ABC's CMA Awards Surges to Its Biggest Audience in 4 Years - 2nd Most-Watched in 8 Years

ABC Wednesday Prime - The 47th Annual CMA Awards (8-11pm - 16.6 million and 4.7/13 in AD18-49):

With its broadcast of The 47th Annual CMA Awards, ABC dominated Wednesday night, ranking #1 in each half-hour and outdelivering runner-up CBS (9.3 million and 2.2/6) by 7.3 million viewers and by 114% in Adults 18-49. In fact with the broad-appealing country music awards show, the Network swept the evening, finishing #1 in Viewers, all key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54), Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11. It was ABC's first Adult 18-49 win on the opening Wednesday of any sweep in 6 years - since November 2007.

· ABC is delivering its most competitive Wednesday start to a season in 6 years (since 2007), finishing #1 in Adults 18-49 on 5 of the first 7 weeks.

· The 47th Annual CMA Awards was up by double digits from last year's telecast (13.7 million and 3.8/10 on 11/1/12), gaining 21% in Total Viewers and 24% in Adults 18-49. The show drew its biggest audience in 4 years, representing its 2nd-most-watched broadcast in 8 years - since 2009 and 2005, respectively.

· The Network marked its most-watched Wednesday in 4 years and its top Adult 18-49 number on the evening in 2 years - since 11/11/09 and 11/9/11, respectively.

· ABC's CMA Awards outperformed CBS' April telecast of the ACM Awards (15.5 million and 4.3/11 on 4/7/13) by 7% in Total Viewers and by 9% in Adults 18-49.

Quick Take for Wednesday, November 6, 2013 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Dominates Wednesday with "The 47th Annual CMA Awards,� Posting its First Win on the Opening Wednesday of Any Sweep in 6 Years

"CMA Awards� Surges by Double Digits in Viewers and Young Adults, Drawing its Biggest Audience in 4 Years and 2nd-Largest in 8 Years

Country Music's No. 1 Awards Show, ABC's "CMAs,� Outperforms CBS' "ACMs�

Wednesday's Most Social TV Show, ABC's "CMA Awards,� Earns 1.67 Million Tweets

ABC Wednesday Prime (8:00-11:00 p.m. - 16.6 million and 4.7/13 in AD18-49):

With its 3-hour broadcast of "The 47th Annual CMA Awards,� ABC dominated Wednesday night, winning each half-hour and outdelivering runner-up CBS (9.3 million and 2.2/6) by 7.3 million viewers and by 114% in Adults 18-49. In fact, with the broad-appealing country music awards show, the Network swept the evening, finishing No. 1 in Viewers, all key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54), Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11. In viewers and young adults, it was ABC's first victory on the opening Wednesday of any sweep in 6 years - since November 2007.

· ABC is delivering its most competitive Wednesday start to a season in 6 years (since 2007), finishing No. 1 in Adults 18-49 on 5 of the first 7 weeks.

· "The 47th Annual CMA Awards� was up by double digits from last year's telecast (13.7 million and 3.8/10 on 11/1/12), gaining 21% in Total Viewers and 24% in Adults 18-49. The show drew its biggest audience in 4 years, representing its 2nd-most-watched broadcast in 8 years - since 2009 and 2005, respectively. In addition, the show shot up 41% year to year with Men 18-34 (3.1/10 vs. 2.2/8) to a 9-year high - since 2004.

· The Network marked its most-watched Wednesday in 4 years and its top Adult 18-49 number on the evening in 2 years - since 11/11/09 and 11/9/11, respectively.

· Country music's No. 1 awards show, ABC's "CMA Awards,� outperformed CBS' April telecast of the "ACM Awards� (15.5 million and 4.3/11 on 4/7/13) by 7% in Total Viewers and by 9% in Adults 18-49.

· ABC's "CMA Awards� was Wednesday's No. 1 most social TV program with 1,667,680 tweets and 2.8 tweets per unique user.

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 48% currently, from 46% at the same point in 2012. 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), 11/06/13. Socialguide, Total Tweets for +/- 3hrs during telecast.