ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Finishes 2013 with Its Most-Watched Quarter Ever

Some early points on Jimmy Kimmel Live's 4Q13 numbers, ahead of the regular press release:

During the 4th quarter of 2013, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live closed out 2013 with its biggest-ever audience for any quarter (2.652 million). In fact, JKL attracted its four largest-ever quarterly audiences during the calendar year 2013 (4Q13, 1Q13, 2Q13 and 3Q13, respectively).

Scoring its most-watched 4Q ever, JKL also posted its 2nd-best-ever 4Q among Adults 18-49 (930,000) to stand as the show's strongest 4Q in 10 years - since 4Q03.

JKL was up year to year by double digits in all four quarters of the year, growing over the year-ago 4th quarter by 37% in Total Viewers and by 39% in Adults 18-49. In fact, JKL grew its overall audience year over year for the 15th consecutive quarter.

· ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live finished as the quarter's #2 broadcast talk show in late-night in Adults 18-49, behind only NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

· Beating CBS' The Late Show with David Letterman for the 4th straight quarter among Adults 18-49, JKL topped the CBS late-night program by its largest margin ever (+24%). In fact, JKL outperformed Letterman on each of the 14 weeks of the quarter in the key young adult demo.

Fringe Ratings Report: ABC Late-Night Programming 4th Quarter 2013

ABC Scores its Largest-Ever Win Over CBS, Outperforming in All 4 Quarters of 2013

ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Finishes 2013 with its Most-Watched Quarter Ever

"Nightline" Posts its Strongest Quarter Performance Ever in its New Time Slot

ABC Late-Night (Monday - Friday)

With its late-night lineup of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" at 11:35 p.m. and "Nightline" at 12:35 a.m. during the final quarter of 2013, ABC delivered its best performance for any quarter in Total Viewers (2.333 million) in 1 year and in Adults 18-49 (801,000) since the first quarter of the year -- since 4Q12 and 1Q13, respectively.

ABC improved over its performance in late-night over the year-ago 4th quarter in Adults 18-49 (+3% - 801,000 vs. 778,000)

· Drawing a larger overall audience in late-night than CBS in 3 of the year's 4 quarters, ABC topped CBS by 5% in Total Viewers (2.333 million vs. 2.215 million). In addition, ABC outperformed CBS in each of the 4 quarters of the year in Adults 18-49, with its biggest-ever margin of victory during the 4th quarter (+28% - 801,000 vs. 624,000). Impressively, ABC topped CBS in all 14 weeks of the quarter among young adults.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live" (M-F 11:35 p.m.)

During the 4th quarter of 2013, its first 4Q in its new 11:35 p.m. time slot, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" closed out 2013 with its biggest-ever audience for any quarter (2.652 million). In fact, "JKL" attracted its four largest-ever quarterly audiences during the calendar year 2013 (4Q13, 1Q13, 2Q13 and 3Q13, respectively).

"JKL" posted its 2nd-best-ever 4Q among Adults 18-49 (930,000), behind only its inaugural 4Q ten years ago - since 4Q03.

"JKL" was up year to year by double digits in all four quarters of the year, growing over the year-ago 4th quarter (1.942 million and 667,000) by 37% in Total Viewers and by 39% in Adults 18-49. In fact, "JKL" grew its overall audience year over year for the 15th consecutive quarter.

· ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" finished as the quarter's No. 2 broadcast talk show in late-night in Adults 18-49, behind only NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

· Beating CBS' "The Late Show with David Letterman" for the 4th straight quarter among Adults 18-49, "JKL" topped the CBS late-night program by its largest margin ever (+24% - 930,000 vs. 753,000). In addition, "JKL" outperformed "Letterman" on each of the 14 weeks of the quarter in the key young adult demo.

"Nightline" (M-F 12:35 a.m.)

During 4Q13, in its first 4th quarter in its new time period, ABC's "Nightline" drew 1.687 million Total Viewers, 710,000 Adults 25-54 and 542,000 Adults 18-49, according to Nielsen Media Research. "Nightline" posted double-digit quarter-to-quarter gains (1.437 million, 578,000 and 435,000) in Total Viewers (+17%), Adults 25-54 (+23%) and Adults 18-49 (+25%) to register is strongest quarter performance ever in its new time slot in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

In addition, "Nightline" improved on ABC's performance in the time period in Total Viewers compared to the year-ago quarter (+3% - 1.631 million for 4Q12). In fact, "Nightline" drew the Net's largest overall quarter audience in the time slot in 10 years - since 4Q03.

"Nightline" defeated CBS' "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" during 4Q13 in all key target demos: Total Viewers (+202,000), Adults 25-54 (+81,000) and Adults 18-49 (+47,000). "Nightline" has outdelivered the CBS program in overall viewers and in the key adult news demo for the 4th straight quarter. In addition, "Nightline" scored its largest-ever quarter lead over "The Late Late Show" in both key adult demos.

Late-Night (4Q 2013): TOTAL VIEWERS A18-49(000)

ABC 2,333,000 801,000

CBS 2,215,000 624,000

NBC 2,426,000 842,000

Source: The Nielsen Company, National Most Current Program Ratings for 4Q13 (9/23-12/29/13) and 4Q12 (9/24-12/30/12).