ABC Dominates Sunday with Coverage of “The Bachelorette” Season Finale
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Posting Summer Highs, “AFHV” Leads for the 2nd Straight Week in Adults 18-49Â
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ABC’s “The Bachelorette” Closer is Up Year to Year in Adults 18-49, Posting theÂ
Net’s Biggest Summertime Entertainment Numbers in the Slot in Nearly 6 YearsÂ
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ABC’s “The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose” Towers Over the 10pm Hour,Â
Surging Over Last Year’s Telecast by Double-Digit Percentages in Adults 18-49
Sunday Night (7:00-11:00 p.m.)
Featuring the 8th season finale of “The Bachelorette” and the “After the Final Rose” special, ABC (7.9 million and 2.6/8) overshadowed Sunday night, beating out its nearest competition (CBS = 5.2 million and 1.2/3) by 52% in Total Viewers and by 117% in Adults 18-49 (No. 1 in all 8 half hours of prime). It was ABC’s 3rd straight Sunday to lead in the key young adult sales demo.
* ABC’s “The Bachelorette” and “The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose” special stood as Sunday’s Top 2 TV programs with viewers and young adults.
“America’s Funniest Home Videos” (7:00-8:00 p.m.)
Hitting summer highs in viewers (5.3 million) and young adults (1.2/4), ABC’s encore “America’s Funniest Home Videos” won the 7:00 p.m. hour for the 2nd week in a row with Adults 18-49.
“The Bachelorette” (8:00-10:00 p.m.)
Jumping over its lead-in at 8:00 p.m. and gaining audience throughout its more than 2-hour broadcast, “The Bachelorette” season closer dominated its time period with season highs, soaring over its most-recent Monday telecast by 1.4 million viewers and by 36% in Adults 18-49. Â Head to head from 8:00-10:00 p.m., ABC’s “The Bachelorette” nearly tripled Fox’s “Teen Choice 2012” in Total Viewers (+187% – 8.6 million vs. 3.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (+172% – 3.0/9 vs. 1.1/3).
* “The Bachelorette” was up over its year-ago finale (2.8/8 on 8/1/11) by 7% in Adults 18-49.
* In viewers and young adults, “The Bachelorette” generated ABC’s biggest summertime (Memorial Day-Labor Day) entertainment numbers in the time period in almost 6 years – since 8/27/06.
“The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Towering over the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s “The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose” special outdelivered its combined CBS and NBC competition by 2.0 million viewers (9.1 million vs. 7.1 million) and by 88% with young adults (3.2/9 vs. 1.7/4). Â “The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose” finished as Sunday’s No. 1 TV show with viewers and young adults.
* ABC’s “The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose” grew year to year by double digits in Adults 18-49 (+14% – 2.8/8 on 8/1/11).
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), 07/22/12.