ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Draws its Biggest Audience in 4 Weeks

Some early points on Jimmy Kimmel Live's weekly numbers, ahead of the regular press release:

During the week of September 10, 2012, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live grew week to week in both Total Viewers (+11%) and Adults 18-49 (+2%), drawing its biggest audience in 4 weeks - since the week of 8/13/12. JKL was also up by 6% in viewers over the year-ago week, standing as the only late-night broadcast talk show to grow its overall audience year to year.

· ABC's JKL (M-F 12am) outdrew NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (M-F 12:35am) by 5% in Total Viewers, drawing a larger audience than the NBC program on 3 of 5 days of the week: Tuesday (+2%), Wednesday (+25%) and Friday (+19%). In fact, on Friday, a repeat telecast of JKL outdelivered an original Fallon in both Total Viewers (+19%) and Adults 18-49 (+2%).

· ABC's JKL outperformed CBS' The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (M-F 12:35am) in both Total Viewers (+41%) and Adults 18-49 (+32%) for the 27th week in a row. In fact, JKL has drawn a larger overall audience than Ferguson in 51 of the 52 weeks this season. In addition, the ABC late-night program beat Ferguson on all 5 days of the week in both viewers and young adults for the 4th time in the last 5 weeks.

· Season to date (52 weeks), JKL is building its overall audience over the comparable weeks last year by 3% in Total Viewers, growing the most year to year of any late-night broadcast talk show.

Fringe Ratings Report: ABC Late-Night Programming Week of September 10, 2012

ABC is the Only Broadcaster to Grow its Audience Over the Year-Ago Week, While Both CBS and NBC Post Double-Digit Losses

ABC's "Nightline" is the No. 1 Show in Late-Night in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54

ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Attracts its Largest Audience in 4 Weeks

ABC Late-Night (Monday - Friday)

During the week of September 10, 2012, ABC posted week-to-week gains in both Total Viewers (+12% - 2.056 million vs. 1.843 million) and Adults 18-49 (+1% - 631,000 vs. 624,000) to deliver its best performance in late-night in 3 weeks - since week of 8/20/12. In addition, ABC stood as the only broadcaster to grow its overall audience over the same week last year (+3% - 1.997 million on 9/12/11), as both CBS (-12%) and NBC (-17%) saw double-digit declines. Together, "Nightline" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" form ABC's winning late-night strategy of airing news and entertainment programming.

"Nightline" (Monday - Friday)

For the week of September 10, 2012, ABC's "Nightline" ranked as the No. 1 program in late-night in Total Viewers (3.349 million) and Adults 25-54 (1.212 million), according to Nielsen Media Research.

"Nightline" was up week-to-week by double-digits in Total Viewers (+16%) and Adults 25-54 (+15%) to hit 7-week highs in both Nielsen measures - since w/o 7/23/12.

Season to date, "Nightline" ranks No. 1 in late night among Total Viewers and Adults 25-54, ahead of both NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "The Late Show." This marks the 3rd straight season that the ABC program is taking the top spot in overall viewers, and 2nd season in a row in the key adult news demo.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live" (Monday - Friday)

During the week of September 10, 2012, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" grew week to week in both Total Viewers (+11% - 1.592 million vs. 1.438 million) and Adults 18-49 (+2% - 543,000 vs. 532,000), drawing its biggest overall audience in 4 weeks - since w/o 8/13/12. "JKL" was also up by 6% in viewers over the year-ago week (1.495 million on w/o 9/12/11), standing as the only late-night broadcast talk show to grow its overall audience year to year.

· ABC's "JKL" (M-F 12:00 a.m.) outdrew NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (M-F 12:35 a.m.) by 5% in Total Viewers (1.592 million vs. 1.514 million), drawing a larger audience than the NBC program on 3 of 5 days of the week: Tuesday (+2%), Wednesday (+25%) and Friday (+19%). In fact, on Friday, a repeat telecast of "JKL" outdelivered an original "Fallon" in both Total Viewers (+19%) and Adults 18-49 (+2%).

· ABC's "JKL" outperformed CBS' "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (M-F 12:35 a.m.) in both Total Viewers (+41% - 1.592 million vs. 1.129 million) and Adults 18-49 (+32% - 543,000 vs. 410,000) for the 27th week in a row. In fact, "JKL" has drawn a larger overall audience than "Ferguson" in 51 of the 52 weeks this season. In addition, the ABC late-night program beat "Ferguson" on all 5 days of the week in both viewers and young adults for the 4th time in the last 5 weeks.

Season to date (52 weeks), "Jimmy Kimmel Live" is building its overall audience over the comparable weeks last year by 3% in Total Viewers (1.735 million vs. 1.688 million), qualifying as the only late-night broadcast talk show to grow year over year.

Late-Night Rank (Week of Sept 10): TOTAL VIEWERS A18-49(000)
ABC 2,056,000 631,000
CBS 1,630,000 512,000
NBC 1,919,000 629,000

Please Note: Due to the U.S. Open on Monday (9/10/12), CBS' "The Late Show" and "The Late Late Show" were re-titled and excluded from their averages. Their weekly averages are based on 4 days (Tues-Fri).

Source: The Nielsen Company, Live + Same Day National Program Ratings for week of 9/10/12, 9/3/12 & 9/12/11 or as dated. Season-to-date, Most Current - 2011-2012 Season (9/19/11 - 9/16/12) and 2010-2011 Season (9/20/11 - 9/18/11). 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."