Overall: During the week of 9/16/13, ABC surged week to week in Total Viewers (+20%) and Adults 18-49 (+18%) to earn 13-week highs – best since w/o 6/17/13. Growing by double digits from its year-ago premiere, ABC’s DWTS finished as the week’s most-watched entertainment series and ranked among the Top 5 broadcast programs in Adults 18-49. ABC’s fifth season opener of Shark Tank turned in the series’ most-watched-ever season opener and landed among the weekly Top 20, despite airing on a Friday. ABC’s 20/20, which drew its biggest audience since early May, was the week’s #1 newsmagazine in Total Viewers and key Adults (AD18-49/AD25-54).
2012-13 52-Week Broadcast Season: Moving up two ranking positions from the prior season, ABC finished the complete 52-week season as the #2 most-watched network with a 4% advantage over an NFL-driven NBC and a 17% advantage over Fox.
Monday: With the 17th season premiere of DWTS and an encore Castle, ABC was Monday’s most-watched broadcast net with its biggest audience on the night since April – since 4/22/13. In addition among Adults 18-49, ABC’s Dancing premiere beat out its competition from 8-10pm, leading Fox’s season premieres (Bones/Sleepy Hollow) in the 2-hour time period by 7% and NBC’s originals (Million Second Quiz/American Ninja Warrior season finale) by 138%. Building steadily throughout its opener and growing year over year, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars ranked as Monday’s most-watched TV show¬, drawing the biggest audience for any TV series telecast since May – since 5/14/13. Dancing was up from its year-ago season opener by 13% in Total Viewers and by 24% in Adults 18-49, marking the show’s strongest telecast since March 18, 2013. Social Activity – Facebook: On Facebook Monday, 652,000 unique users had 768,000 total interactions related Dancing with the Stars. Top 5 social moments on Facebook: #1 – Bill Nye’s Weird Science dance and low scores, #2 – Valerie’s dance and reaction, #3 – Amber’s dance and great scores, #5 – Snooki’s dance and reaction and #5 – Jack’s dance and his parents’ reaction. Twitter: DWTS was the #1 most social series on television Monday night with 230,243 tweets (up +137% vs. last year’s premiere). DWTS dominated the competition, outperforming the premiere of Fox’s Sleepy Hollow series premiere by +283% and CBS’ finale of Under the Dome by +611%. During the 10pm hour, one week before its season premiere, ABC’s Castle delivered its most-watched repeat telecast since April.
Tuesday: Featuring the network premiere of Iron Man 2 on Tuesday, opposite Fox’s season premieres and NBC’s unscripted originals (MSQ/America’s Got Talent penultimate episode), ABC was up by double digits week to week in Total Viewers (+15%) and Adults 18-49 (+33%). With the 2010 Marvel theatrical, ABC drew its largest Tuesday audience in 2 months and earned its highest non-sports young adult number on the night since May – since 7/23/13 and 5/28/13, respectively.
Thursday: Building 17% over the prior week, the season finale of ABC’s Wipeout drew the show’s biggest audience in 3 weeks.
Friday: With season premieres of Last Man Standing, The Neighbors and Shark Tank into 20/20, ABC dominated Friday night in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, claiming the #1 show of the night with Shark Tank. The Net delivered its most-watched Friday in 6 months – since 3/22/13. In the 8pm half-hour, ABC’s season premiere of Last Man Standing led the pack in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, finishing as the #2 TV show of the night on both measures, behind only Shark Tank. With solid retention on its new night at 8:30pm, ABC’s season premiere of The Neighbors ranked as the #1 program in its half-hour in Adults 18-49, Adults 25-54 and Teens 12-17 on the major networks. Spiking over its lead-in by 50% in Adults 18-49 and building from start to finish, the season premiere of ABC’s Shark Tank ranked #1 in the 9 o’clock hour, leading its nearest competition by 64% in the hour (NBC’s Dateline). Shark Tank just came off its best-ever season and summer, up by 17% and 20% in Adults 18-49 year to year, respectively. Up over last year’s opener in Total Viewers (+8%) and retaining 100% of young adults, Shark Tank marked its strongest-ever season premiere. ABC’s 20/20 won the 10 o’clock hour, beating the second hour of NBC’s 2-hour Dateline by 8% in Adults 18-49 and by 25% in Adults 25-54. Anchored by Elizabeth Vargas and David Muir, ABC’s 20/20 featured reports on nasty neighbors. Growing week to week in Total Viewers (+19%), Adults 18-49 (+18%) and Adults 25-54 (+25%), 20/20 drew its biggest audience since May and its highest Adult ratings since June – since 5/10/13 and 6/21/13, respectively.
Saturday: With coverage of Saturday Night Football (Kansas St. at Texas/Miami at Connecticut), ABC ranked #1 on the night, beating Fox’s college football coverage (8-10pm) for the 2nd week in a row in Total Viewers (+206%) and Adults 18-49 (+200%). ABC soared week to week by 13% in Total Viewers and by 15% in Adults 18-49. ABC’s Saturday Night Football easily qualified as the #1 TV program of the evening in viewers and, for its 3rd straight telecast, among young adults. ABC’s Saturday night game was up over the prior week’s match-up by 19% in Total Viewers and by 21% in Adults 18-49. Saturday Night Football grew its overall audience over the year-ago game by 1.0 million viewers.
