ABC Dominates 2nd Straight Monday of May/"Castle" Surges

Some early info on ABC's Monday, ahead of the regular press release.

With DWTS and Castle, ABC dominated its 2nd straight Monday of the May Sweep, more than doubling runner-up CBS in Total Viewers and beating Fox by 65% in Adults 18-49. In fact the Net beat its rivals in all 6 half-hours of the night in viewers and young adults. ABC qualified as Monday's most-watched TV network for the 9th week running and took first place on the evening in Adults 18-49 for the 8th time in 9 weeks.

· For the 2nd Monday in a row, ABC delivered improved year-to-year May Sweep results, gaining 1.2 million viewers and 9% with young adults over the same night last year.

ABC's Dancing with the Stars topped each of its half-hours in viewers and young adults to rank #1 in its time slot for the 8th week running. The ABC dancing performance show once again registered as Monday's #1 TV show in Total Viewers (8th week in a row) and Adults 18-49 (7th time in 8 telecasts).

· DWTS grew over the same night last year by 1.0 million viewers, while holding 100% of its Adults 18-49 audience.

· On average, Season 12 of DWTS is gaining over the same point in Season 11 by 1.1 million viewers and by 7% in Adults 18-49, qualifying as the franchise's most-watched-ever season overall.

ABC's Castle stood as the #1 series in the 10 o'clock hour, beating CBS' original Hawaii Five-0 by its biggest-ever margins in Total Viewers (+3.4 million viewers) and Adults 18-49 (+35%), as the ABC drama led in their 4th consecutive head-to-head original matchup. In addition, on both counts, Castle was the #1 TV series in its time period for 6th time in its past 7 first-run broadcasts.

· For its 6th consecutive original airing, ABC's Castle stood as Monday's most-watched scripted program. It was also the night's #1 scripted series in Adults 18-49 for the 2nd week running, outdelivering Fox's original House.

· Building over the prior week by in viewers (+4%) and young adults (+7%), Castle posted its strongest numbers since March - since 3/28/11.

· The ABC drama surged from the year-ago night by 1.7 million viewers and 24% in Adults 18-49. On average, ABC's Castle is enjoying its biggest season ever, building on its performance at the same point last year in both Total Viewers (+7%) and Adults 18-49 (+4%).