ABC Finishes Tuesday as Most-Watched Network
ABC Finishes as Tuesday's Most-Watched Net, Posting its 2nd-Strongest ABC's "DWTS: The Road to the Finals" Special Tops the 8pm Hour Tuesday's Top TV Program for the 2nd Week Running, ABC's "DWTS Results" Against the Final Hour of NBC's 2-Hour "The Voice" Debut, ABC's "Body of Proof" Builds its Audience for the 2nd Straight Week to a Best-Since-Premiere Number -- Posted April 27, 2011
Performance on the Evening in 5 Months with Viewers and Young Adults
In Total Viewers, Pulling ABC's Best Results in the Slot in 4 Weeks
Attracts its Largest Non-Premiere, Non-Finale Audience in Almost 3 Years
Tuesday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC finished as Tuesday's most-watched TV network (14.3 million), outdrawing second-place NBC by 4.0 million viewers (10.3 million), third-place CBS by 4.5 million viewers (9.8 million) and fourth-place Fox by 6.7 million viewers (7.6 million).
* Despite facing stiff all-original competition on NBC ("The Biggest Loser: Couples"/debut of "The Voice") and Fox (90-minute "Glee"/"Raising Hope"), ABC's numbers jumped week to week by 32% in Total Viewers (14.3 million vs. 10.8 million) and by 23% in Adults 18-49 (2.7/7 vs. 2.2/6), pulling its 2nd-strongest Tuesday in 5 months - since 11/23/10.
* Up over the year-ago evening in viewers and young adults (7.6 million and 2.0/6 on 4/27/10), ABC built its overall Tuesday audience year to year for the 6th week running.
"Dancing with the Stars: The Road to the Finals" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
In the 8 o'clock hour ABC's special, "Dancing with the Stars: The Road to the Finals," registered as the most-watched TV program (12.8 million), outdrawing originals on Fox ("Glee" = 8.5 million) and NBC ("The Biggest Loser: Couples" = 7.5 million).
* The special produced the Net's top viewer and young adult (2.4/7) numbers in the time slot in 4 weeks - since 3/29/11.
"DWTS Results Show" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Opposite fierce competition from an extended 90-minute edition of Fox's "Glee" and NBC's highly-promoted debut of "The Voice" in the 9 o'clock hour, ABC's "DWTS Results Show" was up week to week and attracted the biggest audience in its time slot (18.0 million) for the 5th straight week. In addition for the 2nd week in a row, ABC's "Dancing" results program stood as Tuesday's most-watched TV program. Professional wrestler Chris Jericho was the fifth celebrity to leave the show this season.
* Posting double-digit percentage week-to-week increases in viewers (+10%) and young adults (+17%), "DWTS Results Show" earned its 2nd-highest marks this season. In fact excluding only premieres and finales, "The Results Show" generated its most-watched telecast in nearly 3 years - since 5/6/08.
* ABC's "DWTS Results Show" scored big year-over-year gains, soaring by 45% in Total Viewers (18.0 million vs. 12.4 million) and by 46% in Adults 18-49 (3.5/9 vs. 2.4/7) over the same night last year.
"Body of Proof" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Up against the final hour of NBC's 2-hour "The Voice" debut, ABC's "Body of Proof" built its overall audience for the 2nd consecutive week (+6% - 12.1 million vs. 11.4 million), marking a best-since-premiere number. The ABC drama finished a strong second in the hour with viewers and key Adults: AD18-49 (2.3/6) and AD25-54 (3.2/8).
* The new ABC series continued to produce dramatic year-over-year time-period improvement, boosting the hour by 7.2 million viewers and by 21% in Adults 18-49 from the year-ago night with original drama programming ("V" = 4.9 million and 1.9/5).
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 40% currently, from 36% at the same point in 2010. 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.