Primetime Ratings Report for the week of March 18, 2013 (Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)

ABC Delivers its Most-Watched Non-"Oscar" Week Since November

ABC Nearly Ties Fox in Adults 18-49 for the Week and Places 4 of The Top 20 TV Shows with "DWTS," "Grey's," "Scandal" and "Splash"

The 16th Season Opener of "Dancing" is Up Sharply Over its Season 15 Premiere

ABC's "Dancing" is Monday's Top Show and Delivers the Net's Biggest Audience in the Time Period in Nearly 1 Year

"Castle" Posts a Season High in Viewers and is Monday's Top Scripted Series

"Splash" Opens as ABC's Top Unscripted Debut in Over 2 Years in Adults 18-49 And the Highest on Any Network Since "The X-Factor" in September 2011

ABC's "DWTS" Special Beats Original Comedies on Fox and NBC in Adults 18-49

Building its Audience for the 3rd Straight Week, ABC's "Body of Proof" Spikes by 27% in Viewers and by 25% in Adults 18-49 to Earn Season Highs

ABC is No. 1 on Thursday in Adults 18-49 with its Best Number Since October

Up from its Last Premiere and Topping All of its Previous Season's Telecasts, "Wife Swap" Opens with ABC's Best Series Adult 18-49 Rating in the Hour in 5 Months

Beating "Idol" for the First Time Ever on the Night, "Grey's Anatomy" is Up 15% in Adults 18-49 to Rank as Thursday's No. 1 Show with its Top Audience Since October

On its First Original in 1 Month, "Scandal" Returns with its Biggest Audience Ever

ABC's "Last Man Standing" Closes Out its Season with Best-Since-Premiere Numbers

TV's Most-Watched New Comedy This Season, the Season Finale of "Malibu Country" Pulls the Series' Biggest Audience Since November with its 3rd-Largest Ever

Surging by Double Digits, "20/20" Earns its Highest Numbers in 3 Months

"America's Funniest Home Videos" Draws its Biggest Audience Since Mid-February

"Once Upon a Time" is No. 1 in its Hour Across All Key Women Demographics

Up 10% for the Season in Adults 18-49, "Revenge" Beats NBC's "Apprentice" by 13%

"Red Widow" Gains 20% in Adults 18-49, Delivering a Best-Since-Premiere Number

Week No. 26

Delivering its most-watched non-"Oscar" week since November, ABC (7.5 million) was the No. 2 TV net to CBS, leading Fox by 1.6 million viewers (5.9 million) and NBC by 3.3 million viewers (4.2 million). Among Adults 18-49, ABC (1.8/5) ran within 1-tenth of a rating point of an "Idol"-led Fox (1.9/6), while beating NBC by 50% (1.2/3). The Net ranked No. 1 for the 2nd week in a row with Women 18-49.

· ABC was the only net up over the same week last year (6.9 million and 1.7/5 on w/o 3/19/12) in both Total Viewers (+9%) and Adults 18-49 (+6%).

· The Network grew week to week in viewers (+29%) and young adults (+6%), and excluding only the week of the "Academy Awards," drew its biggest overall audience in 16 weeks - since w/o 11/26/12.

Rankings: ABC claimed 4 of the Top 20 TV shows for the week in Adults 18-49, placing 2 in the Top 7: "DWTS" - No. 5, "Grey's Anatomy" - No. 7, "Scandal" - No. 13 and "Splash" - No. 16. In addition, "Dancing" was TV's most-watched unscripted show of the week, topping both installments of "Idol". In fact, ABC delivered 5 of the Top 20 most-watched programs overall, with "DWTS," "Castle," "DWTS: Exclusive First Look," "Grey's" and "Splash." "Grey's" was the week's No. 1 TV show in Women 18-49. In viewers and young adults, ABC's "Splash" opened as TV's biggest unscripted series debut since September 2011 with the launch of "The X-Factor."

Monday

With the Season 16 premiere of "DWTS" and "Castle," ABC won Monday over original lineups on the other nets, beating runner-up CBS by 7.0 million viewers (15.2 million vs. 8.2 million) and 21% in Adults 18-49 (2.9/8 vs. 2.4/6). ABC won the night for the 4th time in 5 weeks.

· Hitting a season high with viewers, ABC marked its most-watched Monday since April 23, 2012.

"Dancing with the Stars" (8:00-10:01 p.m.)

Up sharply over its Season 15 premiere in Total Viewers (+21%) and Adults 18-49 (+28%), ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" season premiere dominated its 2-hour time period, beating CBS' comedy block, NBC's "The Biggest Loser" finale and Fox's dramas ("Bones"/"The Following"). "DWTS" was Monday's No. 1 TV series in viewers (17.1 million) and young adults (3.2/8). In fact, it stands as TV's 2nd-most-watched unscripted telecast this season, topping every installment of "Idol" since its Wednesday premiere telecast in January (on 1/16/13).

· "Dancing" was Monday's most-social entertainment program, as its number of tweets spiked 66% over its Fall 2012 premiere (161,000 vs. 97,000).

"Castle" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)

ABC's "Castle" led the 10 o'clock hour for its 3rd straight original telecast over its CBS ("Hawaii Five-0") and NBC ("Deception" finale) drama competition in viewers (11.3 million) and young adults (2.2/6), standing as Monday's most-watched scripted TV show. In fact, "Castle" more than tripled the overall audience of the "Deception" season finale (+232% - 11.3 million vs. 3.4 million).

· "Castle" delivered its biggest audience this season.

Tuesday

Up against all-original competition on Tuesday, ABC finished No. 2 to CBS in both Total Viewers (9.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.1/6), beating both Fox and NBC.

· ABC marked its most-watched Tuesday since November - since 11/27/12.

"Splash" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

At 8:00 p.m., opposite CBS' top-rated "NCIS," ABC's "Splash" opened way ahead of its unscripted competition in the hour, beating Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" by 4.0 million viewers (9.0 million vs. 5.0 million) and by 30% in Adults 18-49 (2.6/8 vs. 2.0/6). It ranked No. 1 in the hour with Women 18-34 (tying "NCIS") and was the top-rated broadcast with Kids 2-11. The new show gained audience throughout its premiere, building in viewers (+5%) and young adults (+8%) from its first half-hour to its second half-hour. "Splash" was broadcast TV's most-social program on Tuesday night.

· Among Adults 18-49, "Splash" stands as ABC's biggest unscripted series debut in more than 2 years and the highest on any net since "The X-Factor" opened in September 2011 - since 3/6/11 and 9/22/11, respectively. In addition, "Splash" posted ABC's top Adult 18-49 rating in the time period with series programming in nearly 1-1/2 years - since 10/18/11.

"DWTS: Exclusive First Look" (9:00-10:01 p.m.)

At 9:00 p.m., ABC's special "DWTS: Exclusive First Look" pulled in a strong Adult 18-49 number (2.1/6), taking second to "NCIS: LA" and beating first-run comedies on Fox by 5% ("New Girl"/"The Mindy Project" = 2.0/5) and on NBC by 133% ("Go On"/"The New Normal" = 0.9/2).

"Body of Proof" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)

During the 10:00 p.m. hour, ABC's "Body of Proof" jumped week to week in Total Viewers (+27% - 8.4 million vs. 6.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (+25% - 1.5/4 vs. 1.2/3) to earn season highs.

· Building its overall audience for its 3rd straight telecast, "Body of Proof" delivered ABC's biggest audience in the hour with scripted programming since April 10, 2012.

Wednesday

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

ABC's repeat "The Middle" beat an original of NBC's "Whitney" in the 8:00 p.m. half-hour by 1.7 million viewers (4.8 million vs. 3.1 million) and by 20% in Adults 18-49 (1.2/4 vs. 1.0/3).

"Modern Family" (9:00-9:31 p.m.)

In the 9 o'clock half-hour, an encore telecast of ABC's "Modern Family" topped NBC's first-run "Law & Order: SVU" by 4% in Total Viewers (5.4 million vs. 5.2 million) and by 20% in Adults 18-49 (1.8/5 vs. 1.5/4).

Thursday

With the season opener of "Wife Swap," "Grey's" and the return of "Scandal" (first original since 2/21), ABC ranked No. 1 on Thursday in Adults 18-49 (2.5/7 - tying Fox with "American Idol" and "Glee").

· Among Adults 18-49, ABC earned its top-rated Thursday with series programming since October 4, 2012.

"Wife Swap" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Up sharply over its last season premiere (on 4/2/10) in Total Viewers (+43% - 5.0 million vs. 3.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (+42% - 1.7/5 vs. 1.2/5), ABC's "Wife Swap" opener topped all of the telecasts in its previous season to earn its best numbers since April 2009 - since 4/17/09. From start to finish the ABC unscripted show gained 8% in viewers and 13% in young adults, despite facing "Idol" in the hour.

· "Wife Swap" delivered ABC's highest Adult 18-49 rating in the time period with series programming in 5 months - since 10/18/12.

"Grey's Anatomy" (9:00-10:02 p.m.)

Shooting up from its lead-in at 9:00 p.m. (+76%), ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" emerged as Thursday's No. 1 TV show in Adults 18-49, topping "Idol" on the night for the first time ever (3.0/8 vs. 2.9/9). "Grey's" won the 9 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (9.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.0/8).

· Gaining week to week in viewers (+15%) and young adults (+15%), "Grey's" delivered its most-watched telecast since October 2012 - since 10/18/12.

"Scandal" (10:02-11:00 p.m.)

On its return, ABC's "Scandal" won the 10 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (8.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.7/8). In fact "Scandal" has been the No. 1 show in the hour in Adults 18-49 on 7 of its last 8 original telecasts. In addition, "Scandal" nearly caught up to "Idol" on the night in Adults 18-49 and beat the Fox show in Adults 18-34.

· "Scandal" ranked as the No. 1 broadcast program in primetime with 191k tweets, topping "American Idol" by 68% (113k).

· Building its overall audience by 11% from its last original 4 weeks ago, "Scandal" marked the series' most-watched telecast ever.

Friday

ABC won Friday in Total Viewers and led its net rivals in Adults 18-49 for the 2nd week in a row. The Net's season finales of "Last Man Standing" and "Malibu Country" stood as Friday's Top 2 most-watched TV shows overall. Season to date, ABC is Friday's No. 1 network in Adults 18-49, gaining 13% year to year with its strongest delivery on the night in 4 years - since the 2008-09 season.

"Last Man Standing" (8:00-8:31 p.m.)

Friday's No. 1 TV show, ABC's season closer of "Last Man Standing" built week to week by 22% in viewers and by 14% in Adults 18-49. Earning best-since premiere numbers, "Last Man Standing" drew its biggest audience (7.8 million) and matched its highest Adult 18-49 rating (1.6/6) since its season opener on November 2, 2012. "Last Man Standing" also topped its year-ago Tuesday finale by 18% in Total Viewers (on 5/8/12) and was within 1-tenth of a rating point in Adults 18-49.

Malibu Country" (8:31-9:00 p.m.)

TV's most-watched new comedy this season, ABC's season finale of "Malibu Country" ranked No. 1 in the 8:30 p.m. half-hour, surging week to week by 25% in Total Viewers and by 27% in Adults 18-49. "Malibu Country" closed out with its most-watched telecast (7.0 million) since November 9, 2012 (series' 3rd largest audience ever) and equaled its top Adult 18-49 rating (1.4/5) since November 30, 2012.

"Shark Tank" (9:00-10:01 p.m.)

In the 9:00 p.m. hour among Adults 18-49, ABC's repeat "Shark Tank" tied NBC's original "Grimm" and doubled the number for Fox's first-run "Touch" (+100% - 1.4/4 vs. 0.7/2). In addition for the 2nd week in a row, ABC's encore "Shark Tank" finished as the most-watched TV program (5.7 million) in the 9 o'clock hour, pacing well ahead of its original competition. "Shark Tank" delivered its 2nd-most-watched repeat telecast ever.

"20/20" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)

Spiking week to week, ABC's "20/20" won the 10 o'clock hour in Total Viewers, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54. The ABC newsmagazine defeated "Rock Center with Brian Williams" by 2.5 million viewers (6.2 million vs. 3.7 million), by 88% in Adults 18-49 (1.5/5 vs. 0.8/3) and by 83% and Adults 25-54 (2.2/6 vs. 1.2/3), winning every head-to-head matchup in the time period in the two key adult demos. "20/20" reported on the Steubenville, Ohio court case. Building week to week in Total Viewers (+13%), Adults 18-49 (+7%) and Adults 25-54 (+10%), "20/20" delivered its best numbers in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 since December 14, 2012.

Sunday

"America's Funniest Home Videos" (7:00-8:00 p.m.)

In the 7 o'clock hour opposite CBS' approximate 45-minute basketball overrun, ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" earned second place with viewers (6.8 million) and young adults (1.3/4).

· "AFHV" drew its biggest audience since mid-February - since 2/17/13.

"Once Upon a Time" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Building on its Adult 18-49 lead-in by 69% at 8:00 p.m., ABC's "Once Upon a Time" finished a strong second to CBS' basketball-fueled combo of "60 Minutes" and "Amazing Race" on the broadcast nets in viewers (7.4 million) and young adults (2.2/6). The ABC drama was No. 1 in the hour across all key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54), and once again stood as Sunday's top-rated broadcast series in Women 18-49.

Please Note: "Once Upon a Time" is seeing considerably larger ratings increases after day of air as compared to last Fall and the year-ago Spring. The Adult 18-49 increases for "Once Upon a Time" from L+SD to L+7 have gone from 42% last Fall up to 48% this Spring, and are also showing a much larger gain than the same point last Spring (39%).

"Revenge" (9:00-10:01 p.m.)

At 9:00 p.m., ABC's "Revenge" beat out the opening hour of NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" by 21% in Total Viewers (6.3 million vs. 5.2 million) and by 13% in Adults 18-49 (1.8/4 vs. 1.6/4).

· On average, "Revenge" has grown its Adult 18-49 audience this season by 10% over the same point in its freshman season.

"Red Widow" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)

During the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's "Red Widow" grew by 20% week to week in Adults 18-49 (1.2/3 vs. 1.0/3) to hit a best-since premiere number. From 10:00-11:00 p.m., "Red Widow" won among Women 18-34 over "Celebrity Apprentice" and CBS' drama combo ("The Good Wife"/"The Mentalist").

· Based the most recent Live + 7 Day ratings (for the 3/10/13 telecast), "Red Widow" jumped over its Live +Same Day numbers by 2.2 million viewers (5.3 million to 7.5 million) and spiked 55% in Adults 18-49 (1.1 rating to a 1.7 rating).

Source: The Nielsen Company (National, Live+ Same Day Program Ratings), week of 03/18/13.