Tuesday's Top Comedy, ABC's "Last Man Standing" Draws its Biggest Audience in 6 Weeks

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

With a mix of original and repeat programming, ABC came in as the 2nd most-watched TV network on Tuesday night to CBS, outdrawing Fox's all-original line up by 4% and NBC's first-run schedule by 14%. In addition, the Net grew its overall audience year to year by 9%.

Surging by 10% week to week to draw its biggest audience in 6 weeks (since 10/18/11), ABC rookie Last Man Standing registered as the 2nd-most-watched TV program overall at 8pm, besting Fox's Glee by 2.6 million viewers and NBC's The Biggest Loser 12 by 3.3 million viewers. The broad-skewing Tim Allen comedy beat out The Biggest Loser among Adults 18-49, and once again delivered the #2 position in its time slot with Adults 25-54 and key Men (M18-49/M25-54).

· ABC self-starter Last Man Standing once again qualified as Tuesday's most-watched comedy, pulling in 2.6 million more viewers than Fox's runner-up Glee-boosted New Girl at 9pm.

· The freshman comedy continued to improve its time period year to year. In fact on average since its debut, Last Man Standing has boosted the half-hour for ABC by 2.8 million viewers and by 45% in Adults 18-49.

At 8:30pm opposite stiff competition, ABC's Man Up! equaled its top Adult 18-34 number in 6 weeks and marked best-since-debut results with key Men (M18-34/M25-54).

More than doubling the audience of its repeat The Middle lead-in and jumping by 38% in Adults 18-49, ABC's Body of Proof returned (after being preempted for the DWTS finale the prior week) as the most-watched drama in the 10 o'clock hour, surpassing NBC's Parenthood by 3.7 million viewers.

· Body of Proof scored strong time-period increases for the Net over the same night last year (w/Detroit 1-8-7) with Total Viewers (+29%) and Adults 18-49 (+13%). On average season to date, the ABC sophomore drama is improving Tuesday's 10pm hour year over year by 2.4 million viewers and by 14% in Adults 18-49.

Quick Take for Tuesday, November 29, 2011 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

Building Year to Year, ABC Finishes as Tuesday's 2nd-Most-Watched TV Net

Tuesday's Most-Watched Comedy, ABC's "Last Man Standing" Hits a 6-Week High

ABC's "Man Up!" Achieves Best-Since-Debut Numbers with Key Men Demos

More than Doubling its Lead-in at 10pm, ABC's "Body of Proof" Returns as the Most-Watched Drama in its Hour and Continues to Earn Strong Time-Period Gains

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

With a mix of original and repeat programming, ABC (7.5 million) came in as the 2nd most-watched TV network on Tuesday night to CBS, outdrawing Fox's all-original lineup (+4% - 7.2 million) and NBC's first-run schedule (+14% - 6.6 million). In addition, the Net grew its overall audience year to year by 9% (6.9 million on 11/30/10).

"Last Man Standing" (8:00-8:30 p.m.)

Surging by 10% week to week (10.2 million vs. 9.3 million) to draw its biggest audience in 6 weeks (since 10/18/11), ABC rookie "Last Man Standing" registered as the 2nd-most-watched TV program overall at 8:00 p.m., besting Fox's "Glee" by 2.6 million viewers (7.6 million) and NBC's "The Biggest Loser 12" by 3.3 million viewers (6.9 million). The broad-skewing Tim Allen comedy beat out "The Biggest Loser" among Adults 18-49, and once again delivered the No. 2 position in its time slot with Adults 25-54 and key Men (M18-49/M25-54).

· ABC self-starter "Last Man Standing" once again qualified as Tuesday's most-watched comedy, pulling in 2.6 million more viewers than Fox's runner-up "Glee"-boosted "New Girl" at 9:00 p.m. (10.2 million vs. 7.6 million).

· The freshman comedy continued to improve its time period year to year. In fact on average since its debut, "Last Man Standing" has boosted the half-hour for ABC by 2.8 million viewers (10.0 million vs. 7.2 million) and by 45% in Adults 18-49 (2.9/8 vs. 2.0/6).

"Man Up!" (8:30-9:00 p.m.)

At 8:30 p.m. opposite stiff competition, ABC's "Man Up!" equaled its top Adult 18-34 number (1.3/4) in 6 weeks and marked best-since-debut results with key Men (M18-34/M25-54).

"Body of Proof" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

More than doubling the audience (9.4 million vs. 4.5 million) of its repeat "The Middle" lead-in and jumping by 38% in Adults 18-49 (1.8/5 vs. 1.3/3), ABC's "Body of Proof" returned (after being preempted for the "DWTS" finale the prior week) as the most-watched drama in the 10 o'clock hour, surpassing NBC's "Parenthood" (5.7 million) by 3.7 million viewers.

· "Body of Proof" scored strong time-period increases for the Net over the same night last year ("Detroit 1-8-7" = 7.3 million and 1.6/4) with Total Viewers (+29%) and Adults 18-49 (+13%). On average season to date, the ABC sophomore drama is improving Tuesday's 10:00 p.m. hour year over year by 2.4 million viewers (11.8 million vs. 9.4 million) and by 14% in Adults 18-49 (2.5/7 vs. 2.2/6).

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 43% currently, from 38% 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), 11/29/11.