Overall: During the week of 3/11/13, ABC finished #2 in Adults 18-49, tying CBS and pacing within 2-tenths of a rating point of an Idol-driven Fox for the lead. The Net ranked #1 for the week with Women 18-49. ABC aired 4 of the Top 20 TV shows in Adults 18-49, placing 2 of the Top 6 programs and the #1 unscripted show with The Bachelor: After the Final Rose, tying Fox’s American Idol-WED for the lead: The Bachelor: After the Final Rose – #3, The Bachelor – #6, Grey’s Anatomy – #14 and Once Upon a Time – #16. In addition, After the Final Rose and The Bachelor finale tied as week’s #1 TV telecast with Women 18-34. The only major net up in Adults 18-49, ABC grew over the prior week in viewers (+7%) and young adults (+13%) to its best numbers since mid-February with The Oscars – since w/o 2/18/13.
Monday: As The Bachelor and The Bachelor: After the Final Rose finished as the Top 2 TV shows on Monday, ABC won the night over its nearest competition (Fox) by 64% in Total Viewers and by 80% in Adults 18-49, ranking #1 in all 6 half-hours. The Net won the night for the 3rd time in 4 weeks. ABC was up over the year-ago night by 12% in Total Viewers and by 20% in Adults 18-49. The Net posted its highest rated Monday in 1-1/2 years among Adults 18-49 – since 9/19/11. Wrapping with season-highs and dominating its time period, ABC’s The Bachelor 17th-season finale was up over last season’s finale by 13% in Total Viewers and by 21% in Adults 18-49. The finale spiked over the prior week’s telecast in viewers (+22%) and young adults (+25%). Building throughout its broadcast, The Bachelor drew 14.0 million viewers and a 4.9/13 in Adults 18-49 from 10-10:07 pm, as Sean Lowe proposed Catherine Giudici. The Bachelor was Monday’s most social TV show with 616,000 tweets, representing a 148% spike week to week and the most for any telecast of the program this season. During its full season run, The Bachelor generated a total of 3.2 million tweets, nearly quadrupling last season’s number (+279% over last year’s 850,000). On average, The Bachelor finished up over the prior season across key demographics, including Total Viewers (+3%), Adults 18-49 (+7%), Adults 18-34 (+17%) and Women 18-34 (+22%). ABC’s The Bachelor: After the Final Rose towered over the 10 o’clock hour, beating the combined delivery of CBS and NBC among viewers (+6%) and young adults (+52%). The Bachelor: After the Final Rose grew over last year’s special by 9% in viewers and by 15% among young adults. In Adults 18-49, The Bachelor: After the Final Rose ranked as this season’s #2 entertainment telecast (on any broadcaster) in the 10 o’clock hour, behind only the primetime portion of ABC’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve ’13.
Tuesday: At 8pm, opposite the opening hour of Fox’s 2-hour Hell’s Kitchen season premiere, ABC’s Celebrity Wife Swap grew week to week by 22% in Total Viewers and by 7% in Adults 18-49. On average, Celebrity Wife Swap is improving the hour for ABC year to year by 4% in Total Viewers and by 20% in Adults 18-49. During the 9 o’clock against the conclusion of the Hell’s Kitchen opener, ABC’s The Taste season finale gained 9% week to week in Total Viewers. Building on its lead-in at 10pm with viewers, ABC’s Body of Proof continued to more than double the overall audience of NBC’s Smash (+128%) and led by 33% in Adults 18-49. The ABC drama grew its overall audience for the 2nd straight week to turn in its 2nd-most-watched telecast this season.
Thursday: Airing repeats in the opening and closing hours of the night, ABC outdelivered NBC’s Thursday lineup by 2.5 million viewers and by 42% in Adults 18-49. CBS and Fox each aired all-original programming on the night. On its first original telecast since February (2/21/13) and on the first Thursday in Daylight Saving Time, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy doubled its Adult 18-49 lead-in (+100% over an encore Shark Tank) to run a strong second in the 9 o’clock hour to CBS’ Person of Interest (which had the benefit of originals of The Big Bang Theory/Two and a Half Men as a lead-in), beating Fox’s Idol-led Glee by 30% and NBC’s comedies by 86% (The Office/1600 Penn). Grey’s won the hour and stood as the #1 drama of the night in Adults 18-34 and across all key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). Grey’s is one of TV’s biggest gainers via TV playback, adding on 1.7 Adult 18-49 rating points (+53%) from its preliminary next-day numbers to its L+7 finals. During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s repeat Scandal beat out NBC’s repeat Law & Order: SVU by double digits in Total Viewers (+33%) and Adults 18-49 (+22%). Scandal grew week to week by 8% in viewers and by 10% in young adults to deliver the series 2nd-highest-ever encore numbers.
Friday: Although Shark Tank was a repeat in the middle hour of the night, ABC ranked #1 on Friday in Adults 18-49, beating CBS by 16% and all original lineups on NBC by 55% and Fox by 75%. Season to date, ABC is the #1 network on Friday in Adults 18-49, with its strongest delivery on the night in 4 years – since the 2008-09 season. Please Note: On the first Friday of Daylight Saving Time, overall Adult 18-49 TV usage was down -5% week to week, with an even sharper -8% decline from 8-9pm. From 8-9pm, ABC’s Last Man Standing and Malibu Country ranked #1 in the hour in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, defeating Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares and NBC’s Fashion Star. At 9pm, ABC’s repeat Shark Tank spiked over its Adult 18-49 lead-in by 36% to win its hour, leading originals of NBC’s Grimm by 7% and Fox’s Touch by 150%. Shark Tank also stood as the most-watched program in the 9 o’clock hour. Shark Tank delivered its 2nd-highest-ever encore numbers with viewers and young adults. From 10-11pm, ABC’s 20/20 beat out Rock Center with Brian Williams by 2.7 million viewers and doubled the NBC newsmagazine in Adults 18-49 (+133%) and Adults 25-54 (+100%). 20/20 reported on unbelievable tales from the road, with potential life-saving tips, on “Highway Confidential.”
Saturday: ABC was the #1 broadcast network on Saturday night in Adults 18-49, leading CBS by 29%, Fox by 29% and NBC by 50%. The Net scored its top-rated Saturday with young adults in 5 weeks– since 2/9/13. In the 8 o’clock hour, an encore of ABC’s Celebrity Wife Swap beat an original of NBC’s American Ninja Warrior by 50% in Adults 18-49. From 9-11pm, ABC’s 20/20-Saturday won in its 2-hour time slot in both Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 over its network rivals. In its second hour, the ABC newsmagazine outdelivered CBS’ 48 Hours Mystery head-to-head from 10-11pm by 25% in Adults 18-49 and by 8% in Adults 25-54. 20/20-Saturday grew for the 2nd consecutive week to its best numbers this season in both Adult demos.
Sunday: With a mix of repeat (AFHV) and original programming up against nearly all first-run competition, ABC finished as the 2nd-most-watched broadcast net on Sunday to CBS and paced within 1-tenth of a tie for first in Adults 18-49. Surging 53% over its Adult 18-49 lead-in at 8pm, ABC’s Once Upon a Time tied CBS’ Amazing Race as the #1 series in the hour . The ABC drama won its time slot with key Women (W18-34/W18-49) to rank as Sunday’s highest-rated broadcast series in W18-49. Once Upon a Time held 100% of its week-ago Adult 18-49 rating and grew week to week with Women 18-49 (+3%) and Teens 12-17 (+25%). The show equaled an 8-week high in Women 18-49 and matched a 16-week high with Teens – since 1/20/13 and 11/25/12, respectively. Please Note: Once Upon a Time is seeing much bigger ratings growth after day of air, up sharply over last Fall and the year-ago Spring. The Adult 18-49 increases for Once Upon a Time from L+SD to L+7 have gone from 42% last Fall up to 52% this Spring, and is also showing a much bigger gain than the same point last Spring (39%). In the 9 o’clock hour, ABC’s Revenge beat out its CBS drama competition by 20% in Adults 18-49, leading The Good Wife on every original head-to-head matchup in the hour. The ABC drama also defeated the opening hour of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice in the key young adult sales demo (+6%). Additionally, the sophomore drama made ABC the #1 broadcaster in the time period with key Women (W18-49/W25-54). Season to date, Revenge is up 17% in Adults 18-49 over the same point in its freshman season. During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Red Widow held 91% of its Adult 18-49 audience week to week, with 100% retention in Women 18-49. Based on the first round of Live + 7 Day data for the show that became available this morning, Red Widow spiked over its Live +Same Day numbers by 2.5 million viewers (7.1 million to 9.6 million) and by 40% in Adults 18-49 (1.5 rating to a 2.1 rating).
