly promoted series premiere of "The Paul Reiser Show," by 2.8 million viewers (6.2 million vs. 3.4 million) and by 46% among Adults 18-49 (1.9/6 vs. 1.3/4). "Wipeout" also ranked No. 2 to "Idol" in the hour among Adults 18-34, Men 18-49, Women 18-49 and Teens 12-17, outdelivering NBC's comedy block by solid margins.

· Despite facing "Idol" in the time period this year, the ABC unscripted series generated double-digit year-to-year gains in the hour with Total Viewers (+24%) and Adults 18-49 (+36%), over an original episode of "FlashForward" on the year-ago evening (5.0 million and 1.4/5 on 4/15/10).

· ABC was the only major net to build audience in the hour against "Idol," gaining 10% in overall viewers (5.9 million to 6.5 million) and 18% in young adults (1.7/6 vs. 2.0/6) from its first half-hour to its second half-hour.

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 40% currently, from 36% 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), 4/14/11.