ABC Marks its Best Season-Opening Wednesday Since 2007 in Adults 18-49
Posting Series Highs Against the Series Debut of “The X Factor,” ABC’s
“The Middle” Generates its 2nd Straight Year of Premiere-to-Premiere Gains
Wednesday’s No. 1 TV Show, ABC’s “Modern Family” Opens at New Highs,
Posting the Net’s Top Rating in the Hour Since ’06 with the Fall Finale of “Lost”
The Season’s No. 1 New Drama in Adults 18-49, ABC’s “Revenge” Wins
Its 10pm Time Slot with the Net’s Top Series Debut in the Hour in 4 Years
Tuesday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)
In an early season upset, ABC ranked No. 1 in Adults 18-49 from 8:00-10:00 p.m. against the hugely-promoted debut of “The X Factor,” beating Fox’s 2-hour Wednesday prime by 7% in Adults 18-49 (4.5/12 vs. 4.2/12).
* ABC’s numbers jumped over the year-ago season-premiere Wednesday in viewers (+44% – 11.4 million vs. 7.9 million) and young adults (+46% – 4.1/11 vs. 2.8/8). In fact with young adults, it was ABC’s top-rated season-premiere Wednesday since 2007.
“The Middle” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
Opposite the opening hour of “The X Factor” from 8:00-9:00 p.m., ABC’s third-season 1-hour premiere of “The Middle” equaled a series high in Adults 18-49 (3.0/9). The ABC comedy also marked series bests with Adults 18-34, Adults 25-54, all key Women and Teens 12-17. Building over its year-ago premiere in viewers (+9% – 9.6 million vs. 8.8 million) and young adults (+11% – 3.0/9 vs. 2.7/9), “The Middle” bettered the prior year’s season opener for the 2nd year in a row.
* Despite facing stiff competition in the hour from “The X Factor” and CBS’ “Survivor,” “The Middle” generated ABC’s best Adult 18-49 number with regular scripted programming in the 1-hour time period since November 2007 – since 11/14/07.
“Modern Family” (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Soaring to the top of its 9:00 p.m. slot to dominate the second hour of Fox’s “The X Factor” with Total Viewers (+13% – 14.3 million vs. 12.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (+36% – 6.0/15 vs. 4.4/11), ABC’s Emmy-Award winning “Modern Family” opened its third season at series highs and stood as Wednesday’s definitive No. 1 TV show. Similarly to “The Middle,” “Modern Family” grew over the previous year’s premiere for the 2nd straight year. The ABC comedy surpassed its prior series highs (13.2 million and 5.1/14) by 8% in Total Viewers and by 18% in Adults 18-49.
* “Modern Family” produced ABC’s best Adult 18-49 number in the 1-hour time period since November 2006 – since 11/8/06 with the Fall finale of “Lost.”
“Revenge” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Opposite the season premieres of veteran dramas on both CBS (“CSI”) and NBC (“Law & Order: SVU”) in the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s series debut of “Revenge” opened at No. 1 among Adults 18-49 (3.4/9). The new ABC drama also led its time period with Adults 18-34, Adults 25-54 and across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).
* “Revenge” stands as the season’s No. 1 new drama series in Adults 18-49, topping CBS’ Tuesday debut of “Unforgettable” by 17% (2.9/8) and NBC’s Monday debut of “Playboy Club” by 113% (1.6/4).
* Topping ABC’s last 6 drama debuts in the time period, “Revenge” stood as the Net’s highest-rated series premiere in Wednesday’s 10 o’clock hour in 4 years among Adults 18-49 – since 9/26/07. “Revenge” greatly improved the time period year to year for ABC, more than doubling the year-ago debut of “The Whole Truth” in the hour by 106% in Total Viewers (10.1 million vs. 4.9 million) and by 127% in Adults 18-49 (3.4/9 vs. 1.5/4).
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 42% currently, from 38% 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.
Source: The Nielsen Company (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 9/21/11.