ABC's "Wipeout" Spikes and "Rookie Blue" Hits a Season High Against the Olympics

Early info on ABC's Thursday, ahead of the regular press release.

Building on its lead-in at 9pm against the Olympics, ABC's Wipeout ran a competitive #2 against its non-sports competition in the hour to Big Brother with young adults, while beating the CBS unscripted series with Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11.

· Wipeout's numbers shot up week to week by nearly 1.0 million viewers and by 21% with young adults.

· Although facing the Olympics this year, Wipeout delivered big year-over-year time period improvement for ABC in Total Viewers (+26%) and Adults 18-49 (+55%), up sharply over original programming in the hour on the year-ago evening (Expedition Impossible on 8/11/11).

During the 10pm hour, ABC's Rookie Blue finished as the most-watched series in its slot in for its 2nd consecutive original telecast.

· Hitting a season high for its 2nd straight first-run broadcast despite facing the Olympics, Rookie Blue equaled its highest Adult 18-49 rating since last June - since 6/23/11. In fact, Rookie Blue was up over its year-ago telecast by an impressive 1.0 million viewers and by 50% in Adults 18-49.

Quick Take for Thursday, August 9, 2012 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

Opposite the Olympics, "Wipeout" Sees its Numbers Spike Week to Week and Delivers Huge Year-Over-Year Time-Period Improvement for ABC in the Hour

Up Sharply Over its Year-Ago Telecast with Viewers and Young Adults, ABC's "Rookie Blue" Equals its Best Performance Since Last June in Adults 18-49

"Wipeout" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

Building on its lead-in at 9:00 p.m. against the Olympics, ABC's "Wipeout" ran a competitive No. 2 against its non-sports competition in the hour to "Big Brother" with young adults, while beating the CBS unscripted series with Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11.

· "Wipeout's" numbers shot up week to week by nearly 1.0 million (4.8 million vs. 3.9 million) viewers and by 21% with young adults (1.7/5 vs. 1.4/4).

· Although facing the Olympics this year, "Wipeout" delivered big year-over-year time period improvement for ABC in Total Viewers (+26%) and Adults 18-49 (+55%), up sharply over original programming in the hour on the year-ago evening ("Expedition Impossible" on 8/11/11 = 3.8 million and 1.1/3).

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

During the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's "Rookie Blue" (5.0 million) finished as the most-watched series in its slot in for its 2nd consecutive original telecast.

· Hitting a season high for its 2nd straight first-run broadcast despite facing the Olympics, "Rookie Blue" equaled its top Adult 18-49 rating since last June - since 6/23/11. In fact, "Rookie Blue" was up over its year-ago telecast (on 8/11/11) by an impressive 1.0 million viewers (5.0 million vs. 4.0 million) and by 50% in Adults 18-49 (1.5/4 vs. 1.0/3).

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 44% currently, from 41% 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 Day Ratings), 08/09/12.