Overall: During the week of 10/29/12, ABC ranked #1 for the 3rd week in a row in the Adult 18-49 non-sports averages (tied w/CBS), beating NBC by 4% and Fox by 33%. ABC aired 5 of the Top 20 non-sports TV programs during the week Adults 18-49, including the #1 broadcast drama for the 2nd week in a row with Once Upon a Time: Modern Family – #5, CMA Awards – #6, Once Upon a Time – #8, while Revenge and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown tied at #16. ABC’s DWTS: All-Stars (#6) and the CMA Awards (#7) finished among the week’s Top 10 most-watched shows overall, as Dancing stood as TV’s most-watched unscripted series for the 4th straight week. The Net drew its biggest overall audience in 5 weeks (since w/o 9/24/12) and equaled a season-high rating in Adults 18-49.
Monday: ABC’s line-up of DWTS and Castle lifted the Net its largest overall audience and best young adult performance since season premiere Monday – since 9/24/12. ABC topped its broadcast rivals for the 6th consecutive week this season in Total Viewers, leading all 6 half-hours and outdelivering runner-up NBC by 1.9 million viewers (The Voice/Revolution), CBS by 5.9 million viewers (HIMYM/Partners/2 Broke Girls/Mike & Molly/Hawaii Five-0) and Fox by 10.9 million viewers (The X-Factor). Gaining viewers in each half-hour, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars stood as Monday’s most-watched TV series for the 4th week in a row, leading NBC’s The Voice in head-to-head competition by 1.5 million viewers. Dancing delivered its biggest audience since its season premiere – since 9/24/12. Monday’s most-watched scripted TV show in its 5th straight telecast, ABC’s Castle topped the 10 o’clock hour with its largest advantage to-date over NBC’s Revolution of 2.9 million viewers. Building week to week in young adults (+10%), Castle equaled a season-best performance in Adults 18-49 – since 9/24/12.
Tuesday: In the 8 o’clock hour, DWTS: All-Stars – The Results Show beat out Fox’s comedy block (Raising Hope/Ben & Kate) by an impressive 8.0 million viewers and by 13% in Adults 18-49. Actress and singer Sabrina Bryan was the next celebrity dancer to be eliminated from the competition this season. At 9:30pm, ABC’s Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt 23 drew a bigger audience than Fox’s New Girl-led The Mindy Project (+3%).
Wednesday: ABC took second place on Halloween night in Adults 18-34 and among key Women (W18-34/W18-49). For its 5th straight broadcast this season, ABC’s Modern Family finished as Wednesday’s #1 TV show among Adults 18-49. The Net ran in a near tie for #1 on the night in Adults 18-49, with just 2-tenths of a rating point separating ABC, Fox and CBS. Please Note: Overall TV usage levels were down week to week on Wednesday night in Homes (-5%) and among Adults 18-49 (-7%), due to Halloween and the ongoing impact of Hurricane Sandy, with millions of homes still without electricity. At 8pm, ABC’s encore telecast of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown won its half-hour among Adults 18-49, beating out CBS’ Survivor by 13%. The animated PEANUTS special also delivered the #1 position in the half-hour with Adults 18-34 and Kids 2-11. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown was up over its year ago telecast (on 10/27/11) in both Total Viewers (+8%) and Adults 18-49 (+17%), marking its best numbers in 3 years – since 10/27/09. In addition the program delivered ABC’s highest Kids 2-11 rating in the time period in nearly 2 years – since 11/10/10. At 8:30pm, ABC’s The Neighbors continued to dominate its freshman comedy competition, defeating NBC’s Guys with Kids by 2.2 million viewers and by a best-yet 46% in Adults 18-49. The ABC family comedy beat out Survivor in the half-hour with Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34, while ranking as the #1 broadcast show with Kids 2-11. Jumping 27% week to week in Kids 2-11, the ABC family comedy posted a new series high for its 3rd straight telecast. Surging over its lead-in to dominate the 9pm half-hour in Adults 18-49, ABC’s Modern Family outdelivered runner-up CBS’ Criminal Minds by 45%. In addition to standing as Wednesday’s #1 TV show in Adults 18-49, Modern Family was also the night’s top-rated program with Adults 18-34 and Adults 25-54. In the 9:30pm half-hour, ABC’s Suburgatory finished as the #1 scripted show among Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34. During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Nashville was once again the #1 new drama in viewers and young adults, increasing its advantage over NBC’s Chicago Fire week to week to 13% in Adults 18-49 (up from an 11% advantage the prior week). In addition, ABC freshman Nashville dominated CBS’ veteran CSI for the 4th week in a row in Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34, winning the hour on the latter measure. Based on Live + 7 Day ratings, Nashville shot up over its Live + Same Day numbers by 50% in Adults 18-49 (+1.4 rating) and by 40% in Total Viewers (+3.53 million), delivering a 4.2 young adult rating and 12.5 million viewers for its debut telecast.
Thursday: With its broadcast of The 46th Annual CMA Awards, ABC won Thursday night, beating out runner-up CBS by 7% in Total Viewers and by 19% in Adults 18-49. ABC ranked #1 in 5 of 6 half-hours of the night in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. In fact the Network swept the evening, finishing #1 in Viewers, all key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54) and Teens 12-17, while standing as the highest-rated broadcaster with Kids 2-11. Please note: ABC’s CMA Awards telecast moved from its traditional Wednesday night airing to Thursday this year. Also, due to the ongoing impact of Sandy with continuing power outages and preemptions in the east, year-to-year comparisons for the CMA Awards are not valid apples-to-apples comparisons. ABC marked its most-watched non-sports Thursday in well over 3 years and delivered its top non-sports Adult 18-49 number on the evening in nearly 2-1/2 years – since 9/24/09 and 5/20/10, respectively. The Net scored its highest Adult 18-49 number on any night this season.
Friday: With comedy premieres (Last Man Standing/Malibu Country), Shark Tank and 20/20, ABC towered over Friday night in Adults 18-49, leading CBS by 43%, NBC by 43% and Fox by 100%. In fact, the Net ranked #1 in each half-hour from 8-10pm. ABC claimed the Top 3 TV shows of the night in Adults 18-49 with Shark Tank, Malibu Country and Last Man Standing. In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, ABC posted season highs on Friday evening. At 8pm, ABC’s second season premiere of Last Man Standing opened at #1 in its half-hour with viewers and young adults, beating CBS’ season opener of Undercover Boss and Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares. Last Man Standing drew the series’ biggest audience since January and posted its highest Adult 18-49 number since February – since 1/17/12 and 2/28/12, respectively. In addition, Last Man Standing opened its second season with ABC’s highest numbers in the half-hour in close to 3 years – since 1/1/10. Building on its lead-in at 8:30pm by 1 million viewers and by 15% in young adults, the series debut of Malibu Country soared to the top of its half-hour. In fact, Malibu Country finished as Friday’s #1 TV show in the key young adult sales demo (tied with ABC’s Shark Tank). In viewers and young adults, Malibu Country scored ABC’s highest numbers in the half hour in almost 5 years – since 11/30/07. In addition among Adults 18-49, Malibu Country opened as Friday’s top-rated scripted series debut on any net since October 2007 – since ABC’s Women’s Murder Club on 10/12/07. Moving up into its new 9 o’clock time period, ABC’s Shark Tank built on its lead-in to dominate its hour in Adults 18-49, beating NBC’s Grimm by 28%, CBS’ CSI: NY by 53% and Fox’s Fringe by 156%. In fact, Shark Tank tied Malibu Country as the #1 show of the night among young adults. Building week to week in Total Viewers (+9%) and Adults 18-49 (+28%), Shark Tank once again achieved new series highs on both measures. In addition, Shark Tank generated ABC’s top Adult 18-49 number in the hour in more than 2-1/2 years – since 3/26/10. ABC’s 20/20 ranked #1 during the 10 o’clock hour in Adults 18-49 among the major nets, defeating CBS’ Blue Bloods by 15% and NBC’s Dateline by 36%. In fact, 20/20 topped the competing NBC newsmagazine by 1.6 million viewers and by 43% in the key Adult 25-54 news demo). Anchored by Elizabeth Vargas, 20/20 featured an hour on heroes, including some of the amazing stories from Hurricane Sandy. The program also gave viewers the latest information on the aftermath the storm. Up 7% week to week, 20/20 marked its best Adult 18-49 rating in 7 weeks – since 9/14/12. Continuing to grow its numbers year to year, ABC’s 20/20 surged over its year-ago broadcast by double-digit percentages in Total Viewers (+13%), Adults 18-49 (+36%) and Adults 25-54 (+33%).
Sunday: Up against another NFL-driven Sunday from NBC’s Sunday Night Football (Dallas Cowboys-Atlanta Falcons) and a big CBS football overrun into the first hour of primetime (Pittsburgh Steelers-NY Giants), ABC retained all of its Adult 18-49 delivery week to week and beat out Fox’s entertainment lineup on the night by 15%. In addition, the Net grew its overall Sunday audience week to week and topped Fox by 3.1 million viewers. Spiking week to week in viewers (+25%) and young adults (+31%), ABC’s America’s Funniest Home Videos earned season highs with its biggest audience since the beginning of March and its top Adult 18-49 number since early May – since 3/4/12 and 5/6/12, respectively. More than doubling its Adult 18-49 lead-in (+106%) at 8pm and building from start to finish, ABC’s Once Upon a Time stood as Sunday’s highest-rated scripted broadcast series for the 6th week in a row. Once Upon a Time dominated its non-sports competition from 8-9pm in Adults 18-49, beating CBS’ NFL-fueled 60 Minutes/Amazing Race XXI by 21% and Fox’s animated comedies (The Simpsons/Bob’s Burgers) by 59%. The Disney-owned drama registered as the #1 entertainment show on Sunday with Women 18-49. Growing its young adult audience for the 3rd straight week and adding viewers week to week, ABC’s Once Upon a Time scored best-since-season-premiere results in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 – since 9/30/12. In the 9pm hour, ABC’s Revenge paced well ahead of its entertainment competition in Adults 18-49, beating Fox’s animated comedies (Family Guy/American Dad) by 23% and CBS’ Amazing Race/The Good Wife by 29%. The ABC sophomore drama also defeated its Fox and CBS competition in Adults 25-54 and across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). Surging in DVR playback, on average this season Revenge jumps from its L+SD to L+7 numbers by 2.8 million viewers and by 1.2 Adult 18-49 rating points (+43%). During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC freshman 666 Park Avenue defeated CBS’ veteran dramas (The Good Wife/The Mentalist) by 15% in Women 18-34 to qualify as the #1 broadcast series in its time slot for the 6th consecutive week. Continuing to run among the biggest freshman series this season in DVR playback, on average 666 Park Avenue sees its Live + 7 Day Adult 18-49 rating jump by 44% (+0.8 rating) and gains another 2.0 million viewers over its Live + Same Day numbers.
