Primetime Ratings Report For the week of May 22-28, 2006
Growing its Viewer and Young Adult Audience from the Same Week Last Year, ABC Takes Second Place During the Week Across the Adult Demographics
ABC Concludes the Official 2005-06 TV Season with its Strongest Results in
5 Years and as the Only Network to Grow its Adult 18-49 Audience Year to Year
No. 1 with Women, �Oprah Winfrey�s Legends Ball� Produces ABC�s
Largest Non-Sports Audience in the Monday 8-9pm Hour Since March 2003,
Along with its Strongest Women Ratings in the Time Slot in Close to 3-1/2 Years
�Stephen King�s Desperation� Outperforms its NBC Movie Competition on Tuesday,
Bringing ABC its Top Viewer and Young Adult Numbers on the Evening in 6 Weeks
In Viewers and Young Adults, Wednesday�s �Lost� Finale Produces
ABC�s Strongest Non-Sports Performance in the Time Period Since September
Surging from its Lead-in and Throughout its Season Ender, ABC�s �Lost� Posts its Best Delivery Against �Idol� This Season and the Series� Strongest Numbers Since February
ABC Wins the First Post-Season Friday in Adults 18-49, as the Theatrical �Freaky Friday� and ABC News� �20/20� Each Hold the No. 1 Positions in Their Time Periods
ABC�s All Repeat Lineup Takes Second on Sunday to Fox�s NASCAR Coverage in Adults 18-49, with a Repeat of �Grey�s� Ranking as the No. 1 Regular Show at 10pm
WEEK No. 36:
During the week spanning the final three nights of the official 2005-06 TV Season and the first four nights of the post-season, ABC earned second place to Fox across each of the key adult measures: Adults 18-34 (2.2/7), Adults 18-49 (2.7/8) and Adults 25-54 (3.1/9 � tied w/CBS).
� ABC was up from the same week last year in Total Viewers (7.3 million vs. 7.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.7/8 vs. 2.6/8).
� ABC finished the official 2005-06 Television Season taking second place among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, with its second consecutive year of gains on both counts: Total Viewers (+7% -10.8 million vs. 10.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (+8% - 4.0/11 vs. 3.7/10). ABC was the only network to increase audience over last season in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic. The Network drew its largest audience and highest Adult 18-49 rating in 5 years � since the 2000-01 television season.
Rankings: ABC aired 4 of the week�s Top 20 TV programs among Adults 18-49: �Lost� � No. 4, �Oprah Winfrey�s Legends Ball� � No. 11, �Lost SP - 5/24 (clip show)� � No. 16 and �Alias SP - 5/22 (series finale)� � No. 18. In addition, �Lost� (No. 4) and �Oprah Winfrey�s Legends Ball� (No. 13) were among the Top 15 most-watched television programs during the week. ABC News� �Primetime� and �20/20� tied as the highest-rated newsmagazine for the week in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54.
Monday
Boosted by a strong turn-out for �Oprah Winfrey�s Legends Ball,� ABC�s primetime delivery was up from the same night last May Sweep (5/23/05) by 2.1 million viewers (8.3 million vs. 6.2 million) and by 35% in Adults 18-49 (3.1/8 vs. 2.3/6).
�Oprah Winfrey�s Legends Ball� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
ABC�s telecast of �Oprah Winfrey�s Legends Ball� ranked a strong No. 1 in its time period across each of the key women demographics (W18-34 � 5.3/14, W18-49 � 5.8/15 and W25-54 � 6.7/16), beating season finale programming on CBS (�King of Queens�/�Old Christine�) and Fox (�24�), along with NBC�s �Deal or No Deal.�
� �Oprah Winfrey�s Legends Ball� attracted ABC�s largest non-sports audience (11.6 million) in the time period since March of 2003 (since 3/17/03). The Oprah Winfrey special delivered ABC�s highest ratings in the hour in close to 3-1/2 years among Women 18-34, Women 18-49 and Women 25-54 � since 1/13/03.
�Alias� (9:00-11:00 p.m.)
In its series finale, ABC�s �Alias� delivered its highest rating of the season among Adults 18-34 (2.5/6), while matching its top number this season among and Adults 18-49 (2.7/6).
Tuesday
�ABC Premiere Event: Stephen King�s Desperation� (8:00 -11:00 p.m.)
The �ABC Premiere Event� presentation of �Stephen King�s Desperation� drew 7.5 million viewers and posted a 2.5 rating, 7 share among Adults 18-49 on average during its telecast. ABC was up by 1.7 million viewers and by 25% among Adults 18-49 compared to the Net�s performance the same night last May (5.8 million & 2.0/5 on 5/24/06).
� �Stephen King�s Desperation� brought ABC its highest Adults 18-49 performance on the night in 6 weeks � since 4/11/06.
� �Stephen King�s Desperation� outperformed its movie competition on the night, NBC�s �10.5: Apocalypse � Part 2,� (6.5 million & 2.2/6 from 9:00-11:00 p.m.) by 1.0 million viewers and by 14% among Adults 18-49.
Wednesday
Taking second to �Idol�-driven Fox on the night, ABC attracted its largest non-sports Wednesday night audience (14.7 million) and highest Adult 18-49 number (6.1/15) on the evening in 8 months � since 9/28/05.
�Lost: Reckoning� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
A replay of �Lost: Reckoning,� a clip-show recapping the season, marked ABC�s top ratings in the time period in 4 months among Total Viewers (8.4 million) and Adult 18-49 (3.2/9). ABC earned second to Fox in the hour, opposite the first hour of the �American Idol� season finale.
�Lost� (9:00-11:00 p.m.)
Going up against the second hour of Fox�s �American Idol� season finale, ABC�s �Lost� doubled its lead-in, grew throughout its 2-hour telecast to attract an average audience of 17.8 million viewers and a 7.6 rating, 18 share in Adults 18-49 from 9:00-11:00 p.m. ABC�s �Lost� held second place to Fox�s �Idol� during the 9 o�clock hour, and then went on to rank a dominant No. 1 during the 10 o�clock hour, beating the combined deliveries of CBS and NBC by 3.1 million viewers (19.2 million vs. 16.1 million) and by 59% in Adults 18-49 (8.1/21 vs. 5.1/12).
� The sophomore season finale of �Lost� generated ABC�s biggest non-sports audience and top Adult 18-49 rating in the 2-hour time period since September 2005, its second-highest numbers of the season � best since 9/21/05. In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, �Lost� marked its strongest performance of the season, when going head-to-head against �American Idol,� with its highest numbers in more than 3 months � since 2/15/06. The show marked its highest Adult 18-34 rating (6.6/17) in over 4 months � since 1/18/06.
� Doubling its lead-in against �Idol,� �Lost� grew in each half-hour of its 2-hour telecast, gaining 3.3 million viewers (16.3 million to 19.6 million) and 19% and Adults 18-49 (7.0/16 to 8.3/21) from its first half-hour to its final half-hour.
� ABC�s �Lost� qualified as TV�s No. 1 scripted program on Wednesday in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. The ABC sophomore series has been the top-rated scripted program on Wednesday in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic in all 23 of its original telecasts this season.
Friday
ABC won the first post-TV season Friday night among Adults 18-49 (2.1/7) and Adults 18-34 (1.7/7).
�ABC Friday Movie of the Week: Freaky Friday� (8:00-10:00 p.m.)
�Freaky Friday,� starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, drew 5.8 million viewers and a 2.0 rating, 7 share among Adults 18-49, winning its time period on the latter measure. The 2003 theatrical also led its 2-hour time period in Adults 18-34 (1.7/7), Teens 12-17 (1.7/8) and Kids 2-11 (1.8/8).
� The movie attracted viewers throughout its telecast. It gained 2.1 million viewers (5.0 million to 7.1 million) and 93% in Adults 18-49 (1.4/6 to 2.7/9) from its first to its final half-hour.
�20/20� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
In the final hour of prime, �20/20� ranked No. 1 in Adults 18-49 (2.3/8) and Adults 18-34 (1.6/6).
Sunday
ABC�s all repeat lineup placed second on Sunday night among Adults 18-49 (1.9/7), behind Fox�s NASCAR coverage, which ran throughout prime into the 10 o�clock hour. ABC led the evening -- beating Fox -- in each of the key women demographics: Women 18-34 (1.9/7), Women 18-49 (2.4/8) and Women 25-54 (2.8/9).
�Grey�s Anatomy� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
A repeat episode of ABC�s �Grey�s Anatomy� was the top non-sports program of the hour in Total Viewers (6.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.2/7). It won the hour, ahead of Fox�s NASCAR, across the key women demographics: Women 18-34 (2.4/8), Women 18-49 (3.2/10) and Women 25-54 (3.6/10).
Source: Nielsen Media Research (Live+SD), week of 5/22/06, or as dated.
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