ABC’s Debut of “Duets†Outdraws Fox’s Premiere of “So You Think You Can Dance,†Improving its Time Slot Year to Year by 5% in Viewers and by 55% in Young Adults
ABC’s “Rookie Blue†Opens its 3rd Season with its Top Telecast Since August 2010
Thursday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC finished No. 2 on Thursday evening in Total Viewers (6.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.6/5-tie).
Please Note: On the Thursday leading into the Memorial Holiday weekend, overall TV usage levels declined week to week by –5% among Adults 18-49 (32.1 vs. 33.8).
“Duets†(8:00-10:00 p.m.)
Head to head from 8:00-10:00 p.m., ABC’s series debut of “Duets†outdrew Fox’s season premiere of “So You Think You Can Dance,†leading by 8% in Total Viewers (6.7 vs. 6.2 million). In addition, the new ABC unscripted show was the No. 2 series in the 2-hour time period with young adults (AD18-34/AD18-49), while finishing second among the broadcasters with Teens 12-17. The ABC singing competition surged by 13% among young adults (1.6/6 to 1.8/5) from its first to its second hour.
* “Duets†greatly improved its time period for ABC over the year-ago night in Total Viewers (+52% – 6.7 million vs. 4.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (+55% – 1.7/5 vs. 1.1/4), representing the Net’s biggest audience in the slot on the first post-season Thursday in 4 years and its top young adult number in 3 years – since 2008 and 2009, respectively.
“Rookie Blue†(10:00-11:00 p.m.)
In the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s season premiere of “Rookie Blue†was the No. 2 series in Total Viewers (6.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.4/4), while ranking No. 1 with key Women (W18-49/W25-54).
* Topping its year-ago premiere at the end of June (+3% – 5.8 million on 6/23/11), “Rookie Blue†opened its 3rd season with its most-watched telecast since August 2010 – since 8/19/10. In addition, among Adults 18-49, the show topped last season’s finale by 17% and outdelivered its last 9 telecasts – best since 7/14/11.
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 44% currently, from 41% at the same point in 2011. 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: The Nielsen Company (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 05/17/12.