Overall: During the week of 3/26/12, ABC finished as the 2nd-most-watched TV network for the 3rd week running to CBS, widening its lead over Fox to double digits (+12%). ABC delivered 4 of the Top 20 TV shows for the week in Adults 18-49, placing 2 in the Top 10: Dancing with the Stars – #9, DWTS Results Show – #10, Once Upon a Time – #14 and Desperate Housewives – #18. In addition, ABC aired 2 of the Top 6 most-watched programs overall with DWTS (#2) and DWTS Results Show (#6), as DWTS stood as TV’s most-watched unscripted series for the 2nd week in a row, topping both editions of Fox’s Idol and NBC’s The Voice. Marking its top-rated telecast in well over 2 years (since 1/8/10), ABC’s 20/20 qualified as TV’s #1 newsmagazine in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54. ABC’s numbers were up week to week in viewers (+9%) and young adults (+6%). In fact, growing its audience for the 3rd straight week, ABC produced its most-watched non-Oscar week since November – since w/o 11/21/11.
Monday: Boosted by another strong turnout for Dancing with the Stars and Castle, ABC qualified as the Monday’s most-watched TV network for the 2nd straight week, outdrawing runner-up NBC with The Voice and Smash by 5.9 million viewers. Finishing a strong #2 on the night in Adults 18-49, ABC beat Fox with the 2-hour season finale of Alcatraz by 93% and CBS’ encore line up by 53%. The most-watched TV show on Monday for the 2nd week in a row, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars topped its 2-hour time period by 6.0 million viewers over runner-up NBC’s The Voice in head-to-head competition. Among Adults 18-49, Dancing more than doubled the delivery of Fox’s 2-hour Alcatraz finale (+113%) in the time period. ABC’s Dancing exhibited strong retention of its week-earlier season premiere in Total Viewers (96%) and Adults 18-49 (91%). ABC’s Castle won the 10 o’clock hour to stand as Monday’s # 1 scripted TV show in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. ABC’s Castle beat out NBC’s Smash by its biggest-ever margins, topping the NBC drama by 5.8 million viewers and by 10% in Adults 18-49. The ABC drama also ranked #1 in the hour with Adults 25-54 for the 2nd consecutive week. ABC’s Castle turned in its largest overall audience since October and strongest young adult performance since November – since 10/31/11 and 11/7/11, respectively.
Tuesday: With a Dancing recap show followed by the Season 14 premiere of DWTS Results Show leading into Body of Proof, ABC ran a strong #2 on Tuesday to CBS, leading third-place NBC’s all-original lineup by 7.0 million viewers and by 33% in Adults 18-49. With DWTS Results Show and Body of Proof, ABC ranked #1 from 9-11pm in Adults 18-49. From 8-9pm, ABC’s special Dancing recap show (DWTS: The Story So Far) took second place to CBS’ top-rated NCIS, more than doubling the audience of NBC’s The Biggest Loser and leading by 11% in Adults 18-49. DWTS: The Story So Far drew the Net’s biggest audience in the hour since October – since 10/11/11. Lifting ABC up to #1 in the 9 o’clock hour, the season premiere of DWTS Results Show beat out CBS’ NCIS: Los Angeles in viewers (+6%) and young adults (+3%). In fact, it was the 3rd time in its last 4 premieres for the Results Show to rank #1 in its slot on both counts. Outdelivering NBC and Fox by wide margins in Adults 18-49, the ABC dancing results show beat out the second hour of The Biggest Loser by 48% and the New Girl/Breaking In comedy combo by 55%. In addition, DWTS Results finished as Tuesday’s #1 TV show with Women 18-49. Tennis champion Martina Navratilova was the first celebrity voted off the show this season. ABC’s DWTS Results Show was up over its Season 13 opener last fall in both Total Viewers (+6%) and Adults 18-49 (+7%). Additionally in viewers and young adults, it was show’s 2nd-strongest spring premiere in 4 years – since 3/25/08. Delivering huge week-to-week time-period improvement in Total Viewers (+293%) and Adults 18-49 (+121%), DWTS Results Show produced 4-month highs for ABC in the hour on both measures – since 11/22/11, with the Season 13 finale of DWTS. In the 10 o’clock hour against CBS’ Unforgettable and NBC’s Fashion Star, ABC’s Body of Proof finished in a near-tie for #1 in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 (pacing within 1-tenth of a rating point and tied in audience share with CBS in both demos), while winning the hour outright in key Women (W18-49/W25-54). In addition, ABC beat out NBC in the hour by season-best margins, as Body of Proof towered over Fashion Star by 5.7 million viewers and by 35% in Adults 18-49. Up sharply over its most recent original in viewers (+29%) and young adults (+43%), ABC’s Body of Proof drew its biggest audience in over 4 months and equaled a 6-month high among Adults 18-49 – since 11/15/11 and 9/20/11, respectively.
Wednesday: For the 2nd week in a row, ABC’s mostly repeat Wednesday schedule (1 original half-hour) dominated NBC’s first-run schedule on the night (including season finales), leading by 35% in Total Viewers and by 30% in Adults 18-49. At 8pm, against the start of Fox’s 2-hour Idol and CBS’ Survivor: One World, ABC’s repeat The Middle drew more viewers than NBC’s season finale of Whitney. At 8:30pm like its lead-in, ABC’s repeat Suburgatory outdrew its original comedy competition in the half hour, topping the season closer of Are You There, Chelsea? by 19% in viewers and tying the NBC comedy finale in Adults 18-49. At 9:00pm, ABC’s repeat Modern Family stood as the #1 scripted show in its slot among Adults 18-49, topping runner-up CBS’ encore Criminal Minds by 12%. In addition, the replay Modern Family more than doubled NBC’s original Bent in the half-hour with Total Viewers (+104%) and Adults 18-49 (+111%). During the 9:30pm half-hour against the conclusion of Idol, ABC’s Happy Endings finished as the top-rated scripted show in its slot and as Wednesday’s #1 scripted TV show overall in Adults 18-49 (tied w/Modern Family). In addition, the ABC sophomore comedy took full control of a second original episode of NBC’s Bent, increasing its winning advantage week to week to 1.8 million viewers and 138% in Adults 18-49 (up from 1.7 million viewers and 125% in Adults 18-49 the prior week). Happy Endings grew week to week with Adults 18-49 (+6%) and improved its time period year to year by 36% in the key young adult sales demo, bettering an original Mr. Sunshine on the same night last year. During the 10 o’clock hour, for the 2nd consecutive week a replay of ABC freshman drama Missing beat out NBC’s original Rock Center with Brian Williams in Total Viewers (+21%), Adults 25-54 (+18%) and Adults 18-49 (+13%).
Thursday: From 8-9pm, opposite Fox’s American Idol and CBS’ first-run comedies (The Big Bang Theory/Rules of Engagement), ABC’s Missing more than doubled the audience (+136%) of NBC’s original comedy block (Community/30 Rock). Gaining audience throughout its broadcast, Missing grew by 5% in Total Viewers and 14% in Adults 18-49 from its first half-hour to its second half-hour. The new drama continued to improve its hour year to year by double digits, pulling in a 22% larger audience than original programming on the year-ago night (Wipeout on 3/31/11). During the 9 o’clock hour, ABC’s encore Grey’s Anatomy topped NBC’s mix of repeat and original comedies (The Office/Up All Night) by 1.3 million, as the ABC drama drew its 2nd-biggest replay audience this season. During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s repeat Private Practice beat out NBC’s original Awake by double-digit margins with Women 18-49 (+20%) and Women 25-54 (+23%).
Friday: With a mix of repeat and original programming opposite all first-run competition, ABC ran in a virtual tie for #1 with CBS in Adults 18-49 (pacing within 1-tenth of a rating point), while dominating Fox by 33% and NBC by 45%. With reports on lotto frenzy, ABC’s 20/20 at 10pm stood as Friday’s #1 TV show in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54. The Network matched its top-rated Friday in 6 weeks among Adults 18-49 – since 2/17/12. Starting off the night against original programming, a repeat of ABC’s Shark Tank at 8pm led its unscripted competition in Adults 18-49, beating Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares by 8% and NBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? by 63%. ABC’s Shark Tank turned in its best-ever repeat numbers in Total Viewers and young adults. Building on its lead-in at 9pm, ABC’s Primetime: What Would You Do? ran in a near-tie with CBS’ CSI:NY for first place in the hour among Adults 18-49 (pacing within 1-tenth of a rating point and tied in audience share), while beating NBC’s Grimm by 25% and Fox’s Fringe by 25%. Impressively, the ABC newsmagazine beat out the original dramas on CBS, NBC and Fox in the hour with Adults 18-34. Friday’s #1 TV show, ABC’s 20/20 dominated the 10 o’clock hour, outdelivering CBS’ Blue Bloods by 31% in Adults 18-49 and by 17% in Adults 25-54. In addition, 20/20 continued to overshadow its newsmagazine competition during the hour, beating NBC’s Dateline by 52% in Total Viewers, by 75% in Adults 25-54 and by 75% in Adults 18-49. ABC’s 20/20, Lotto Frenzy: Be Careful What You Wish For, was anchored by Barbara Walters with reports from Dan Harris, Jay Schadler, John Berman, Nick Watt and Cecilia Vega. Scoring its 3rd straight week of demographic growth, ABC’s 20/20 hit its highest numbers in well over 2 years with Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 – since 1/8/10.
Sunday: With a mix of repeat and original programming opposite CBS with the Academy of Country Music Awards, ABC finished a solid #2 on Sunday with viewers and young adults. Among Adults 18-49, ABC beat out Fox’s Sunday schedule by 24% and NBC’s original lineup by 31%. ABC’s Once Upon a Time and Desperate Housewives stood as Sunday’s Top 2 TV series with young adults. Vaulting over its repeat AFHV lead-in at 8pm (+133%), ABC’s Once Upon a Time shot up to #1 in its hour in Adults 18-49, leading the slot for its 6th consecutive telecast. In fact, the Disney-owned drama finished as Sunday’s #1 TV series for the 2nd week in a row. ABC’s Desperate Housewives beat out its regular competition during the 9 o’clock hour in Adults 18-49, outdelivering Fox’s animated comedies (Family Guy/American Dad) by 13% and the second hour of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice by 44%. During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s GCB topped the final hour of NBC’s 3-hour Celebrity Apprentice by 9% in Adults 18-34. It was the 5th straight week for the new ABC drama to rank as the #1 broadcast series in its slot with Adults 18-34 and key Women (W18-34/W18-49).
(Source: ABC)
