ABC Beats its Non-Sports Driven Competition on Sunday by Wide Margins, Growing its Audience on the Night Year to Year for the 2nd Straight Week
“America’s Funniest Home Videos” Dominates its Non-Sports Competition at 7pm, Leading CBS’ “60 Minutes” by 29% and NBC’s “Dateline” by 80% in Adults 18-49
The Most-Watched TV Show in the 9 O’clock Hour, ABC’s “Housewives” Overshadows its Original CBS and NBC Drama Competition in the Time Slot
Winning the 10pm Hour in Viewers and Adults 18-49, “Brothers & Sisters” Achieves Season-High Numbers Across Each of the Key Men Demographics
Sunday Night (7:00-11:00 p.m.)
Opposite an NFL-fueled Fox, with a huge primetime overrun of the overtime Packers-Cardinals Wild Card Playoff game, ABC (10.5 million and 3.3/8) defeated its nearest non-sport driven competition on Sunday by wide margins, beating CBS by 1.4 million viewers (9.1 million) and NBC by 50% in Adults 18-49 (2.2/5).
ABC grew its overall Sunday audience year to year for the 2nd straight week (10.5 million vs. 10.3 million on 1/11/09).
“America’s Funniest Home Videos” (7:00-8:00 p.m.)
Opposite NFL competition on Fox during the 7 o’clock hour, ABC’s “America’s Funniest Home Videos” stood as the definitive No. 1 non-sport program in Adults 18-49 (1.8/5), beating CBS’ “60 Minutes” by 29% (1.4/5) and NBC’s “Dateline” by 80% (1.0/3).
“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
Taking second to an NFL-fueled Fox from 8:00-9:00 p.m., ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” defeated 3rd-place NBC’s “Dateline” by 2.7 million viewers (10.6 million vs. 7.9 million) and by 68% (3.2/8 vs. 1.9/5).
“Desperate Housewives” (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Overcoming Fox’s momentum from earlier in the evening, ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” finished as the most-watched TV show in the 9 o’clock hour. “Housewives” (14.0 million and 4.7/11) overshadowed its nearest drama competition in the hour, beating CBS’ original “Cold Case” by 3.8 million viewers (10.2 million) and the first hour of NBC’s season premiere of “Chuck” by 57% in Adults 18-49 (3.0/7).
“Brothers & Sisters” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC’s “Brothers & Sisters” won in the 10 o’clock hour, beating out its nearest competition by 1.2 million viewers (10.6 million vs. 9.4 million – CBS’ “Criminal Minds” replay) and by 21% in Adults 18-49 (3.5/9 vs. 2.9/8 – NBC’s season premiere of “Chuck”).
“Brothers & Sisters” posted its 2nd-highest Adult 18-34 rating this season (tie) and hit season highs across the Men demos: M18-34 (tie), M18-49 (tie) and M25-54.
A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 34% currently, from 29% at the same point in 2009. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.
(source: data and information provided by ABC. – Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Program Ratings), 1/10/10.)
