ABC's "Shark Tank" Leads Friday Night and Surges Year to Year

ABC ran neck-and-neck with CBS for the lead on Friday in Adults 18-49, outdelivering NBC by 20% and Fox by 50%. ABC's Shark Tank once again finished as the #1 series on the night in Adults 18-49, with a 19% advantage over runner-up Undercover Boss.

Nearly tripling its lead-in (+280%), ABC's Shark Tank shot up to dominate the 9 o'clock hour over original dramas, outperforming NBC's Grimm by 46%, CBS' Vegas by 90% and Fox's Touch by 217%. The ABC unscripted show was Friday's top-rated TV series in Adults 18-49 for the 5th time in its last 6 original telecasts. Spiking year to year, Shark Tank was up by double digits over its delivery in the hour on the same night last year in Total Viewers (+19%) and Adults 18-49 (+36%). Season to date, the show is up 17% in Adults 18-49, delivering its best season ever.

In the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's 20/20 defeated its newsmagazine competition by strong margins, leading NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams by 21% in Total Viewers, by 33% in Adults 18-49 and by 31% in Adults 25-54. 20/20 reported on surviving, from random violence and acts of terror to massive highway accidents and the madness of crowds and stampedes.