Overall: During the week of 12/31/12, ABC delivered 7 of the Top 20 non-sports TV shows in Adults 18-49: New Year’s Rockin’ Eve ‘13 – #4, Once Upon a Time – #7, NYRE Celebrates Dick Clark – #11, Revenge – #13, Modern Family-R – #16, while The Middle-R and Shark Tank tied at #19. In addition, New Year’s Rockin’ Eve ‘13 finished among the week’s Top 5 most-watched TV programs overall. ABC was up week to week by 28% in Total Viewers and by 27% in Adults 18-49.
Monday: With its New Year’s Eve lineup, featuring New Year’s Rockin’ Eve Celebrates Dick Clark and Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2013, ABC finished a dominant #1 on the evening, winning all 6 half-hours of primetime and more than doubling the next major network in Total Viewers (+168% over CBS), while outdelivering its combined network competition by 41% in Adults 18-49 (CBS, NBC and Fox combined).
Building year to year in viewers and young adults, ABC marked its biggest New Year’s Eve numbers during primetime in 12 years – since 12/31/00. ABC took full control from 8-10pm with New Year’s Rockin’ Eve Celebrates Dick Clark leading its nearest network competitor (CBS) by 154% in viewers and by 189% with young adults. Spiking over its lead-in, ABC’s broadcast of Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2013 overshadowed the final hour of the night and ranked as the #1 TV program in prime with Total Viewers and across each of the key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54). In fact, during the final hour of prime, Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve topped CBS and NBC combined with Total Viewers (+58%) and more than doubled their combined Adult 18-49 numbers (+116%). Head-to-head from 10-11pm, ABC’s Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest eclipsed NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly Prime by 9.5 million viewers and by 242% in Adults 18-49. Up over last year’s telecast, Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve attracted its largest audience ever on ABC – the special premiered on the Net in 2000.
Tuesday: During the 8 o’clock hour in Adults 18-49, ABC’s repeat Shark Tank defeated repeat programming on NBC by 7% (Off Their Rockers/Off Their Rockers), on CBS by 15% (NCIS) and on Fox by 150% (Ben & Kate/Ben & Kate). Shark Tank equaled the series’ 2nd-highest-ever repeat Adult 18-49 number.
Wednesday: On Wednesday night with its 2-hour repeat comedy block and a recap clip show for Nashville, ABC beat out Fox’s original lineup (Mobbed/Mobbed) by 36% in Adults 18-49 and tied CBS’ repeat schedule. At 8pm, against NBC’s original Whitney and Fox’s original Mobbed, ABC’s repeat The Middle ranked #1 in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. The Middle marked its most-watched repeat in nearly 2 years and its top replay Adult 18-49 number in more than 1 year – since 2/2/11 and 11/30/11, respectively. At 8:30pm, a repeat of ABC’s The Neighbors drew a bigger audience than NBC’s first-run Guys with Kids and beat out the second half-hour of Fox’s Mobbed by 1.5 million viewers and by 18% in Adults 18-49. The Neighbors posted the series’ best repeat performance yet in viewers and young adults. ABC’s encore Modern Family ranked as the #1 series in the 9pm half-hour in Adults 18-49, more than doubling Fox’s original Mobbed (+110%). In the 9:30pm half-hour, ABC’s encore Suburgatory defeated the final half-hour of Fox’s original Mobbed by 1.3 million viewers and by 8% in Adults 18-49. In viewers and young adults, Suburgatory earned its top repeat numbers in over 8 months – since 4/25/12. During the 10 o’clock hour ahead of its return next week to original, ABC’s Nashville: The Whole Story recap show spiked over last week’s encore by 48% in Total Viewers and by 100% in Adults 18-49
Friday: Returning to an all-original lineup on the night for the first time since mid-November opposite the Cotton Bowl on Fox, ABC beat CBS’ original schedule by 7% and NBC by 25% in Adults 18-49. From 8-9pm, Last Man Standing and Malibu Country delivered strong audience retention from the first half-hour to the second half-hour in viewers (91%) and young adults (86%). Returning to their first original airings in 3 weeks against the Cotton Bowl, Last Man Standing retained 97% of its overall audience from its last airing in the slot on December 14, 2012, while Malibu Country held onto 94% of its Total Viewer audience. On its first original telecast on the night in 7 weeks (since 11/16/12) in, ABC’s Shark Tank returned as Friday’s #1 TV series in Adults 18-49 on the major networks. Building on its lead-in at 9pm, the ABC unscripted show beat its nearest non-sports competition in the hour (CBS’ CSI: NY) by 38%. Despite facing the college football bowl game, Shark Tank held nearly all of its Adult 18-49 audience (90%) and improved its slot for ABC by 13% year over year. During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s 20/20 came back after two weeks of preemptions to defeat CBS’ Blue Bloods in Adults 18-49 (+8%) and Adults 25-54 (+6%). Anchored by Elizabeth Vargas, 20/20 and PEOPLE magazine teamed up for “Half Their Size,” a must-see hour to kick-start any weight-loss program. 20/20 grew over its year-ago telecast in Adults 18-49 (+8%) and Adult 25-54 (+6%), up year to year in the key news demo for its 9th consecutive broadcast.
Sunday: On its first telecast in 5 weeks opposite Fox’s NFL Playoff-fueled lineup (NFC Wildcard Game) and original programming on NBC, the return of Once Upon a Time made ABC the most-watched TV network in Sunday’s 8 o’clock hour and also led its time slot across all key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). Among Adults 18-49, Once Upon a Time more than tripled its lead-in (+244%) at 8pm to retain 100% of its most recent delivery in the hour on December 2, 2012. In addition, the Disney-owned drama was up over its last telecast in Adults 18-34 (+4%) and Kids 2-11 (+17%), posting its best Adult 18-34 number since the beginning of November and its top Kids rating since its September season premiere – since 11/4/12 and 9/30/12, respectively. Once Upon a Time finished as Sunday’s #1 drama with young adults. Also returning after a 5-week break against NFL-driven competition and season premiere programming, ABC’s Revenge held 100% of its Adult 18-49 audience from its last telecast, while growing its Adult 25-54 delivery (+7%) to its highest ratings since November 11, 2012. In the 9 o’clock hour, ABC’s Revenge drew a larger audience than NBC’s season opener of The Biggest Loser and Fox’s comedies (Family Guy/American Dad), while outdelivering CBS’ competing drama The Good Wife by 33% in Adults 18-49. Revenge was Sunday’s #2 drama with young adults.
