Overall: During the week of 11/4/13, ABC was #1 in the non-sports Adult 18-49 averages (tied w/CBS), outdelivering NBC by 16% and Fox by 47%. The Net delivered 4 of the week’s Top 15 non-sports broadcasts with young adults: CMA Awards – #2, Scandal – #9, Grey’s Anatomy – #10 and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – #14. In addition, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars bested NBC’s The Voice as TV’s most-watched unscripted series for the 2nd straight week and landed among the Top 10 programs overall for the 7th consecutive week this season. ABC’s CMA Awards marked a 4-year viewership high as week’s 4th-most-watched program and impressively finished as the week’s #1 TV telecast with Women 18-49. Up for the 2nd week in Total Viewers (+7%) and Adults 18-49 (+5%), ABC posted its largest audience since season-premiere week and delivered a 5-week high with young adults – since w/o 9/23/13 and w/o 09/30/13, respectively.
Monday: ABC stood as Monday’s most-watched network, outdrawing NBC for the 2nd week in a row and by increasing margins week to week. ABC’s Dancing drew a larger audience than The Voice for the 2nd week running to lead the night, and Castle outdrew Blacklist for the 4th consecutive week as Monday’s most-watched scripted series. ABC’s Dancing with the Stars finished as Monday’s most-watched entertainment show for the 2nd consecutive week, widening its winning margin from the prior week over The Voice. Also in its time period, Dancing outdrew CBS’ 2-hour comedy block by 5.3 million viewers. Brant Daugherty was eliminated this week. Growing week to week in Total Viewers, Dancing drew its biggest audience in 7 weeks – since its season premiere on 9/16/13. For the 4th week in a row, ABC’s Castle outdrew NBC’s Blacklist as the top series in the 10 o’clock hour and as Monday’s most-watched scripted program overall. Building for the 2nd week in viewers and young adults, Castle matched a season high in Adults 18-49. In addition, Castle was up over its year-ago telecast in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.
Tuesday: ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returned to original after the prior week’s repeat as Tuesday’s #2 scripted TV show in Adults 18-49 and as the night’s #1 TV show overall with key Men (M18-34/M18-49). S.H.I.E.L.D. grew 5% in Adults 18-34 from its last original and was up 19% with Men 18-34 to a 5-week-high – since 10/1/13. The ABC drama won its hour by strong margins with Adults 18-34 and key Men (M18-34/M18-49) to rank as Tuesday’s #1 TV show in Men 18-49 for its 6th consecutive first-run airing. In fact season to date, S.H.I.E.L.D. is broadcast TV’s #2 entertainment series with Men 18-49, behind only CBS’ top-rated The Big Bang Theory. S.H.I.E.L.D. is the season’s 2nd-biggest Adult 18-49 broadcast gainer in TV Playback (behind Big Bang Theory), adding +2.1 rating points or +62% from L+SD to L+7. On average, S.H.I.E.L.D. is improving its time period for ABC by 105% in Adults 18-49, standing as the Net’s top-rated series in the hour in 4 years – since 2009. At 9pm, The Goldbergs topped Fox’s New Girl in the half-hour by 1.0 million viewers to rank as Tuesday’s most-watched comedy for the 7th straight week. In the 9:30pm half-hour, ABC’s Trophy Wife outdrew Fox’s The Mindy Project by 28% in Total Viewers.
Wednesday: With its 3-hour broadcast of The 47th Annual CMA Awards, ABC dominated Wednesday night, winning each half-hour and outdelivering runner-up CBS by 7.4 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) and Teens 12-17, ranking as the top broadcaster with 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. 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 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, gaining 23% 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 to a 9-year high – since 2004. Country music’s #1 awards show, ABC’s CMA Awards, outperformed CBS’ April telecast of the ACM Awards by 8% in Total Viewers and by 9% in Adults 18-49. ABC’s CMA Awards was Wednesday’s #1 most social TV program with 1,667,680 tweets and 2.8 tweets per unique user, standing as the highest number of tweets for any broadcast program this season.
Thursday: ABC earned second place on Thursday night in Adults 18-49, leading NBC by 24% (with The Voice leading off the night) and Fox by 50% (with The X Factor/Glee). In Adults 18-49, ABC’s Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy ranked as the #2 and #3 TV series of the night, respectively, behind only CBS’ The Big Bang Theory, and ranked as Thursday’s top-rated dramas. On average, ABC’s Thursday night delivery is up year to year with young adults (+3%). From 8-9pm, ABC’s Once Upon a Time in Wonderland returned after the prior week’s preemption to nearly tie Fox’s The X Factor Results in Total Viewers. Based on just-released 24-day playback data (DVR/VOD/Online) for the October 10 debut episode of Wonderland, the ABC freshman drama saw its viewer count jump by 60% up to 9.3 million. Tripling its lead-in at 9pm (+200%), ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy once again led its hour by wide margins in Adults 18-49, outdelivering CBS’ comedies by 29% (The Crazy Ones/Two and a Half Men), Fox’s Glee by 80% and NBC’s comedies by 125% (Sean Saves the World/The Michael J Fox Show). Grey’s Anatomy was up week to week by 4% in Adults 18-49 and by 15% in Adults 18-34. Finishing #1 during the 10 o’clock hour among Adults 18-49, ABC’s Scandal dominated CBS’ Elementary by 56% and NBC’s Parenthood by 115%. On average, Scandal is TV’s fastest-growing returning series this season, up over the same point last year by 41% in Total Viewers and by 54% in Adults 18-49 to its best numbers ever. In fact, Scandal is ABC’s top program in the Thursday 10pm hour since Lost during the 2007-08 season.
Friday: ABC ranked #1 on Friday for the 2nd week in a row with Adults 18-49 (tied w/CBS), beating NBC by 36% and Fox by 50%. ABC’s Shark Tank was Friday’s #1 TV show for the 8th consecutive week in Adults 18-49, tying a season high. In fact, the ABC unscripted series has delivered TV’s Top 6 Friday telecasts on any network this season with young adults. ABC’s 20/20 was once again Friday’s #1 newsmagazine, outdelivering NBC’s Dateline (8-9pm) in Total Viewers (+9%), Adults 18-49 (+40%) and Adults 25-54 (+19%). At 8pm, Last Man Standing held steady week to week in Adults 18-49 to equal its 2nd-highest rating this season. At 8:30pm, in a cross-over episode with ABC’s Shark Tank, The Neighbors gained Total Viewers for the 2nd straight week, earning a best-since-premiere number. Building on its lead-in by 100% at 9pm in Adults 18-49, ABC’s Shark Tank continued to win its hour by strong double-digit percentages over CBS’ Hawaii Five-0 (+43%) and NBC’s Grimm (+54%). Shark Tank held 100% of its week-ago rating to match a season high in Adults 18-49. ABC’s 20/20 won the 10 o’clock hour in Adults 18-49 for the 2nd consecutive week, beating CBS’ Blue Bloods by 8% and NBC’s Dracula by 56%. 20/20 featured Robin Roberts with the first TV interview of Rutgers basketball coach Mike Rice, after being fired for physically and verbally abusing his players.
Sunday: In the 7 o’clock hour, ABC’s America’s Funniest Home Videos increased its overall audience for the 4th week in a row, delivering a season high with the show’s most-watched telecast in 9 months – since 2/10/13. At 8pm, ABC’s Once Upon a Time built on its Adult 18-49 lead-in by 62% to finish as Sunday’s #1 scripted broadcast, outdelivering both of CBS’ NFL overrun-boosted dramas (The Good Wife/The Mentalist) and each of Fox’s first-run animated comedies on the night. In addition, the ABC drama was once again Sunday night’s most-social broadcast series with 56,740 tweets.
