Wednesday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)
Posting strong year-over-year gains against the start of the World Series in viewers (+20% – 7.9 million vs. 6.6 million) and young adults (+13% – 2.7/8 vs. 2.4/6), ABC delivered its best numbers opposite Game 1 of the Fall Classic in 3 years – since 2007. ABC was up from the year-ago Wednesday for the 4th straight week.
• ABC’s 8:00-10:00 p.m. Halloween-themed Wednesday comedy block continued to grow year to year, building by 2.3 million viewers (9.6 million vs. 7.3 million) and by 25% in Adults 18-49 (3.5/10 vs. 2.8/7) from the same night a year ago. In fact the 2-hour comedy block posted its highest numbers this season in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.
“The Middle” (8:00-8:30 p.m.)
Growing for the 2nd straight week to season-highs in both Total Viewers (9.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.9/9), ABC’s “The Middle” marked its most-competitive finish this season against CBS’ “Survivor: Nicaragua,” while topping NBC’s “Undercovers” by its biggest margins yet. The ABC sophomore won the half-hour with Women 18-34, beating out the World Series and “Survivor.”
• “The Middle” rose sharply from its year-ago performance, when it aired in the 8:30pm half-hour, jumping by 3.0 million viewers and by 32% in Adults 18-49 (6.5 million and 2.2/6 on 10/28/09).
• Despite facing Game 1 of the World Series, “The Middle” produced its most-watched telecast ever and matched its highest-ever Adult 18-49 number.
“Better with You” (8:30-9:00 p.m.)
Building its numbers week to week against the game, ABC’s “Better with You” continued to dominate its freshman competition in the half-hour, beating NBC’s “Undercovers” by 43% in Total Viewers (7.7 million vs. 5.4 million) and by a best-ever margin of 79% in Adults 18-49 (2.5/7 vs. 1.4/4).
• “Better with You” improved its half-hour for ABC from the same night last year in both Total Viewers (+18%) and Adults 18-49 (+14%).
• The new ABC comedy matched a series-high in Adults 18-49 and drew the series’ 2nd-largest audience to date. “Better with You” also posted series-highs with Adults 25-54, Women 18-49, Women 18-34 and Kids 2-11.
“Modern Family” (9:00-9:31 p.m.)
Qualifying as Wednesday’s No. 1 TV show for the 6th straight week this season, ABC’s “Modern Family” upset Fox’s World Series opener on the night, beating out Game 1 by 9% in Adults 18-49 (5.1/14 vs. 4.7/14 from 7:53-11:36 p.m.). In doing so, “Modern Family” became the first program to top any Game 1 of the World Series since at least 1991 – pre-dating the start of Nielsen’s electronic database. In the 9:00 p.m. half-hour, the ABC comedy defeated CBS’ “Criminal Minds” (3.4/9) by a season-best 50% in the key young adult sales demo.
• “Modern Family” outdelivered its year-ago performance for the 6th week running this season, catapulting over the same night last year by 3.9 million viewers (13.2 million vs. 9.3 million) and by 38% in Adults 18-49 (5.1/14 vs. 3.7/9).
• “Modern Family” hit a new series high in Total Viewers and equaled its highest-ever rating with Adults 18-49. The broad-appealing comedy also achieved its best-ever ratings in Adults 25-54, all key Women and Kids 2-11.
“Cougar Town” (9:31-10:01 p.m.)
ABC’s “Cougar Town” won its half-hour with Women 18-34 (3.7/11) for the 4th week in a row and also led with Women 18-49 (4.2/11). In addition, the ABC comedy finished No. 2 in the half-hour among Adults 18-34, behind only the World Series.
• Building its overall audience for the 4th week running at 9:30pm, “Cougar Town” pulled in its best viewer (8.2 million) and young adult (3.3/9) results since its season opener 5 weeks ago (on 9/22/10), generating its 2nd-biggest audience since September 2009 – since 9/30/09.
• “Cougar Town” was up from its performance on the same night last year in both viewers and young adults (7.5 million and 3.2/8).
(source: ABC)
