"Nashville" Opens at #1 and is ABC's Top Drama Debut Since "Once Upon a Time"

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

Opposite CBS' veteran CSI and NBC's debut of Chicago Fire in the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's debut of Nashville opened at #1 in Adults 18-49. Head to head against its drama debut competition in the hour, ABC's Nashville towered over NBC's Chicago Fire in viewers (+41%) and young adults (+47%). In addition, the new ABC drama dominated its time period with Adults 18-34 and across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

· Nashville drew ABC's largest series audience in the time period in 1 year and its top Adult 18-49 number since the beginning of last November - since 9/21/11 and 11/2/11.

· Nashville qualifies as ABC's biggest drama debut in 1 year among Adults 18-49 - since Once Upon a Time on 10/23/11.

· Nashville was up year-to-year for ABC in the time period, topping Revenge on the year-ago night (on 10/12/11) in viewers (+14%) and young adults (+4%). Please note, Revenge had a stronger lead-in for its debut telecast last year.

· In its namesake market, Nashville delivered a massive 21.9/33 Household rating.

Quick Take for Wednesday, October 10, 2012 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Delivers Wednesday's Top 2 TV Shows, Posting its Highest Rating On Any Night This Season and its Biggest Wednesday Results in 9 Months

ABC's "The Middle" is Up Week to Week in Viewers and Young Adults

Holding All of its Week-Ago Premiere Numbers, ABC's "The Neighbors" Widens its Winning Advantage Over its NBC Freshman Comedy Competition in the Half-Hour

ABC's Back-to-Back Episodes of "Modern Family" Dominate the 9 O'clock Hour

ABC's "Nashville" Debuts at No. 1 in the 10pm Hour, Towering Over NBC's Debut of "Chicago Fire" to Stand as the Net's Top Drama Opener Since "Once Upon a Time"

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

ABC claimed the Top 2 TV shows on Wednesday night in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, with back-to-back episodes of "Modern Family." The Net finished a strong second on the evening in viewers (9.4 million) and young adults (3.2/9), running in a near tie for the lead with Adults 18-49.

· ABC posted its highest Adult 18-49 rating on any night this season, while delivering its strongest Wednesday results in 9 months with viewers and young adults - since 1/4/12.

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

At 8:00 p.m. opposite Fox's "The X Factor" and CBS' "Survivor: Philippines," ABC's "The Middle" doubled its NBC comedy competition ("Animal Practice") with viewers (+100% - 7.8 million vs. 3.9 million) and Adults 18-49 (+118% - 2.4/7 vs. 1.1/3). In addition the ABC comedy nearly tied "Survivor among Adults 18-49 in the half-hour, while beating out the CBS show by even wider margins week to week in both Adults 18-34 (+36%) and Women 18-34 (+55%).

· "The Middle" grew week to week in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

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

At 8:30 p.m., ABC's "The Neighbors" continued to dominate its freshman comedy competition, increasing its winning advantages week to week over NBC's "Guys with Kids" to 2.1 million viewers (6.3 million vs. 4.2 million) and to 36% in Adults 18-49 (1.9/5 vs. 1.4/4).

· In viewers and young adults, "The Neighbors" retained 100% of its week-earlier time period premiere.

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

Shooting to the top of its 9:00 p.m. slot in viewers and young adults, ABC's "Modern Family" beat out the third half-hour of runner-up Fox's "The X Factor" by 31% in Adults 18-49 (4.7/13 vs. 3.6/10).

"Modern Family" (9:30-10:00 p.m.)

The No. 1 TV show of the night, ABC's second airing of "Modern Family" led its nearest competition in the half-hour by 8% in viewers (12.2 million vs. 11.3 million - CBS' "Criminal Minds") and by 40% in Adults 18-49 (4.9/12 vs. 3.5/9 - Fox's final half-hour of "The X Factor").

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

Opposite CBS' veteran "CSI" and NBC's debut of "Chicago Fire" in the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's debut of "Nashville" opened at No. 1 in Adults 18-49. Head to head against its drama debut competition in the hour, ABC's "Nashville" towered over NBC's "Chicago Fire" in viewers (+41% - 9.0 million vs. 6.4 million) and young adults (+47% - 2.8/8 vs. 1.9/5). In addition, the new ABC drama dominated its time period with Adults 18-34 and across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

· "Nashville" drew ABC's largest series audience in the time period in 1 year and its top Adult 18-49 number since the beginning of last November - since 9/21/11 and 11/2/11.

· "Nashville" qualifies as ABC's biggest drama debut in 1 year among Adults 18-49 - since "Once Upon a Time" on 10/23/11.

· "Nashville" was up year to year for ABC in the time period, topping "Revenge" on the year-ago night (on 10/12/11) in viewers (+14%) and young adults (+4%). Please note, "Nashville" exhibited stronger Adult 18-49 lead-in retention than the debut telecast of "Revenge" with Adults 18-49 (on 9/21/11).

· In its namesake market, "Nashville" delivered a massive 21.9/33 rating in Households.

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 46% currently, from 42% 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), 10/10/12.