ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Delivers its Most-Watched Sweep in its 10 Years

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

During the 2012 November Sweep, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live generated its most-watched November sweep yet and attracted its biggest audience ever for any sweep period. JKL grew its overall audience year to year for the 5th consecutive sweep in a row and over the previous November for the 6th time in the last 7 sweeps periods for the month. In fact, the ABC late-night program was the only late-night broadcast talk show to deliver yearly growth in Total Viewers (+5%). In addition, JKL saw growth over the 2012 July Sweep in both Total Viewers (+27%) and Adults 18-49 (+25%).

· Airing from Brooklyn during the 2nd week of the November Sweep (week of October 29, 2012), JKL scored its 2nd-most-watched week in its nearly 10-year history, behind only last year's Thanksgiving week (w/o 11/21/11).

· During the sweep, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live stood as the #3 talk show in late-night in Total Viewers, behind only NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and CBS' The Late Show with David Letterman.

· ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live (M-F 12am) scored its most competitive finish ever during any sweep period with NBC's The Tonight Show (M-F 11:35am) among Adults 18-49, pacing just 264k young adult viewers behind the NBC program. In addition, JKL cut its year-to-year gap among young adults with CBS' The Late Show with David Letterman (M-F 11:35am) by more than half (-53%) to stand just 214k Adult 18-49 viewers from the CBS program.

· ABC's JKL drew a larger overall audience than NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (M-F 12:30am) for the 4th November in a row, outdrawing the NBC late-night program by 20% in Total Viewers. JKL also held its largest advantage ever over Fallon during a sweep period in Adults 18-49 (+6%).

· ABC's JKL beat CBS' The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (M-F 12:30am) in both Total Viewers (+30%) and Adults 18-49 (+27%) for the 5th straight sweep. In fact, the ABC late-night program has drawn a bigger overall audience than Ferguson in the last 7 sweep periods.

Ratings Report for ABC News' "Nightline" the 2012 November Sweep and Week of November 19, 2012

"Nightline" Wins November Sweep in All Key Target Demos: #1 in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49

Fourth Straight November at #1 in Total Viewers and 3rd in a Row in Key Adult Demo

Season to Date "Nightline" is No. 1 in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 for 3rd Straight Year

November 2012 Sweep

ABC News' "Nightline" stood as the No. 1 latenight broadcast program during the November 2012 sweep across all key target demos: Total Viewers (3.859 million), Adults 25-54 (1.411 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.079 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. "Nightline" has ranked No. 1 in Total Viewers for the 4th November in a row and in the key adult news demo for the 3rd straight November. Looking at all sweeps, "Nightline" has taken the top spot in 4 of the last 5 sweeps in Total Viewers and in the last 5 sweeps in the key adult news demo.

"Nightline" outdrew CBS' "The Late Show" during the month by its largest Total Viewer advantage (+653,000) during a November in 13 years - since November 1999.

Week of November 19, 2012

For the week of November 19, 2012, ABC's "Nightline" drew 3.531 million Total Viewers, 1.222 million Adults 25-54 and 918,000 Adults 18-49, according to Nielsen Media Research.

"Nightline" beat CBS' "The Late Show" during the week by +444,000 Total Viewer and by +4,000 Adults 25-54.

Season to date, "Nightline" ranks No. 1 among the late-night broadcast programs in 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 3rd straight year that the ABC program is taking the top spot in all 3 measures.

Note: "Nightline's" weekly average is based on two days (Mon-Tue), "The Tonight Show's" weekly average is based on four days (Mon - Thurs) and "The Late Show's" weekly average is based on three days (Mon- Wed). With Thanksgiving week, "Nightline" from Wednesday - Friday, "The Tonight Show" on Friday, and "The Late Show" on Thursday and Friday were coded special and are excluded from the weekly averages.

During the week of November 19, "Nightline" reported from the Middle East on the brink of war; profiled music superstar Alicia Keys; had a behind-the-scenes look at the global phenomenon of "The Lion King" and took a closer look at "Halo," the blockbuster video game flying off shelves; featured the incredible inspirational story of Darius Weems, a Rap Star With Duchenne Muscular Dustrophy; took viewers to work at one of the most dangerous jobs - painting the George Washington bridge; and joined the unlikely journey of a few NBA superstars trying to give back to the next generation of basketball players in Africa.

ABC News' "Nightline" is anchored by Cynthia McFadden, Terry Moran and Bill Weir. Juju Chang is a correspondent. Jeanmarie Condon is the Executive Producer. The program airs weeknights from 11:35 p.m., ET to 12:00 a.m. on the ABC Television Network. Together with "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "Nightline" is part of ABC's winning late night strategy of airing news and entertainment programming.

2012 November Sweep:

PROGRAM AVERAGES TOTAL VIEWERS A25-54(000)/ Rtg A18-49(000)/ Rtg

ABC "Nightline" 3,859,000 1,411,000/ 1.2 1,079,000/ 0.9

CBS "Late Show" 3,206,000 1,231,000/ 1.0 959,000/ 0.8

NBC "Tonight Show" 3,456,000 1,324,000/ 1.1 1,018,000/ 0.8

Week of November 19, 2012:

PROGRAM AVERAGES TOTAL VIEWERS A25-54(000)/ Rtg A18-49(000)/ Rtg

ABC "Nightline" 3,531,000 1,222,000/ 1.0 918,000/ 0.7

CBS "Late Show" 3,090,000 1,218,000/ 1.0 966,000/ 0.8

NBC "Tonight Show" 3,639,000 1,532,000/ 1.3 1,240,000/ 1.0

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 11/19/12, 11/12/12 & 11/21/11. Most Current - 2011-2012 Season (9/24 - 11/25/12) and 2011-2012 Season (9/19 - 11/27/11). November 2012 Sweep (10/25-11/21/12), November 2011 Sweep (10/27-11/23/11) and July 2012 Sweep (6/28 - 7/25/12). Sweep periods (November, February, May and July). All averages based on regular telecasts.

Fringe Ratings Report: ABC Late-Night Programming 2012 November Sweep

With its Largest Sweep Audience in 4 years, ABC Ranks No. 1 in Late-Night During November 2012 in Viewers and Adults 18-49 for the 3rd Straight Sweep

ABC's "Nightline" Wins the November Sweep in All Key Target Demos

ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Scores its Most-Watched Sweep in its 10 Years

"JKL" Cuts its Young Adult Gap with CBS' "Letterman" in Half in November 2012

ABC Late-Night (Monday - Friday)

ABC won the 2012 November sweep in both Total Viewers (2.620 million) and Adults 18-49 (850,000), marking the Net's 3rd consecutive sweep win in late-night. Together "Nightline" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" form ABC's winning late-night strategy of airing news and entertainment programming.

ABC beat NBC (2.182 million and 739,000) by 20% in Total Viewers and by 15% in Adults 18-49 during the sweep, holding its second-largest-ever Total Viewer advantage over NBC and its biggest-ever lead in Adults 18-49 during any sweep in late-night (ABC's late-night lineup began in January 2003 with the debut of "Jimmy Kimmel Live").

ABC topped runner-up CBS (2.430 million and 773,000) for the 3rd sweep in a row in both Total Viewers (+8%) and Adults 18-49 (+10%).

ABC saw gains over the previous sweep (2.219 million and 727,000) of 18% in Total Viewers and 17% in Adults 18-49, giving ABC its most-watched sweep in late-night since November 2008.

"Nightline" (Monday - Friday)

ABC's "Nightline" stood as the No. 1 late-night broadcast program during the November 2012 sweep across all key target demos: Total Viewers (3.859 million), Adults 25-54 (1.411 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.079 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. "Nightline" has ranked No. 1 in Total Viewers for the 4th November in a row and in the key adult news demo for the 3rd straight November. Looking at all sweeps, "Nightline" has taken the top spot in 4 of the last 5 sweeps in Total Viewers, and in the last 5 sweeps in the key adult news demo.

"Nightline" outdrew CBS' "The Late Show" during the month by its largest Total Viewer advantage (+653,000) during November in 13 years - since November 1999.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live" (Monday - Friday)

During the 2012 November sweep, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" generated its biggest audience ever for any sweep period (2.101 million). "JKL" grew its overall audience year to year for the 5th consecutive sweep and for the 6th time in the last 7 years over the previous November. In fact, the ABC late-night program was the only late-night broadcast talk show to deliver yearly growth in Total Viewers (+5% - 2.101 million vs. 2.000 million). In addition, "JKL" saw gains over the 2012 July Sweep in both Total Viewers (+27% - 2.101 million vs. 1.657 million) and Adults 18-49 (+25% - 749,000 vs. 598,000).

· Airing from Brooklyn during the 2nd week of the November (week of October 29, 2012), "Jimmy Kimmel Live" scored its 2nd-most-watched week in its nearly 10-year history (2.298 million), behind only last year's Thanksgiving week (w/o 11/21/11).

· During the sweep, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" stood as the No. 3 talk show in late-night in Total Viewers (2.101 million), behind only NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (3.471 million) and CBS' "The Late Show with David Letterman" (3.280 million).

· ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" (M-F 12:00 a.m.) scored its most competitive finish ever during any sweep period with NBC's "The Tonight Show" (M-F 11:35 a.m.) among Adults 18-49, pacing just 264,000 young adult viewers behind the NBC program (749,000 vs. 1.013 million). In addition, "JKL" cut its year-to-year gap among young adults with CBS' "The Late Show" (M-F 11:35 a.m.) by more than half (-53% - 214,000 vs. 458,000) to stand just 214,000 Adult 18-49 viewers from the CBS program (749,000 vs. 963,000).

· ABC's "JKL" drew a larger overall audience than NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (M-F 12:30 a.m.) for the 4th November in a row, outdrawing the NBC late-night program by 20% in Total Viewers (2.101 million vs. 1.745 million). "JKL" also held its largest advantage ever over "Fallon" during a sweep period in Adults 18-49 (+6% - 749,000 vs. 705,000).

· ABC's "JKL" beat CBS' "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (M-F 12:30 a.m.) in both Total Viewers (+30% - 2.101 million vs. 1.619 million) and Adults 18-49 (+27% - 749,000 vs. 591,000) for the 5th straight sweep. In fact, the ABC late-night program has drawn a bigger overall audience than Ferguson in the last 7 sweep periods.

Late-Night Rank (2012 Nov Sweep): TOTAL VIEWERS A18-49(000)

ABC 2,620,000 850,000

CBS 2,430,000 773,000

NBC 2,182,000 739,000

Source: The Nielsen Company, Most Current Program Ratings for 2012 November Sweep (10/25 - 11/21/12), 2011 November Sweep (10/27 - 11/23/11) and July 2012 Sweep (6/28 - 7/25/12), based on regular telecasts and breakout telecasts for w/o 10/29/12; all other breakout telecasts and specials excluded. Sweep periods (November, February, May and July). 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."