ABC's CMA Awards Dominates with the Net's Top Night Since the Oscars

ABC Wednesday Prime - The 48th Annual CMA Awards (8-11pm - 16.1 million and 4.5/14 in AD18-49):

With its broadcast of The 48th Annual CMA Awards, ABC towered over Wednesday night, ranking #1 in each half-hour and beating 2nd-place CBS by 7.4 million viewers (16.1 million vs. 8.7 million) and by 125% in Adults 18-49 (4.5/14 vs. 2.0/6) - ABC's winning margin in Adults 18-49 was up year to year (vs. 114% last year). In fact the wide-appealing country music awards show swept the evening, winning in Total Viewers, all key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54), Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11. It was ABC's 2nd consecutive year to earn first place on the opening Wednesday of the November Sweep.

· In viewers and young adults, the Net marked its strongest performance on any night with entertainment programming in 8 months - since the Academy Awards on 3/2/14.

· The CMA Awards was on par with its year-ago telecast in viewers and young adults (16.8 million and 4.7/13 on 11/06/13) and was up for the 2nd year in Teens 12-17 (+4%) and Kids 2-11 (+19%) to its best numbers in 3 years - since 2011.

· ABC's CMA Awards topped CBS' April telecast of the ACM Awards by strong margins (14.2 million and 3.3/9 on 4/6/14) in Total Viewers (+13%) and Adults 18-49 (+36%).

Quick Take for Wednesday, November 5, 2014 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Towers Over Wednesday Night with "The 48th Annual CMA Awards," Scoring its Top Results with Entertainment Programming on Any Night in 8 Months

"The CMA Awards" is Up Year to Year in Teens and Kids to Earn 3-Year Highs

ABC's "CMA Awards" Outdelivers CBS' "ACM Awards" by 36% in Adults 18-49

Live + Same Day Fast Affiliate Results:

"The 48th Annual CMA Awards" (8:00-11:00 p.m. - 16.1 million and 4.5/14 in AD18-49):

With its broadcast of "The 48th Annual CMA Awards," ABC towered over Wednesday night, ranking No. 1 in each half-hour and beating 2nd-place CBS by 7.4 million viewers (16.1 million vs. 8.7 million) and 125% in Adults 18-49 (4.5/14 vs. 2.0/6) - ABC's Adult 18-49 winning margin was up year to year (from a 114% advantage last year). In fact the wide-appealing country music awards show swept the evening, winning in Total Viewers, all key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54), Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11. It was ABC's 2nd consecutive year to win the opening Wednesday of the November Sweep.

· In viewers and young adults, the Net marked its strongest performance on any night with entertainment programming in 8 months - since the "Academy Awards" on 3/2/14.

· "The CMA Awards" was on par with its year-ago telecast in viewers and young adults (16.8 million and 4.7/13 on 11/06/13) and was up for the 2nd year in Teens 12-17 (+4%) and Kids 2-11 (+19%) to its best numbers since 2011.

· ABC's "CMA Awards" topped CBS' April telecast of the "ACM Awards" by strong margins (14.2 million and 3.3/9 on 4/6/14) in Total Viewers (+13%) and Adults 18-49 (+36%).

· "The 48th Annual CMA Awards" was Wednesday's most-social broadcast with 1,043,707 tweets.

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 49% currently, from 48% at the same point in 2013. 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 for 11/05/14. Nielsen Socialguide for 11/5/14/14, Total Tweets +/- 3hrs during telecast.