ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Builds for the 5th Straight Week to its Best Performance in 4 Months

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

During the first week of October 2012, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live grew for the 5th week in a row in both Total Viewers (+3%) and Adults 18-49 (+6%) to score its best numbers in 4 months - since the weeks of 6/11/12 and 6/18/12, respectively. JKL also grew over the same week last year in both viewers (+10%) and young adults (+1%), standing as the only broadcast talk show in late-night to grow year over year in either Nielsen measure.

· ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live ranked as the #3 talk show in late-night in Total Viewers for the 2nd week running, behind only NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and CBS' The Late Show with David Letterman.

· ABC's JKL (M-F 12am) dominated NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (M-F 12:35am) by 22% in Total Viewers and by 21% in Adults, towering over the NBC late-night program by double-digit margins on all 4 of JKL's original telecasts of the week.

· For the 2nd week in a row, ABC's JKL held huge double-digit advantages over CBS' The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (M-F 12:35am) in both Total Viewers (+30%) and Adults 18-49 (+12%), drawing a large overall audience than the CBS late-night program in all 10 days of the new season to date.

· On Tuesday (10/2/12), featuring guest appearances by Modern Family's Ty Burrell, Dancing with the Stars cast-offs Joey Fatone and Kym Johnson, Michael Charles Roman and PSY, JKL delivered its most-watched telecast on any night since June - since 6/14/12.

Fringe Ratings Report: ABC Late-Night Programming Week of October 1, 2012

Hitting 4-Month Highs, ABC is Late-Night's No. 1 Network for the 2nd Week in a Row

Increasing Week to Week for the 4th Consecutive Week, ABC's "Nightline Draws its Largest Overall Audience Since June and Strongest Performances in Adults Since July

"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Builds for the 5th Week in a Row to its Best Ratings in 4 Months

ABC Late-Night (Monday - Friday)

During the week of October 1, 2012, ABC delivered its 4th straight week of gains in Total Viewers (+3% - 2.356 million vs. 2.290 million) and Adults 18-49 (+4% - 763,000 vs. 735,000) to hit 4-month highs in late-night - since the weeks of 6/11/12 and 6/18/12, respectively. Together, "Nightline" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" form ABC's winning late-night strategy of airing news and entertainment programming.

For the 2nd week in a row, ABC was the only broadcaster in late-night to build its overall audience over the same week last year (+3%), as CBS was down -9% and NBC declined -11%.

· In both weeks of the 2012-13 season, ABC (2.356 million) stood as the most-watched network in late-night, moving further ahead of CBS (+10% - 2.134 million) and NBC (+19% - 1.973 million) than the prior week.

· ABC ranked as the No. 1 network in late-night in Adults 18-49 (763,000) for the 2nd time in 2 weeks of the new season to date, topping CBS by 3% (741,000) and NBC by 23% (622,000).

"Nightline" (Monday - Friday)

For the week, ABC's "Nightline" finished as the No. 1 program in late-night for the 2nd week in a row of the new season in Total Viewers (3.759 million), Adults 25-54 (1.375 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.038 million), according to Nielsen Media Research.

"Nightline" rose week to week for the 4th consecutive week in Total Viewers (+4%), Adults 25-54 (+1%) and Adults 18-49 (+2%), drawing its largest overall audience since June and strongest performances in key adults since July - since w/o 6/11/12 and w/o 7/16/12, respectively.

For the 2nd straight week, "Nightline" owned the week's No. 1 telecast in late-night (10/3/12) in Total Viewers (4.123 million), Adults 25-54 (1.492 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.145 million).

Two weeks into the 2012-13 season, "Nightline" ranks No. 1 in late-night among Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, ahead of both NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "The Late Show." This marks the 2nd straight year that the ABC program is taking the top spot in all 3 measures.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live" (Monday - Friday)

During the first week of October 2012, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" grew for the 5th week in a row in both Total Viewers (+3% - 1.848 million vs. 1.789 million) and Adults 18-49 (+6% - 664,000 vs. 625,000) to score its best numbers in 4 months - since w/o 6/11/12 and 6/18/12, respectively. "JKL" also grew over the same week last year in both viewers (+10%) and young adults (+1%), standing as the only broadcast talk show in late-night to grow year over year in either Nielsen measure (1.676 million and 659,000 on w/o 10/3/11)

· ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" ranked as the No. 3 talk show in late-night in Total Viewers (1.848 million) for the 2nd week running, behind only NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (3.167 million) and CBS' "The Late Show with David Letterman" (2.873 million).

· ABC's "JKL" (M-F 12:00 a.m.) dominated NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (M-F 12:35 a.m.) by 22% in Total Viewers (1.848 million vs. 1.515 million) and by 21% in Adults 18-49 (664,000 vs. 548,000), towering over the NBC late-night program by double-digit margins on all 4 of "JKL's" original telecasts of the week.

· For the 2nd week in a row, ABC's "JKL" held double-digit advantages over CBS' "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (M-F 12:35 a.m.) in both Total Viewers (+30% - 1.848 million vs. 1.426 million) and Adults 18-49 (+12% - 664,000 vs. 591,000), drawing a larger overall audience than the CBS late-night program in all 10 days of the new season to date.

· On Tuesday (10/2/12), featuring guest appearances by "Modern Family's" Ty Burrell, "Dancing with the Stars" cast-offs Joey Fatone and Kym Johnson, Michael Charles Roman and PSY, "JKL" delivered its most-watched telecast on any night since June (2.140 million) - since 6/15/12.

Late-Night Rank (Week of Oct 1): TOTAL VIEWERS A18-49(000)

ABC 2,356,000 763,000

CBS 2,134,000 741,000

NBC 1,973,000 622,000

Source: The Nielsen Company, Live + Same Day National Program Ratings for week of 10/1/12, 9/24/12 & 10/3/11 or as dated. 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."