Quick Take for Thursday, August 4, 2011 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Finishes a Strong Second on Thursday Night in Viewers and Young Adults

ABC's "Wipeout" Runs as the Most-Watched TV Show in Thursday's 8 O'clock Hour For the 7th Straight Week and Leads in Adults 18-49 for the 6th Time in 7 Weeks

ABC's Freshman "Expedition Impossible" Ranks No. 2 to CBS' Veteran "Big Brother"

Continuing to Improve its Time Period Year to Year for ABC, "Rookie Blue" is the No. 1 Broadcast in the 10pm Hour with Adults 18-49 for the 6th Time in 7 Telecasts

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

ABC delivered a strong second-place finish on Thursday in Total Viewers (5.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.5/5) to a "Big Brother"-driven CBS, leading third-place Fox (4.0 million and 1.2/4) by 1.5 million viewers and by 25% with young adults.

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

ABC's "Wipeout" qualified as the most-watched TV show (6.6 million) in Thursday's 8 o'clock hour for the 7th consecutive week and led its slot in Adults 18-49 (1.9/7) for the 6th time in 7 weeks, defeating its unscripted time period competition on Fox ("So You Think You Can Dance" = 5.2 million and 1.6/6) by 1.4 million viewers and by 19% in young adults.

· The wide-appealing ABC unscripted series stood as Thursday's highest-rated broadcast show in Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11 for the 6th week running.

"Expedition Impossible" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

From 9:00-10:00 p.m., ABC's freshman "Expedition Impossible" earned second in the hour to CBS' veteran "Big Brother 13" in both Total Viewers (4.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.4/4).

· Building by 13% week to week (1.8/5 vs. 1.6/5), "Expedition Impossible" hit its highest Men 25-54 number in 5 weeks - since 6/30/11.

"Rookie Blue" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC's "Rookie Blue" registered as the No. 1 broadcast show in 10 o'clock hour among Adults 18-49 (1.3/4) for the 6th time in 7 telecasts this summer.

· "Rookie Blue" continued to improve its time period for ABC year to year, up over original programming on the year-ago evening ("Boston Med" on 8/5/10) in viewers (+9% - 5.1 million vs. 4.7 million) and young adults (+8% - 1.3/4 vs. 1.2/4).

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 41% currently, from 37% 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), 8/4/11.