or


[01/19/12 - 09:13 AM]
ABC Grows and "Modern Family" Scores its Best-Ever Results Against "Idol"
ABC spins the numbers for Wednesday, January 18.

[via press release from ABC]

ABC Grows and "Modern Family" Scores its Best-Ever Results Against "Idol"

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

Up against the 2-hour season premiere of Fox's American Idol, ABC posted a strong second-place finish on Wednesday night in Adults 18-49, beating out third-place CBS by 20% and fourth-place NBC by 100%.

· The Net grew by double digits over the year-ago Wednesday against the Idol premiere (1/19/11) in both Total Viewers (+13%) and Adults 18-49 (+11%), registering its 3rd consecutive year of gains opposite the Idol opener on the evening.

At 8pm, ABC's The Middle defeated its non-Idol competition by wide margins in Adults 18-49 and dominated its comedy competition. The Middle outperformed NBC's Whitney in the half-hour by 3.9 million viewers and by 63% with young adults.

· The Middle equaled its highest-ever Adult 18-49 numbers against an American Idol telecast.

Like its lead-in, ABC's Suburgatory finished as the dominant #1 scripted show at 8:30pm among Adults 18-49 and toppled its freshman comedy competition on NBC. On their 2nd head-to-head matchup in the slot, Suburgatory widened its winning advantage over NBC's Are You There, Chelsea? to 63% in Total Viewers and 39% in Adults 18-49.

· Suburgatory lifted its time period for ABC over the year-ago Wednesday against the Idol premiere by 9% in Total Viewers and by 19% in Adults 18-49.

Standing as the definitive #1 scripted TV program on Wednesday among Adults 18-49, ABC's Modern Family doubled its lead-in against the third half-hour of Idol at 9pm, towering over its closest scripted competition in its time slot (+61% over CBS' original Criminal Minds). In fact the ABC comedy topped its combined CBS and NBC scripted competitors by 19% in the half-hour.

· ABC's Modern Family scored its best-ever results against an Idol telecast, building on its year-ago numbers in both Total Viewers (+8%) and Adults 18-49 (+9%). In fact, Modern Family's 5.0 Adult 18-49 rating is the biggest number in 6 years for any TV telecast against the Wednesday premiere of American Idol - since 1/18/06.

During the 9:30pm half hour against the tail-end of Idol, ABC's Happy Endings earned second against its scripted competition in Adults 18-49, beating NBC's Harry's Law by 190%. Happy Endings registered as the #1 scripted program in the hour with Adults 18-34, Men 18-34 and Women 18-34.

· Happy Endings delivered strong year-to-year gains for ABC, boosting the slot by 9% in Total Viewers and by 21% in Adults 18-49 from the same night last year.

· Despite facing Idol, Happy Endings retained 100% of its week-ago numbers with Adults 18-34 and across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54), while increasing 10% with hard-to-reach Men 18-34. In fact, the comedy posted its best number since mid-November with Men 18-34 - since 11/16/11.

From 10-11pm, ABC freshman drama Revenge ran a strong second in its hour among Adults 18-49, while finishing #1 with Adults 18-34, Women 18-34 and Women 18-49.

· Up over the prior week in Adults 18-49 (+4%), ABC's Revenge matched a 9-week high - since 11/16/11. Posting its 2nd straight week of growth with Adults 18-34, the show marked its best performance in nearly 3 months - since 11/2/11.

· Revenge delivered substantial year-over-year improvement for ABC in Wednesday's 10 o'clock hour with Total Viewers (+31%) and Adults 18-49 (+19%), topping first-run programming on the year-ago evening (Off the Map).

Quick Take for Wednesday, January 18, 2012 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC is Up on Wednesday for the 3rd Straight Year Against the "Idol" Opener

Wednesday's No. 1 Scripted Show, ABC's "Modern Family" Scores the Top Young Adult Rating in 6 Years for Any TV Telecast Against an "American Idol" Premiere

ABC's "The Middle" Equals its Highest-Ever Adult 18-49 Number Opposite "Idol"

Boosting its Half-Hour for ABC Year to Year, "Suburgatory" Widens its Winning Advantage Over NBC's "Are You There, Chelsea?" with Viewers and Young Adults

ABC's "Modern Family" Earns its Best-Ever Numbers Opposite an "Idol" Broadcast

Improving its Time Slot Year to Year by Wide Margins in Viewers and Young Adults, ABC's "Happy Endings" Grows Against "Idol" Among Men 18-34 to a 9-Week High

"Revenge" Gains Young Adults, with its Top Adult 18-34 Number in Nearly 3 Months

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

Up against the 2-hour season premiere of Fox's "American Idol," ABC (3.0/8) posted a strong second-place finish on Wednesday night in Adults 18-49, beating out third-place CBS by 20% (2.5/6) and fourth-place NBC by 100% (1.5/4).

· The Net grew by double digits over the year-ago Wednesday against the "Idol" premiere (1/19/11) in both Total Viewers (+13% - 8.1 million vs. 7.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (+11% - 3.0/8 vs. 2.7/7), registering its 3rd consecutive year of gains opposite the "Idol" opener on the evening.

"The Middle" (8:00-8:30 p.m.)

At 8:00 p.m., ABC's "The Middle" defeated its non-"Idol" competition by wide margins in Adults 18-49 and dominated its comedy competition. "The Middle" outperformed NBC's "Whitney" in the half-hour by 3.9 million viewers (8.2 million vs. 4.3 million) and by 63% with young adults (2.6/7 vs. 1.6/5).

· "The Middle" equaled its highest-ever Adult 18-49 number against an "American Idol" telecast.

"Suburgatory" (8:30-9:00 p.m.)

Like its lead-in, ABC's "Suburgatory" finished as the dominant No. 1 scripted show at 8:30 p.m. among Adults 18-49 and toppled its freshman comedy competition on NBC. On their 2nd head-to-head matchup in the slot, ABC's "Suburgatory" widened its winning advantage over NBC's "Are You There, Chelsea?" to 63% in Total Viewers (7.0 million vs. 4.3 million) and 39% in Adults 18-49 (2.5/6 vs. 1.8/4).

· "Suburgatory" lifted its time period for ABC over the year-ago Wednesday against the "Idol" premiere by 9% in Total Viewers and by 19% in Adults 18-49 (6.4 million and 2.1/6 for "Better with You.")

"Modern Family" (9:00-9:30 p.m.)

Standing as the definitive No. 1 scripted TV program on Wednesday among Adults 18-49, ABC's "Modern Family" (5.0/12) doubled its lead-in against the third half-hour of "Idol" at 9:00 p.m., towering over its closest scripted competition in its time slot (+61% over CBS' original "Criminal Minds" = 3.1/7). In fact the ABC comedy topped its combined CBS and NBC scripted competitors by 19% in the half-hour (5.0/12 vs. 4.2/10).

· ABC's "Modern Family" scored its best-ever results against an "Idol" telecast, building on its year-ago numbers in both Total Viewers (+8% - 11.8 million vs. 10.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (+9% - 5.0/12 vs. 4.6/12). In fact, "Modern Family's" 5.0 Adult 18-49 rating is the biggest number in 6 years for any TV telecast against the Wednesday premiere of "American Idol" - since 1/18/06.

"Happy Endings" (9:30-10:00 p.m.)

During the 9:30 p.m. half-hour against the tail-end of "Idol," ABC's "Happy Endings" (2.9/7) earned second against its scripted competition in Adults 18-49, beating NBC's "Harry's Law" by 190% (1.0/2). In addition, "Happy Endings" registered as the No. 1 scripted show in the half-hour with Adults 18-34, Men 18-34 and Women 18-34.

· "Happy Endings" delivered strong year-to-year gains for ABC, boosting the slot by 9% in Total Viewers (6.2 million vs. 5.7 million) and by 21% in Adults 18-49 (2.9/7 vs. 2.4/6) from the same night last year.

· Despite facing "Idol," "Happy Endings" retained 100% of its week-ago numbers with Adults 18-34 and across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54), while increasing 10% with hard-to-reach Men 18-34. In fact, the comedy posted its best number since mid-November with Men 18-34 - since 11/16/11.

"Revenge" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

From 10:00-11:00 p.m., ABC freshman drama "Revenge" ran a strong second in its hour among Adults 18-49 (2.5/6), while finishing No. 1 with Adults 18-34, Women 18-34 and Women 18-49.

· Up over the prior week in Adults 18-49 (+4%), ABC's "Revenge" matched a 9-week high - since 11/16/11. Posting its 2nd straight week of growth with Adults 18-34, the show marked its best performance in nearly 3 months - since 11/2/11.

· "Revenge" delivered substantial year-over-year improvement for ABC in Wednesday's 10 o'clock hour with Total Viewers (+31% - 7.6 million vs. 5.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (+19% - 2.5/6 vs. 2.1/6), topping first-run programming on the year-ago evening ("Off the Map").

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 2011. 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 Ratings), 1/18/12.





  [january 2012]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S


· AMERICAN IDOL (ABC)
· ARE YOU THERE, CHELSEA? (NBC)
· CRIMINAL MINDS (CBS)
· HAPPY ENDINGS (ABC)
· HARRY'S LAW (NBC)
· MIDDLE, THE (ABC)
· MODERN FAMILY (ABC)
· OFF THE MAP (ABC)
· REVENGE (ABC)
· SUBURGATORY (ABC)
· WHITNEY (NBC)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[08/26/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of August 18: "KPop Demon Hunters" Reigns as Netflix's Most Popular Film, Claims No. 1 in Top 10
"Wednesday" stayed on top of the English TV list for a third week with Wednesday Season 2, Part 1 claiming another 13.4 million views.

[08/26/25 - 08:24 AM]
"Sunday Night Baseball Presented by Capital One": Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees Draws ESPN's Second-Largest Audience of MLB Season: 2,572,000 Viewers
The game peaked with 2,889,000 viewers at 8:15 p.m. ET, according to Nielsen.

[08/20/25 - 11:07 AM]
Alicia Silverstone-Led Crime Drama "Irish Blood" Is the Biggest New Series Premiere in Acorn TV History
The August 11 premiere also drove the biggest day of subscriber sign-ups on Acorn TV's direct-to-consumer platforms in nearly two years.

[08/19/25 - 04:03 PM]
FX's "Alien: Earth" Premiere Episode Launches with 9.2 Million Views Globally After Six Days of Streaming
Future episodes of the eight-episode season will premiere each following Tuesday on Hulu beginning at 8 p.m. ET and on FX at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

[08/19/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of August 11: "Wednesday" Charms at No. 1 For Another Top 10 Week
"Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser," a three-part documentary exploring the reality show's biggest scandals, debuted at No. 2 in English TV with 7.5 million views.

[08/19/25 - 10:13 AM]
NBC Sports Delivers Most-Watched Premier League Opening Weekend in U.S., Headlined by Record-Setting Manchester United-Arsenal Match on NBC & Peacock
The Manchester United-Arsenal match on NBC, Peacock, and NBC Sports Digital platforms on Sunday, featuring 2024-25 PL runner-up Arsenal earning a 1-0 victory, averaged 2.0 million viewers.

[08/19/25 - 09:03 AM]
FOX Sports Delivers Network's Most-Watched NFL Preseason Game Since 2021
This past Sunday, 5.1 million viewers tuned in to FOX's preseason coverage of the Chicago Bears 38-0 victory over the Buffalo Bills.

[08/14/25 - 01:33 PM]
With 5 Million Cross-Platform U.S. Viewers in Its First Three Days, Sunday's Season Finale Episode of "The Gilded Age" Is the Fifth Consecutive Episode to Clinch a Series High
This season is well on track to become the most watched of the series.

[08/12/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of August 4: "Wednesday" Wins the Week - Season 2 Snaps Its Way to No. 1 in Top 10
Like the view from the top of El Capitan, "Untamed" held its place among the metaphorical clouds of the English TV List, now in the No. 3 spot with 7.2 million views.

[08/12/25 - 07:44 AM]
August 10 Edition of ESPN "Sunday Night Baseball Presented by Capital One" Draws Nearly Two Million Viewers for Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals Game
The audience peaked with 2,115,000 viewers at 9:15 p.m. ET.

[08/08/25 - 09:10 AM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Notches Summertime Win with Best Total Viewer Audience in Over Three Months
In addition, the show earned its best rating among Households in nine weeks and its best numbers among both Women 18-49 and Women 25-54 in five weeks.

[08/05/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of July 28: "Happy Gilmore 2" Continues to Swing Big at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
The Yosemite National Park-set thriller "Untamed" maintained the No. 1 spot on the English TV List for a third week with another 12.2 million views added to its accumulated 59.6 million total.

[08/05/25 - 11:01 AM]
ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" Featuring the Detroit Tigers vs. Philadelphia Phillies Averaged 2 Million Viewers - Up 72% from Last Year's Comparable Game
"Sunday Night Baseball" is averaging 1,680,000 million viewers, up seven percent from last year.

[08/05/25 - 10:27 AM]
ABC Airs One of Its Most-Watched WNBA Games This Season
The Indiana Fever's win over the Seattle Storm averaged 1.6 million viewers, peaking with 2.0 million.

[08/01/25 - 01:56 PM]
Matt Damon and Ken Jennings' Million Dollar Win Scores Big in Ratings for "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire"
The series owns ABC's top two entertainment telecasts in Total Viewers summer to date with its week 2 episode (4.46 million) and season premiere (4.24 million).