ABC's "Bachelor Pad" Opens to Series-Highs and Tops the Night

With Bachelor Pad opening its second season at series-highs, ABC finished as the most-watched network on Monday night for the 5th week in a row, leading runner up Fox by nearly 1 million viewers. In fact, ABC has been Monday's most-watched net on 21 of the past 22 weeks. In addition, ABC dominated the night across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

· ABC was up over the same night last year (8/9/10), also a night of all-original programming, by 21% in Total Viewers and by 5% in Adults 18-49.

Leading its 3-hour time period from 8-11pm, ABC's 2nd-season premiere of Bachelor Pad emerged as the most-watched TV show overall on Monday night, as well as the #1 program across all key Women demos. The ABC unscripted series ranked #1 in 5 of 6 half-hours of the evening with viewers and in 4 of 6 half-hours among young adults.

· Building on its year-ago series debut by 8%, Bachelor Pad attracted the series' largest audience ever. Bachelor Pad also achieved series-highs with Adults 18-34 (tie), Adults 18-49 (tie), Adults 25-54 and Women 18-34.

Quick Take for Monday, August 8, 2011 (Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC is the Most-Watched Net on Monday, Leading the Night For the 5th Straight Week and in 21 of the Last 22 weeks

ABC is Up on the Year-Ago Night by 21% in Total Viewers and by 5% in Adults 18-49

ABC's "Bachelor Pad" Premieres with Series Highs In Total Viewers and All Key Adult Demos

"Bachelor Pad" is Monday's No. 1 Program in Viewers and All Key Women Demos

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

With "Bachelor Pad" opening its second season at series-highs, ABC finished as the most-watched network on Monday night for the 5th week in a row, leading runner-up Fox by nearly 1 million viewers (6.9 million vs. 6.0 million). In fact, ABC has been Monday's most-watched net on 21 of the past 22 weeks. In addition, ABC dominated the night across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

· ABC was up over the same night last year (8/9/10), also a night of all-original programming, by 21% in Total Viewers (6.9 million vs. 5.7 million) and by 5% in Adults 18-49 (2.2/6 vs. 2.1/6).

"Bachelor Pad" (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

Leading its 3-hour time period from 8:00 -11:00 p.m., ABC's 2nd-season premiere of "Bachelor Pad" emerged as the most-watched TV show overall on Monday night, as well as the No. 1 program across all key Women demos. The ABC unscripted series ranked No. 1 in 5 of 6 half-hours of the evening with viewers, and in 4 of 6 half-hours among young adults.

· Building on its year-ago series debut by 8%, "Bachelor Pad" attracted the series' largest audience ever (6.9 million). "Bachelor Pad" also achieved series-highs with Adults 18-34 (1.9/6-tie), Adults 18-49 (2.2/6-tie), Adults 25-54 (2.6/7) and Women 18-34 (2.9/8).

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 Program Ratings), 8/8/11.