Week 48: ABC claims 6 of the top 20 in Adults 18-49

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Overall: During the week of 8/15/11, a week with a number of local-market preemptions on 5 of 7 nights (Wed/Thu/Fri/Sat/Sun), ABC delivered 6 of the Top 20 broadcast programs in Adults 18-49: Bachelor Pad – #12, Wipeout-THURS – #13, Modern Family – #14, Wipeout-TUES – #18 and Take the Money and Run and Modern Family-WED 8:30PM tied at #20.  ABC’s premiere of Sunday 20/20: The Sixth Sense ranked as the #1 newsmagazine for the week with key Adults (AD25-54/AD18-49).


Monday: With the Bachelor Pad and a repeat airing of Castle, ABC took second place to Fox’s all-original 8-10pm line-up on Monday night in Total Viewers.  ABC increased its overall Monday audience year to year for the 2nd week in a row, rising 14% over the same night last year with an all-original schedule (8/16/10). 

For the 2nd consecutive week, ABC’s Bachelor Pad won its time period (8-10pm) across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).  Bachelor Pad surged over the same night last year by double-digit percentages with Total Viewers (+16%) and Adults 18-49 (+11%). 

In addition, the show built from its week-ago season opener by 11% with Men 18-34.  During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s repeat Castle beat out NBC’s repeat Harry’s Law by 21% in Total Viewers and by 13% in Adults 18-49.  Additionally, Castle ranked #1 against its CBS (Hawaii Five-0) and NBC (Harry’s Law) competition with all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).  Castle hit a summer-high among Adults 18-49, posting its top summer number in nearly 1 year – since 8/18/10.  The repeat ABC drama grew its hour year to year by 8% in Total Viewers, outdrawing original programming in the time period on the same night last year.

Tuesday: At 8pm, ABC’s repeat Wipeout took second to the opening hour of Fox’s MasterChef finale with Adults 18-49 and key Men (M18-49/M25-54) and finished as the top-rated broadcast show in the time slot with Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11 for the 3rd week in a row. The repeat ABC unscripted series dominated its original unscripted time period competition on NBC (It’s Worth What?) by 1.3 million Total Viewers and by 45% in Adults 18-49.

Wipeout built nicely from its most recent repeat in the hour in July (7/26/11), growing 12% in viewers and by 14% in young adults. Against the opening hour of NBC’s America’s Got Talent and the second hour of Fox’s MasterChef finale from 9-10pm, ABC’s Take the Money & Run held 100% of Wipeout’s Adult 18-34 audience for the 3rd straight week. In addition, for the 2nd week running, the new ABC series increased its retention of Wipeout in Men 18-34, building on its lead-in by 18% (vs. +15% the prior week). At 10 o’clock, against the second hour of NBC’s America’s Got Talent, ABC’s Combat Hospital grew its overall audience by 16% week to week and was also up 13% in Adults 18-49 and 9% in Adults 25-54, hitting its highest rating in 6 weeks in the latter Nielsen measure.

Wednesday: With 4 comedy repeats leading into Primetime Nightline: Beyond Belief, ABC grew its overall Wednesday audience week to week by 5% and was up by 8% in Adults 18-49 to equal its highest young adult number on the night since mid-June – since 6/15/11.

In addition, the Net soared over the same Wednesday last year (8/18/10) for the 3rd straight week in viewers (+16%) and 4th consecutive week in young adults (+18%). At 8pm, ABC’s encore The Middle registered as the 2nd-most watched show in the time period, behind only CBS’ original Big Brother 13. In addition, the repeat ABC sitcom topped NBC’s original Minute to Win It in Total Viewers (+2%) and Adults 18-49 (+18%). ABC’s The Middle grew over the prior week by 5% in Total Viewers and by 44% in Adults 18-49, generating the show’s largest audience in 11 weeks (since 6/1/11) and matching its best young adult rating in the half-hour this summer. In the 8:30pm half-hour, ABC’s replay Modern Family outdrew Fox’s repeat Mobbed by 2.7 million viewers and doubled its time period competition on Fox in Adults 18-49. Modern Family was up over a week-ago by 5% in Total Viewers to deliver its 2nd-most-watched watched telecast in the half hour this summer.

The comedy also grew week to week by 8% in Adults 18-49, equaling its best young adult number in the time slot in 11 weeks – since 6/1/11. For the 3rd week in a row, ABC’s repeat Modern Family qualified as Wednesday’s #1 scripted program on the broadcast nets in Adults 18-49. In the 9pm half hour, the ABC sitcom finished second in young adults, behind only NBC’s original America’s Got Talent, dominating its encore competition on CBS by 21% (Criminal Minds) and on Fox by 183% (House). Growing over the prior week by 6% in Adults 18-49 to match its best young adult number in 11 weeks (since 6/1/11), Modern Family turned in its 2nd-best performance in the time slot this summer. Modern Family was up over its year-ago rebroadcast by 1.0 million viewers and by 31% in young adults. Building 10% week to week in Adults 18-49, ABC’s repeat Happy Endings tied its 2nd-best-ever repeat number. At 10 o’clock, ABC’s Primetime Nightline: Beyond Belief improved on the previous week’s performance in the hour (Primetime Nightline: Celebrity Secrets 2) by 5% in Total Viewers and by 6% in Adults 25-54, equaling the Net’s 2nd-best adult rating in the slot this summer.

Thursday: Opposite Fox’s preseason NFL coverage (Philadelphia at Pittsburgh), ABC’s Thursday line up was up week to week by double-digit percentages in both Total Viewers (+21%) and Adults 18-49 (+25%). Despite airing against the first hour of Fox’s NFL coverage from 8-9pm, ABC’s Wipeout soared over the prior week by 27% in Total Viewers and by 36% in Adults 18-49. In addition, the ABC series earned second place in the 8 o’clock hour in both viewers and young adults, behind only Fox.

The wide-appealing ABC unscripted series stood as Thursday’s highest-rated broadcast show in Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11 for the 7th time in 9 weeks. Opposite the second hour of Fox’s NFL game, ABC’s Expedition Impossible grew week to week by 18% in Total Viewers and by 18% in Adults 18-49. At 10 o’clock, ABC’s Rookie Blue ranked #1 versus its CBS (The Mentalist) and NBC (Law & Order: SVU) competition in Adults 18-49 for the 7th time in 9 telecasts this summer. The sophomore ABC drama produced impressive week-to-week gains in Total Viewers (+15%), Adults 18-49 (+20%) and Adults 25-54 (+25%). Rookie Blue continued to improve its time period for ABC year to year, up in Total Viewers (+19%) and Adults 18-49 (+9%) over season premiere programming on the year-ago evening.

Friday: Up against the first hour of Fox’s preseason NFL coverage (Atlanta at Jacksonville) from 8-9pm, ABC’s repeat Shark Tank was up over the prior week by 8% in Total Viewers and by 10% in Adults 18-49 to produce its most-watched telecast in 5 weeks – since 7/15/11. In addition, the repeat ABC series more than doubled original episodes of NBC’s Friends with Benefits in the 8 o’clock hour in both Total Viewers (+122%) and Adults 18-49 (+120%).

Saturday: ABC’s broadcast of Disney’s Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension, soared 220% over the prior week’s movie in Kids 2-11 (Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix), standing as the Network’s most-watched Saturday Night Movie in 6 months with kids – since 2/19/11. In fact, Across the 2nd Dimension marked ABC’s highest-rated August movie with Kids 2-11 in 4 years – since 8/25/07.  Based on the final ratings (L+7 Day) for its premiere telecast earlier this month on Disney Channel (on Friday, 8/5/11), Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension emerged as the #1 most-watched animated cable telecast of all time in Kids 2-11. 

In addition, coming in with an average audience of 10.7 million viewers, Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension stands as cable’s #1 entertainment telecast of 2011 to date, and is the #5 cable movie of all time, giving Disney Channel 4 of the Top 6 most-watched cable movies ever.  The Disney XD premiere of Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension (on Saturday, 8/13/11) became Disney’s XD’s #1 movie telecast on record in Kids 6-11 and Boys 6-11, ranking as the network’s #3 telecast overall in both demos.

Sunday: Up against stiff competition from NBC’s preseason NFL coverage (Dallas-San Diego) 9-11pm, ABC’s debut of Sunday 20/20: The Sixth Sense surged over its lead-in (+26% in Total Viewers/+18% in Adults 18-49) to stand as the most-watched non-sports program in its 2-hour time period.  The new ABC newsmagazine features stories of extraordinary instinct that uncovers the truth.  In Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, 20/20: The Sixth Sense generated summer-highs for ABC in the time period with regular programming.  In fact, the new show garnered the Net’s biggest summertime audience in the time slot with a series in 5 years, and in 3 years among Adults 25-54 – since 8/27/06 and 7/6/08, respectively. ABC’s 20/20: The Sixth Sense qualified as the Net’s most-watched summertime Sunday series debut since 2005 – since 8/14/05.

(source; ABC)