• Tuesday, March 18, 2008
    ABC Television Network
    PRESS RELEASE - PRESS RELEASE - ENTERTAINMENT -
    WEEKLY ABC PRIMETIME RATINGS (WK OF 3/10)
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    Primetime Ratings Report
    For the week of March 10, 2008
    (Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)
    ABC Claims 3 of the Top 10 TV Shows for the Week in Adults 18-49,
    Including "Lost," "Home Edition" and "Oprah's Big Give"

    "Lost" is TV's No. 1 Scripted Show of the Week in Viewers and Young Adults  

    For the 6th Straight Week, ABC News Airs the No. 1 Newsmag in Adults 18-49

    A Week Prior to the Season Premiere, "The Bachelor: Where Are they Now?" Wins
    Its Slot in Adults 18-49 and Qualifies as Monday's No. 1 TV Show in Women 18-34

    ABC News' "Primetime: What Would You Do?" Surges from its Lead-in, Grows
    Week to Week in Viewers and Young Adults and Posts Series Bests in Key Men

    In Viewers and Young Adults, "Wife Swap" Marks its Top Numbers in 5 Weeks  

    ABC Earns Second on Thursday in Adults 18-49 and Ranks
    No. 1 on the Night in Adults 18-34, Men 18-49 and Men 18-34

    "Lost" Wins Thursday's 9 O'clock Hour in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49,
    Its 7th Straight Week to Lead the Time Slot in the Key Young Adult Sales Demo

    ABC's Freshman "Eli Stone" is No. 1 in Thursday's 10pm Hour Among Adults 18-49

    ABC Leads its Fourth Straight Sunday in Viewers and Young Adults,
    Winning All 8 Half-Hours of Sunday's Primetime Among Adults 18-49

    ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" Dominates its Sunday 8pm Slot

    For the Third Straight Week, "Oprah's Big Give" Wins
    Sunday's 9pm Hour in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49

    "Here Come the Newlyweds" Tops Sunday's 10pm Hour
    Among Adults 18-49 for the Third Consecutive Week
    WEEK No. 25:
    ABC took second place to Fox during the week of March 10, 2008, in Adults 18-34 (1.8/6), Women 18-34 (2.3/7) and Women 18-49 (2.8/8).

    Rankings: ABC aired 3 of the week's Top 10 TV programs among Adults 18-49, including the No. 1 scripted show in viewers and young adults with "Lost": "Lost" - No. 3, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" - No. 6 and "Oprah's Big Give" - No. 8. The Net claimed 2 of the Top 5 most-watched television programs for the week, with "Lost" - No. 4 and "Home Edition" - No. 5. ABC News' "Primetime: What Would You Do?" on Tuesday qualified as TV's No. 1 newsmagazine of the week in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54. In fact it was the sixth week in a row that ABC News aired the No. 1 newsmagazine in Adults 18-49, and the fourth straight week among Adults 25-54.
    A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating trends based on the Live + Same Day data stream may be somewhat distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has nearly doubled from over 13% at the same point in 2006, up to more than 23% currently. 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.

    Monday
    "The Bachelor: Where Are They Now?" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
    The week before "The Bachelor's" season premiere, ABC's special "The Bachelor: Where Are They Now?" led its hour among Adults 18-49 (2.6/8) and in each of the key women demographics: Women 18-34 (3.5/10), Women 18-49 (3.8/10), Women 25-54 (4.4/10).

    * "The Bachelor: Where Are They Now?" stood as Monday's No. 1 TV program in Women 18-34.

    Tuesday
    "Primetime: What Would You Do?" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
    ABC News' "Primetime: What Would You Do?" -- focusing on when people see a situation that cries out for action, do they step in, back away or just walk on by -- saw week-to-week increases of 1.7 million (7.6 million vs. 5.9 million) and 38% in Adults 18-49 (2.9/8 vs. 2.1/6), taking second in both measures. The ABC newsmagazine ranked No. 1 in the final hour of primetime in Men 18-49 (2.2/7 - tied) and Men 25-54 (2.7/7 - tied), hitting series highs on both counts.

    * The ABC newsmagazine surged from its lead-in by 2.8 million viewers (7.6 million vs. 4.8 million) and by 93% in Adults 18-49 (2.9/8 vs. 1.5/3).

    Wednesday
    "Wife Swap" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
    At 8:00 p.m., ABC's "Wife Swap" beat CBS' competing unscripted show, "Big Brother 9," in the hour by nearly 1.0 million viewers (6.2 vs. 5.3 million) and by 26% in Adults 18-49 (2.7/7 vs. 1.9/5).

    * In Viewers and Adults 18-49, "Wife Swap" posted its strongest numbers in 5 weeks - since 2/6/08.

    "Supernanny" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
    "Supernanny" finished second at 9:00 p.m. among young adults [Adults 18-34 (2.0/6) and Adults 18-49 (2.3/6)], behind only Fox's "American Idol."

    "MEN IN TREES" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
    ABC's "MEN IN TREES" saw week-to-week increases in each of the key adult demos: Adults 18-34 (1.1/3 vs. 1.0/3), Adults 18-49 (1.7/5 vs. 1.6/4) and Adults 25-54 (2.3/6 vs. 2.1/5).

    Thursday
    ABC earned second place on Thursday in Adults 18-49 (3.0/8) and delivered the No. 1 position on the evening among Adults 18-34 (2.6/8), Men 18-49 (2.6/8-tie), Men 18-34 (2.3/7) and Women 18-34 (3.0/9).

    "Lost" (9:00-10:02 p.m.)
    Jumping from its lead-in by 6.8 million viewers and by 172% in Adults 18-49 (replay of the previous week's episode = 5.3 million & 1.8/5), ABC's "Lost" won Thursday's 9 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (12.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.9/13). The ABC drama dominated the time period among Adults 18-49, beating its nearest competition by 53% (4.9/13 vs. 3.2/8 - NBC). In fact "Lost" led its time slot for the seventh consecutive week in the key young adult sales demographic.
    Please Note: Due to the impact of the changeover to daylight savings time, overall Adult 18-49 TV usage levels declined in the hour by 8% from the prior week (38.0% vs. 41.3%). Despite the decline in available audience, "Lost" retained all of its audience share and maintained its competitive advantage week to week.

    * "Lost" stood as Thursday's No. 1 TV show across each of the key adult demographics: A18-34 (4.4/13), A18-49 (4.9/13) and A25-54 (5.6/13).

    "Eli Stone" (10:02-11:00 p.m.)
    ABC's freshman "Eli Stone" ranked No. 1 during in the 10 o'clock hour in Adults 18-49 (2.3/6 - tie). In addition, the series continued to attract more viewers than its freshman drama competition in the hour, outdrawing NBC's "Lipstick Jungle" by 1.5 million viewers (6.9 million vs. 5.4 million).

    Sunday
    For the fourth straight week, ABC stood as the No. 1 network on Sunday night in viewers and young adults, overcoming its nearest competitors by 1.0 million viewers (9.0 million vs. 8.0 million - CBS) and by 28% in Adults 18-49 (3.2/9 vs. 2.5/7 - Fox). In fact ABC won all 8 half-hours during Sunday's primetime in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic.

    * ABC aired the Top 2 TV shows on Sunday in Adults 18-49, with "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "Oprah's Big Give." ABC's "Home Edition" also qualified as Sunday's most-watched TV show overall.

    "America's Funniest Home Videos" (7:00-8:00 p.m.)
    ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" ranked No. 1 during the 7 o'clock hour in Adults 18-49, beating out second-place CBS' "60 Minutes" by 15% (2.3/7 vs. 2.0/6).

    "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
    Sunday's No. 1 TV show, ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" outdistanced its closest competition in the 9 o'clock hour by 2.7 million viewers (12.1 million vs. 9.4 million - NBC's "Dateline") and by 37% in Adults 18-49 (4.1/11 vs. 3.0/8 - Fox's "The Simpsons"/"King of the Hill").

    "Oprah's Big Give" (9:00-10:02 p.m.)
    For the third consecutive week, ABC's "Oprah's Big Give" dominated its 9 o'clock time period, defeating its nearest competitors by 1.6 million viewers (9.7 million vs. 8.1 million - CBS' "Cold Case") and by 24% in Adults 18-49 (3.6/9 vs. 2.9/7 - Fox's "Family Guy"/"Unhitched").

    "Here Come the Newlyweds" (10:02-11:00 p.m.)
    "Here Come the Newlyweds" won its time period for the third week in a row in Adults 18-49 (2.8/7), beating runner-up NBC by 27% (2.2/6 - "L&O: SVU") and third-place CBS by 56% (1.8/5 - "Dexter"). 

    WEEK NO. 25:  ADULTS 18-49    TOTAL VIEWERS

    
              No.1  FOX 4.1   No.1 FOX  11,280,000

    
              No.2  NBC 2.2   No.2 CBS   7,610,000

    
              No.3  ABC 2.1   No.3 NBC   7,500,000

    
              No.3  CBS 2.1   No.4 ABC   6,070,000

    
              No.5  CW  1.0   No.5 CW    2,350,000


    Source: Nielsen Media Research (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 3/10/08, unless stated otherwise.
    ABC Media Relations Contact:
    Jeff Lindsey (818) 460-5095 jeffrey.s.lindsey@disney.com Pons Rongavilla (818) 460-5615 ponciano.rongavilla@disney.com Susan Sewell (212) 456-1508 susan.l.sewell@disney.com