ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Posts One of its Strongest Weeks This Season

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

During the week of May 2, 2011, which included the first full week of the May sweep, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live turned in its 4th-most-watched week of the season. Building on the previous week by 4% in Total Viewers and by 4% in Adults 18-49, ABC's JKL drew its largest weekly audience in 5 weeks (since w/o 3/28/11).

JKL also saw year-to-year increases in viewers and young adults, increasing its overall audience over the same week last year for the 8th consecutive week. In addition, JKL delivered solid double-digit gains over the year-ago week in Adults 18-34 (+14%), posting the largest yearly increase of any late-night broadcast entertainment program.

· ABC's JKL outdrew NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (+7%) for the 6th time in the last 7 weeks, topping the NBC late-night program by double-digit percentages in 3 of 5 nights of the week in Total Viewers: Monday (+11%), Tuesday (+38%) and Thursday (+12%).

· For the 8th week running, ABC's JKL drew a larger overall audience than CBS' Ferguson (+3%).

· JKL's Tuesday telecast (5/3/11), which featured guests Anthony Hopkins, Andre Agassi, Dancing with the Stars' Kendra Wilkinson and Louis van Amstel, was the ABC late-night program's 3rd-most-watched telecast on any night in late-night this season. On that evening, JKL outdrew NBC's Fallon by a hefty 38% in viewers and CBS' Ferguson by a solid 28%.

· On average for the season to date (33 weeks), JKL is up from the same point a year ago in viewers (+4%) and young adults (+3%). In fact, among Adults 18-49, NBC's Fallon (-4%) and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (-16%) and CBS' Ferguson (-10%) and Late Show with David Letterman (-11%) are all down through the comparable weeks last year.

"Nightline" Is #1 for the Week in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49

"Nightline" #1 in Total Viewers for 11th Week in a Row and for the 10th Time in 11 Weeks Among Adults 25-54

Season to Date, "Nightline" Ranks First in Late-Night Among Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49

Season to date "Nightline" is Drawing its Largest Overall Audience in 8 Years

During the week of May 2, 2011, the first complete week of the May 2011 Sweeps, ABC's "Nightline" ranked No. 1 across all key demos: Total Viewers (4.547 million), Adults 25-54 (1.815 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.346 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. "Nightline" stretched its No. 1 rank in Total Viewers to 11 straight weeks, while taking the top position in Adults 25-54 for the 10th time in the last 11 weeks.

For the 2nd time in 3 weeks, "Nightline" saw week-to-week increases among Total Viewers (+14%), Adults 25-54 (+15%) and Adults 18-49 (+16%). In fact, the ABC late night program attracted its largest weekly audience in over 5 months (since the week of 11/29/10) and 2nd largest overall this season.

"Nightline" improved on its year-ago week performances among Total Viewers (+22%), Adults 25-54 (+13%) and Adults 18-49 (+3%). Further, "Nightline" posted year-to-year gains in Total Viewers in the last 12 weeks and in Adults 25-54 in the previous 8 weeks.

Season to date, "Nightline" ranks first in late-night among Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49. This is the first time ever 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 +5% in Total Viewers and by +4% in Adults 25-54 compared to the same point last year. Season to date "Nightline" is drawing its largest overall audience in 8 years - since the 2002-03 season.

"Nightline" topped CBS' "The Late Show" (+970,000) by its 3rd largest Total Viewer margin this season, while beating NBC's "The Tonight" (+720,000) by its 2nd best Total Viewer gap of the season.

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 May 2, 2011)

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

ABC "Nightline" 4,547,000 1,815,000/ 1.5 1,346,000/ 1.0

CBS "Late Show" 3,577,000 1,538,000/ 1.2 1,177,000/ 0.9

NBC "Tonight Show" 3,827,000 1,643,000/ 1.3 1,291,000/ 1.0

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 & Adults 18-49 Live+SD weeks of 5/2/11, 4/25/11 & 5/3/10. Live+7 (where available) & Live+SD for Season-to-date 10-11 vs. 09-10 (9/2/10-5/6/11 vs. 9/21/09-5/7/10).

Fringe Ratings Report: ABC Late-Night Programming Week of May 2, 2011

During the First Full Week of the May 2011 Sweep, ABC Draws its 2nd-Biggest Audience in Late-Night, Winning the Week in Total Viewers

ABC's "Nightline" is No. 1 for the Week in Total Viewers and Key Adults

"Nightline" is No. 1 in Total Viewers for the 11th Week in a Row and for the 10th Time in 11 Weeks Among Adults 25-54

ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Turns in its Best Performance in Viewers in 5 Weeks to Deliver its 4th-Largest Audience of the Season

ABC's "JKL" Outdraws NBC's "Fallon" in Viewers by Double-Digit Percentages in 3 of 5 Nights of the Week

On Tuesday, "JKL" Attracts its 3rd-Biggest Overall Audience of the Season, Topping "Fallon" by 38% and "Ferguson" by 28%

ABC Late-Night (Monday - Friday)

During the week of May 2, 2011, the first complete week of the May 2011 Sweeps, ABC attracted its 2nd-largest overall audience of the season in late-night. Building on the previous week by double-digit percentages in Total Viewers (+16% - 2.699 million vs. 2.333 million) and Adults 18-49 (+14% - 911,000 vs. 802,000), ABC drew its largest weekly audience in nearly 6 months - since w/o 11/22/10.

ABC delivered solid double-digit percentage gains over the year-ago week in Total Viewers (+17%), growing its overall audience in late-night for the 16th time in 18 weeks -- including the last 8 weeks. ABC also was the only broadcast network in late-night to grow year to year in Adults 18-49 (+4%).

· For the 2nd time in the last 3 weeks, ABC was the No. 1 network in late-night in Total Viewers, outdrawing CBS by 3% (2.621 million) and NBC by 16% (2.332 million).

"Nightline" (Monday - Friday)

During the week of May 2, 2011, ABC's "Nightline" ranked No. 1 across all key demos: Total Viewers (4.547 million), Adults 25-54 (1.815 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.346 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. "Nightline" stretched its No. 1 rank in Total Viewers to 11 straight weeks, while taking the top position in Adults 25-54 for the 10th time in the last 11 weeks.

For the 2nd time in 3 weeks, "Nightline" saw week-to-week increases among Total Viewers (+14%), Adults 25-54 (+15%) and Adults 18-49 (+16%). In fact, the ABC attracted its largest weekly audience in over 5 months (since the week of 11/29/10) and 2nd-largest overall this season.

"Nightline" improved on its year-ago week performances among Total Viewers (+22%), Adults 25-54 (+13%) and Adults 18-49 (+3%). Further, "Nightline" has posted year-to-year gains in Total Viewers for the last 12 weeks and in Adults 25-54 for the last 8 weeks.

· Season to date, "Nightline" ranks first in late-night among Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49. This is the first time ever 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 5% in Total Viewers and by 4% in Adults 25-54 compared to the same point last year. Season to date "Nightline" is drawing its largest overall audience in 8 years - since the 2002-03 season.

· "Nightline" topped CBS' "The Late Show" (+970,000) by its 3rd largest Total Viewer margin this season, while beating NBC's "The Tonight Show" (+720,000) by its 2nd-best Total Viewer gap of the season.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live" (Monday - Friday)

During the week of May 2, 2011, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" turned in its 4th-most-watched week since premiere week. Building on the previous week by 4% in Total Viewers (1.840 million vs. 1.763 million) and by 4% in Adults 18-49 (708,000 vs. 680,000), ABC's "JKL" drew its largest audience in 5 weeks (since w/o 3/28/11). In addition, "JKL" delivered solid double-digit gains over the prior week in Adults 18-34 (+14% - 252,000 vs. 222,000), posting the largest weekly increase of any late-night broadcast entertainment program.

"JKL" also saw year-to-year gains in viewers (+5% - 1.840 million vs. 1.751 million) and young adults (+1% - 708,000 vs. 699,000), increasing its overall audience over the same week last year (w/o 5/3/10) for the 8th consecutive week.

· ABC's "JKL" outdrew NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (+7% - 1.840 million vs. 1.720 million) for the 6th time in the last 7 weeks in Total Viewers, topping the NBC late-night program by double-digit percentages in 3 of 5 nights of the week: Monday (+11% - 1.901 million vs. 1.716 million), Tuesday (+38% - 2.304 million vs. 1.664 million) and Thursday (+12% - 1.871 million vs. 1.666 million).

· For the 8th week running, ABC's "JKL" drew a larger overall audience than CBS' "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (+3% - 1.840 million vs. 1.792 million).

· "JKL's" Tuesday telecast (5/3/11), which featured guests Anthony Hopkins, Andre Agassi, "Dancing with the Stars'" Kendra Wilkinson and Louis van Amstel, was the ABC late-night program's 3rd-most-watched telecast on any night this season (2.304 million). On that evening, "JKL" outdrew NBC's "Fallon" by a hefty 38% in viewers (1.664 million) and CBS' "Ferguson" by a solid 28% (1.803 million).

· On average for the season to date (33 weeks), "JKL" is up from the same point a year ago in viewers (+4% - 1.728 million vs. 1.662 million) and young adults (+3% - 713,000 vs. 690,000). Among Adults 18-49, NBC's "Fallon" (-4% - 809,000 vs. 840,000) and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (-16% - 1.266 million vs. 1.500 million) and CBS' "Ferguson" (-10% - 697,000 vs. 778,000) and "The Late Show with David Letterman" (-11% - 1.154 million vs. 1.297 million) are all down through the comparable weeks last year.

*Note: "Jimmy Kimmel Live's" Monday telecast was coded as JKL-Late and excluded from the average due an extended NL covering the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

Late-Night Rank (Week of May 2): TOTAL VIEWERS A18-49(000)

ABC 2,699,000 911,000

CBS 2,621,000 934,000

NBC 2,332,000 913,000

Source: The Nielsen Company, Live + Same Day National Program Ratings for week of 5/2/11 and 5/3/10 or as dated. Live+7 (where available) & Live+SD for Season-to-date 10-11 vs. 09-10 (9/2/10-5/6/11 vs. 9/21/09-5/7/10). 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."