ABC's "Kimmel" Hits Season Highs With its Biggest Audience in Almost 1 Year

During the week of November 7, 2011, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live hit season highs with its biggest overall audience in nearly 1 year (since the week of 11/22/10) and, excluding the NBA Finals-led weeks in June, its highest young adult number since May 2010 (since w/o 5/24/10). Growing over the prior week by 9% in Total Viewers and by 12% in Adults 18-49, JKL delivered the largest week-to-week gains of any late talk show (broadcast or cable).

JKL was also up over the same week last year by 12% in viewers and by 8% in young adults, marking its 7th time in the 8 weeks of the new season to grow its overall audience from the year-ago week (11/8/10). In fact, JKL posted the biggest yearly increase among the late-night broadcast talk shows in either Nielsen measure.

· During the week, ABC's JKL stood as the #3 late-night talk show in Total Viewers, behind only NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and CBS' Late Show with David Letterman

· ABC's JKL (M-F 12am) topped NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (M-F 12:35am) by wide margins in both Total Viewers (a season-best +20%) and Adults 18-49 (+18%), outdrawing the NBC late-night program in viewers by impressive double-digit percentages in all 4 of JKL's original telecasts of the week: Monday (+30%), Tuesday (+21%), Wednesday (+30%) and Thursday (+16%).

· ABC's JKL outperformed CBS' The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (M-F 12:35am) by its largest margin of the season in Total Viewers (+32%) to lead the CBS late-night program in all 8 weeks of the season to date. JKL also topped Ferguson by double-digit percentages for the 5th time this season in Adults 18-49 (+19%) and for the 7th time overall this season. JKL led the CBS program in all 4 of its original telecasts of the week in young adults: Monday (+12%), Tuesday (+12%), Wednesday (+10%) and Thursday (+18%).

· Excluding the NBA Finals-led broadcasts in June, JKL's Wednesday telecast (11/9/11), which featured guests Robert Pattinson, Freida Pinto and Thompson Square, marked the ABC late-night program's most-watched telecast and delivered its best Adult 18-49 number on any night in late-night in almost 6 months - since 5/24/11.

· For the season to date (8 weeks), Jimmy Kimmel Live is building its overall audience over the comparable weeks last year by 5% in Total Viewers, growing the most year to year of the late-night broadcast talk shows. JKL is also up through the same point last season (+1%) in Adults 18-49, while NBC's Tonight Show (-13%), Fallon (-7%) and Last Call with Carson Daly (-10%) and CBS' Letterman (-6%) and Ferguson (-6%) are all down.

Ratings Report for ABC News' Nightline For Week of November 7

"Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Latenight for the 2nd Straight Week in All Key Demos

Nightline Increases Week to Week in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, Drawing its Most-Watched Week of the Season

Season to Date for the Second Straight Year, "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Late-Night Across all Key Demos

For the week of November 7, 2011, ABC's "Nightline" ranked No. 1 in latenight for the 2nd straight week in all key target demos: Total Viewers (4.115 million), Adults 25-54 (1.653 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.291 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. The ABC latenight program has stood in the top position in Adults 25-54 in 8 of 8 weeks of the season and in 7 of 8 weeks in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

For the 2nd week in a row, "Nightline" posted across the board increases week to week: Total Viewers (+5%), Adults 25-54 (+4%) and Adults 18-49 (+3%), drawing its most-watched week of the season.

The ABC latenight program was up over the year-ago week by +2% in Total Viewers (4.043 million on w/o 11/8/10), standing as the only program to grow year to year versus NBC's "The Tonight Show" (-3%) and CBS' "The Late Show" (-12%).

Delivering season-best numbers in Total Viewers (4.717 million) and Adults 25-54 (1.859 million), Wednesday's broadcast (11/9/11) stood as "Nightline's" strongest telecast since August - since 8/26/11.

"Nightline" led NBC's "The Tonight Show" (501,000) and CBS' "The Late Show" (871,000) by its largest Total Viewer margins of the season during a week of originals.

Season to date for the 2nd straight year, "Nightline" ranks No. 1 in late-night among Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, ahead of both NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "The Late Show" ("Letterman" began on CBS in the 1993-94 season). Season to date, "Nightline" is up by +2% in Total Viewers compared to the same point last year, standing as the only program to grow year to year in Total Viewers versus "The Tonight Show" (-2%) and "The Late Show" (-9%).

Note: On Tuesday (11/8/11), "Nightline" was coded a special and excluded from the average due to the Election Day holiday. "Nightline's" weekly average is based on 4 days (Mon, Wed-Fri), while the weekly averages for "The Tonight Show" and "The Late Show" are based on 5 days (Mon-Fri).

ABC News' "Nightline" is anchored by Cynthia McFadden, Terry Moran and Bill Weir. John Donvan and Juju Chang 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 November 7, 2011)

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

ABC "Nightline" 4,115,000 1,653,000/ 1.4 1,291,000/ 1.0

CBS "Late Show" 3,244,000 1,427,000/ 1.2 1,128,000/ 0.9

NBC "Tonight Show" 3,614,000 1,415,000/ 1.2 1,091,000/ 0.9

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 11/7/11, 10/31/11 & 11/8/10. Most Current: 2011-2012 Season (9/19 - 11/13/11) and 2010-2011 Season (9/20 - 11/14/10).

Fringe Ratings Report: ABC Late-Night Programming Week of November 7, 2011

With a Season-High Performance, ABC is the Week's No. 1 Network in Late-Night in Both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49

ABC's "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Late-Night for the 2nd Straight Week in Key Demos

"Nightline" Increases Week to Week in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, Drawing its Most-Watched Week of the Season

ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Hits Season Highs in Total Viewers for the 2nd Straight Week with its Biggest Audience in Nearly 1 Year

Standing as Late-Night's No. 3 Talk Show in Viewers, "JKL" Leads NBC's "Fallon" and CBS "Ferguson" by Double-Digit Margins in Viewers and Young Adults

ABC Late-Night (Monday - Friday)

With its lineup of "Nightline" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" during the week of November 7, 2011, ABC delivered its best performance of the season in late-night with its biggest overall audience (2.572 million) since May (since w/o 5/23/11) and its best Adult 18-49 number (926,000) since June (w/o 6/6/11). Growing its numbers for the 2nd week in a row, ABC was up week to week by 6% in Total Viewers and by 8% in Adults 18-49 (2.416 million and 857,000 on w/o 10/31/11) to post the largest week-to-week increases among the 3 broadcast networks (CBS was down -9%/-6%, respectively; NBC was up +2%/+1%, respectively).

ABC also saw increases over the same week last year (2.424 million and 911,000 on 11/8/10) by 6% in Total Viewers and by 2% in young adults, standing as the only broadcaster to post year-to-year increases in both Nielsen measures (CBS was down -13%/-3%, respectively; NBC was up +2%/down -8%, respectively).

· With the most number of wins in late-night so far this season, ABC stood as the No. 1 network for the 4th time in Total Viewers (2.572 million), beating CBS by a season-best 10% (2.338 million) and NBC by 12% (2.300 million).

· ABC also finished No. 1 in late-night for the 4th time this season in Adults 18-49 (926,000), leading CBS by 5% (886,000) and NBC by 19% (779,000).

"Nightline" (Monday - Friday)

For the week of November 7, 2011, ABC's "Nightline" ranked No. 1 in late-night for the 2nd straight week in all key target demos: Total Viewers (4.115 million), Adults 25-54 (1.653 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.291 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. The ABC late-night program has stood in the top position in Adults 25-54 in 8 of 8 weeks of the season and in 7 of 8 weeks in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

For the 2nd week in a row, "Nightline" posted across the board increases week to week: Total Viewers (+5%), Adults 25-54 (+4%) and Adults 18-49 (+3%), drawing its most-watched week of the season.

The ABC late-night program was up over the year-ago week by +2% in Total Viewers (4.043 million on w/o 11/8/10), standing as the only program to grow year to year versus NBC's "The Tonight Show" (-3%) and CBS' "The Late Show" (-12%).

Delivering season-best numbers in Total Viewers (4.717 million) and Adults 25-54 (1.859 million), Wednesday's broadcast (11/9/11) stood as "Nightline's" strongest telecast since August - since 8/26/11.

"Nightline" led NBC's "The Tonight Show" (501,000) and CBS' "The Late Show" (871,000) by its largest Total Viewer margins of the season during a week of originals.

Season to date for the 2nd straight year, "Nightline" ranks No. 1 in late-night among Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, ahead of both NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "The Late Show" ("Letterman" began on CBS in the 1993-94 season). Season to date, "Nightline" is up by 2% in Total Viewers compared to the same point last year, standing as the only program to grow year to year in Total Viewers versus "The Tonight Show" (-2%) and "The Late Show" (-9%).

"Jimmy Kimmel Live" (Monday - Friday)

During the week of November 7, 2011, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" delivered its largest audience of the season (2.048 million) with its most-watched week in nearly 1 year (since w/o 11/22/10). In fact, the last two weeks of "JKL" (w/o 11/7/11 and w/o 10/31/11) have been the ABC late-night program's two most-watched weeks of the new season to date. "JKL" also hit season highs in Adults 18-49 (802,000) and, excluding the NBA Finals-led weeks in June, achieved its highest young adult number in nearly 1 1/2 years (since w/o 5/24/10). Growing over the prior week by 9% in Total Viewers and by 12% in Adults 18-49 (1.872 million and 714,000 on w/o 10/31/11), "JKL" delivered the largest week-to-week gains of any late talk show (broadcast or cable).

"JKL" was also up over the same week last year by 12% in viewers and by 8% in young adults (1.831 million and 745,000 on w/o 11/8/10), marking its 7th time in the 8 weeks of the new season to grow its overall audience from the year-ago week. Further, "JKL" posted the biggest yearly increase among the late-night broadcast talk shows in either Nielsen measure.

· During the week, ABC's "JKL" stood as the No. 3 late-night talk show in Total Viewers (2.048 million), behind only NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (3.614 million) and CBS' "The Late Show with David Letterman" (3.244 million).

· ABC's "JKL" (M-F 12:00 a.m.) topped NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (M-F 12:35 a.m.) by season-best margins during a week of originals in both Total Viewers (+20% - 2.048 million vs. 1.701 million) and Adults 18-49 (+18% - 802,000 vs. 679,000). The ABC late-night program outdrew the NBC program in viewers by impressive double-digit percentages in all 4 of "JKL's" original telecasts of the week: Monday (+30%), Tuesday (+21%), Wednesday (+30%) and Thursday (+16%).

· ABC's "JKL" outperformed CBS' "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (M-F 12:35 a.m.) by its largest margin of the season in Total Viewers (+32% - 2.048 million vs. 1.549 million) to lead the CBS late-night program in all 8 weeks of the season to date. "JKL" also topped "Ferguson" for the 7th time in 8 weeks in Adults 18-49 (+19% - 802,000 vs. 675,000). "JKL" led the CBS program in 4 of 5 days of the week (including "JKL's" repeat telecast on Friday) in young adults: Tuesday (+7%), Wednesday (+19%), Thursday (+88%) and Friday (+8%).

· Excluding the NBA Finals-led broadcasts in June, "JKL's" Wednesday telecast (11/9/11), which featured guests Robert Pattinson, Freida Pinto and Thompson Square, marked the ABC late-night program's most-watched telecast (2.287 million) on any night in late-night in nearly 6 months - since 5/24/11.

· "JKL's" Wednesday and Thursday telecasts (11/10/11), which featured guests Jacob & CJ Booth, Kristen Stewart, Jon Bernthal and Feist, marked the ABC late-night program's two strongest non-NBA telecasts among Adults 18-49 (902,000 and 882,000, respectively) on any night in late-night since May (since 5/24/11).

· Season to date (8 weeks), "Jimmy Kimmel Live" is building its overall audience over the comparable weeks last year by 5% in Total Viewers (1.811 million vs. 1.733 million), growing the most year to year of the late-night broadcast talk shows. "JKL" is also up through the same point last season in Adults 18-49 (+1% - 713,000 vs. 708,000), while NBC's "Leno" (-13%), "Fallon" (-7%) and "Last Call with Carson Daly" (-10%) and CBS' "Letterman" (-6%) and "Ferguson" (-6%) are all down.

Late-Night Rank (Week of Nov 7): TOTAL VIEWERS A18-49(000)

ABC 2,572,000 926,000

CBS 2,338,000 886,000

NBC 2,300,000 779,000

Note: On Tuesday (11/8/11), "Nightline" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" were coded a special and excluded from the average due to the Election Day holiday. Both ABC programs' weekly averages are based on 4 days (Mon, Wed-Fri), while the weekly averages for all CBS and NBC programs are based on 5 days (Mon-Fri).

Source: The Nielsen Company, Live + Same Day National Program Ratings for week of 11/7/11, 10/31/11 & 11/8/10 or as dated. Most Current: 2011-2012 Season (9/19 - 11/13/11) and 2010-2011 Season (9/20 - 11/14/10). 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."