ABC finishes in second

Overall: During the week of 11/12/12, ABC finished as the 2nd-most-watched network overall to CBS, outdrawing an NFL-fueled NBC by 1.1 million viewers (+16%) and Fox by 3.6 million viewers (+80%).  The Net aired 3 of the Top 15 TV shows during the week in Adults 18-49, including the #1 broadcast drama for the 4th week running, with Grey’s Anatomy: Modern Family – #5, The 40th Anniversary American Music Awards – #10 and Grey’s Anatomy – #11.   ABC’s DWTS: All-Stars and DWTS: All Stars – Results Show stood as the week’s Top 2 most-watched unscripted series, as the Net claimed the #1 unscripted show overall for the 6th straight week.

Season-to-Date C3 Ratings (9/24-11/04/12):  ABC is the #1 network this season in the sales currency of C3 non-sports Adult 18-49 ratings (Commercial Ratings + 3 Days of Playback), beating CBS by 5%, Fox by 5% and NBC by 10%.

Monday: Featuring DWTS: All Stars and Castle, ABC finished as the most-watched net to lead the pack for the 8th consecutive Monday this season, topping NBC by 2.4 million viewers (The Voice/Revolution), CBS by 4.7 million viewers (HIMYM/Partners/2 Broke Girls/Mike & Molly/Hawaii Five-0) and Fox by 7.6 million viewers (Bones/The Mob Doctor).   Additionally in Adults 18-49, ABC defeated Fox on the evening by 43%.  Building its numbers from its first hour to its second hour, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars took first place in its time slot and registered as the most-watched TV series for the 6th straight Monday, outdrawing NBC’s The Voice in head-to-head competition by a season-best 2.2 million viewers.  In addition, ABC’s Dancing outdelivered Fox’s dramas in the 2-hour time period by 50% with Adults 18-49. Monday’s most-watched scripted TV program in its 7th consecutive broadcast, ABC’s Castle topped the 10 o’clock hour, leading CBS’ Hawaii Five-0 by 2.1 million viewers and NBC’s Revolution by a season-best of 3.0 million viewers.

Tuesday: During the 8 o’clock hour, ABC’s DWTS: All Stars — The Results Show outdrew NBC’s The Voice in head-to-head competition by 1.0 million viewers. In addition from 8-9pm in Adults 18-49, ABC’s dancing results show paced well ahead of Fox’s comedies (+36% over Raising Hope/Ben and Kate). In a double elimination, Kirstie Alley and Gilles Marini were the next two dancers to leave the competition this season. Building across the board from its most recent airing two weeks ago, DWTS: The Results Show grew by 5% in Total Viewers, by 10% in Adults 18-34, by 6% in Adults 18-49 and by 8% in Adults 25-54. In addition, the show spiked over its last telecast with Teens 12-17 (+33%) and Kids 2-11 (+33%) to hit a new season high on the latter measure.  In the 9pm half-hour, ABC’s Happy Endings topped Fox’s time-period established New Girl in Total Viewers. In fact, Happy Endings attracted a larger audience than all 4 of Fox’s Tuesday comedies. Happy Endings returned after its preemption the prior week for election coverage with an increase in Total Viewers and 93% retention in Adults 18-49. From 9:30-10pm, ABC’s Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt 23 held 97% of its two-week-ago Total Viewer count and retained 92% among Adults 18-49.  During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Private Practice beat CBS’ Vegas across all key Women demos: W18-34 +63%, W18-49 +6% and W25-54 +4%.

Wednesday: At 8pm, ABC’s The Middle towered over the season premiere of NBC’s Whitney, leading its comedy competition by 4.6 million viewers and by 86% in Adults 18-49.  In fact, the ABC comedy beat CBS’ Survivor: Philippines for the first time in Adults 18-49 and paced within 1-tenth of a rating point of tying Fox’s The X Factor for #1 in the half-hour.  Additionally, The Middle finished #1 in its slot with Teens 12-17.  At 8:30pm, ABC’s The Neighbors dominated its freshman comedy competition, beating NBC’s Guys with Kids by 74% in Total Viewers and by 46% in Adults 18-49.  In addition the show was up for the 2nd week with Teens 12-17 (+7%), matching its 2nd-highest rating in its time period.  Shooting up from its lead-in (+142%) to take full control of the 9pm half-hour in Adults 18-49, ABC’s Modern Family beat out CBS’ Criminal Minds by 53%, The X Factor by 53% and NBC’s Law & Order: SVU by 207%.  ABC’s Modern Family registered as Wednesday’s #1 TV show for its 7th straight telecast across all key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54).  In the 9:30pm half-hour against the conclusion of The X Factor, ABC’s Suburgatory defeated NBC’s L&O: SVU by double-digit percentages in viewers (+13%) and young adults (+33%).  Suburgatory attracted a larger audience to its time period for ABC year to year (+3%), topping original comedy programming on the same night last year.  During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Nashville once again registered as the #1 freshman series in its slot with Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, beating out NBC’s Chicago Fire.  In addition among Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34, the ABC freshman outdelivered its drama competition on CBS (CSI) and NBC (Chicago Fire) for its 6th consecutive broadcast.  The ABC drama retained 100% of its Adult 25-54 audience week to week.  Nashville continues to see huge increases from its L+SD to L+7 numbers, jumping by 57% in Adults 18-49 (+1.3 rating) and by 43% in Total Viewers (+3.15 million), making it the 2nd-biggest young adult gainer this season among both new shows and 10pm series.

Thursday: During the 8 o’clock hour against CBS’ top-rated comedies (The Big Bang Theory/Two and a Half Men) and Fox’s The X Factor Results Show, ABC freshman Last Resort outdrew NBC’s established comedies (30 Rock/Up All Night) by 2.5 million viewers. On average, the ABC freshman drama is generating big year-over-year improvement for ABC, boosting its time period by 30% in Total Viewers and by 41% in Adults 18-49 over the same point last season with original drama programming.  More than doubling its lead-in among Adults 18-49 (+167%) at 9pm, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy won in its hour and stood as Thursday’s #1 drama for its 6th straight telecast this season. In addition, the ABC drama dominated the hour with Adults 18-34 and across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).  Grey’s marked its best numbers in 4 weeks with Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34 – since 10/18/12. Broadcast TV’s #1 drama in Adults 18-49 this season, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy is up over the same point last year in both viewers (+6%) and young adults (+2%). ABC’s Scandal delivered another strong 2nd-place finish to CBS’ Elementary in the 10 o’clock hour with Adults 18-49, while leading by wide margins over NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams in Total Viewers (+50%) and Adults 18-49 (+82%).  Additionally, Scandal defeated Elementary by its biggest margins this season in Adults 18-34 and across all key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).  Growing week to week by 5% in Adults 18-49, Scandal equaled a best-since-premiere number.   In addition, the ABC drama scored the series’ 2nd highest rating ever with Women 18-49.

Friday: Featuring its 8-9pm comedies (Last Man Standing/Malibu Country), Shark Tank and 20/20, ABC ranked #1 on Friday in Adults 18-49 for the 3rd week in a row among the major nets, beating CBS by 7%, NBC by 33% and Fox by 45%. ABC’s Shark Tank stood as Friday’s #1 TV show for the 3 rd week running among young adults. The Network grew over the same night last November by 1.3 million viewers and by 23% in Adults 18-49. At 8pm, ABC’s Last Man Standing ran in a virtual tie with CBS’ Undercover Boss in Adults 18-49 (pacing within 1-tenth of a rating point and tying in audience share), while ranking #1 against its broadcast competition with Teens 12-17. The ABC comedy stood as the 2nd-most watched program in the 8 o’clock half-hour. Last Man Standing generated big year-over-year time-period improvement for ABC in viewers (+51%) and young adults (+40%). At 8:30pm, ABC’s Malibu Country also finished a strong second in its slot with Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 against its net rivals, beating out the second half-hour of Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares. The new ABC comedy ran #1 opposite its broadcast competitors in Teens 12-17. Like its lead-in, Malibu Country scored substantial time period gains over the year-ago night, boosting its half-hour by 2.0 million viewers and by 27% in Adults 18-49. Shooting up from its lead-in by 36% in Adults 18-49 to qualify as the night’s top-rated show, ABC’s Shark Tank took full control of the 9 o’clock hour, winning by double to triple digits over NBC’s Grimm (+19%), CBS’ CSI: NY (+36%) and Fox’s Fringe (+111%). Shark Tank boosted its hour by wide margins from the same night last year in viewers (+17%) and young adults (+27%). ABC’s 20/20 beat out NBC’s Dateline in head-to-head competition by 1.4 million viewers, by 17% in Adults 18-49 and by 25% in Adults 25-54. Anchored by Chris Cuomo with reports from Jim Avila, Amy Robach and Elizabeth Leamy, 20/20 featured an investigation into the food we eat and the restaurants we frequent. Building year-to-year for its 4th straight telecast, ABC’s 20/20 was up over the year-ago night by 11% in Adults 25-54, while growing its overall audience year over year by 18%.

Saturday: With coverage of Saturday Night Football (Stanford at Oregon), ABC dominated the evening, beating the other major networks combined (CBS, NBC, and Fox) by 9% in Adults 18-49. ABC beat Fox with college football coverage (from 8-10pm) by 4.5 million viewers and by 200% in Adults 18-49. Growing for the 2nd week in a row in viewers (+25%) and young adults (+33%), ABC delivered its 2nd-best numbers on the night this season. Airing from 8:07-11:46pm, ABC’s Saturday Night Football stood as the #1 TV show on Saturday among Total Viewers and, for the 2nd week running, in Adults 18-49. The Saturday Night Football game was up over the prior week’s match-up by 43% in Total Viewers and by 56% in Adults 18-49, marking its best performance in 3 weeks – since 10/27/12.

Sunday: With America’s Funniest Home Videos and The 40th Anniversary American Music Awards, ABC posted season highs on Sunday night in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. Surging week to week in viewers (+16%) and young adults (+14%), ABC’s America’s Funniest Home Videos attracted its biggest audience since early March – since 3/4/12.  Up against huge NFL-fueled competition on the evening, including a down-to-the-wire Sunday Night Football contest (Pittsburgh Steelers-Baltimore Ravens) and an NFL primetime overrun-boosted CBS (Colts-Patriots), ABC’s broadcast of The 40th Anniversary American Music Awards made it the dominant #1 non-sports net from 8-11pm among Adults 18-49, towering over CBS by 48% and Fox by 55%.  In addition, ABC’s AMA telecast ranked #1 in its 3-hour time period against Sunday Night Football among Women 18-34 and Teens 12-17. An estimated 25.0 million viewers watched at least some portion of The 40th Anniversary American Music Awards on ABC during its 3-hour broadcast – unduplicated Viewers 2+ watching 6 minutes or more of the broadcast. Despite the substantial competition during primetime, the 2012 AMAs scored ABC’s highest numbers in the time period since the Emmy Awards in September, eight weeks ago, with Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 – since 9/23/12.