August 26, 2014
Primetime Rating Report for the Week of August 18, 2014
(Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)
ABC Ranks No. 1 During Summer 2014 Among Adults 18-49
ABC’s “20/20: From Hell” Delivers Strong Year to Year Time Period Improvement
ABC’s 2-Hour Repeat Wednesday Comedy Block Beats Fox’s Original
“So You Think You Can Dance” Head to Head for the 2nd Week in a Row
“Motive” Builds to 6-Week Highs in Total Viewers and Young Adults
And Improves its Time Period by Solid Margins Year to Year for ABC
“Rookie Blue” Season Finale Grows to its Biggest Audience in 5 Weeks
And Equals its Highest Adult 18-49 Rating Since its June Premiere
Up Year to Year, “Rookie Blue” Marks its Most-Watched-Ever Season Closer
ABC Wins Saturday with “NASCAR Series at Bristol,” Beating CBS’ NFL Coverage
And Delivering Summer Highs for the Net on the Night
ABC’s “Rising Star” Finale Grows for the 2nd Week in Adults 18-49 to a 5-Week High
Week No. 48
During the week of August 18, 2014, ABC aired 4 of the Top 20 broadcast programs in Adults 18-49: “Bachelor in Paradise” – No. 14, with “Modern Family-WED 9:31PM,” “Modern Family” and “NASCAR Series at Bristol” all tied at No. 15.
Summer 2014 (13 Complete Weeks): Despite airing a 5-game NBA Finals this year versus a 7-game series last year, ABC is increasing its overall audience from the same point last summer (+2% – 5.1 million vs. 5.0 million). In addition, ABC ranks No. 1 this summer in Adults 18-49 (1.4/5 – tied w/NBC).
Tuesday
“20/20: From Hell – SP” (10:00-11:00 p.m. – 3.9 million and 0.9/3 in AD18-49):
Building on its lead-in at 10:00 p.m. (+8%), ABC’s “20/20: From Hell” earned second in its time slot in the key Adult 25-54 news demo to NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.”
- “20/20: From Hell,” featuring mostly repackaged segments from previous installments of the ABC newsmagazine, improved its time period by strong double digits over the year-ago night (“Body of Proof” on 8/20/13 = 2.8 million, 0.6/2 and 0.8/2) in Total Viewers (+39% – 3.9 million vs. 2.8 million), Adults 18-49 (+50% – 0.9/3 vs. 0.6/2) and Adults 25-54 (+63% – 1.3/4 vs. 0.8/2).
Wednesday
ABC Wednesday Comedy Block (8:00-10:00 p.m. – 3.6 million and 1.1/4 in AD18-49):
From 8:00-10:00 p.m., ABC’s 2-hour repeat comedy block outdelivered Fox’s original “So You Think You Can Dance” by 22% in Adults 18-49 (1.1/4 vs. 0.9/3), leading for the 2nd week in a row. In addition from 9:00-10:00 p.m., back-to-back repeats of ABC’s “Modern Family” beat the first hour of CBS’ 2-hour “Extant” by 20% in Adults 18-49 (1.2/4 vs. 1.0/3).
“Motive” (10:00-11:00 p.m. – 4.0 million and 0.8/3 in AD18-49):
In the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s “Motive” grew week to week in Total Viewers (+8% – 4.0 million vs. 3.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (+14% – 0.8/3 vs. 0.7/2)and was up for the 3rd straight telecast among Adults 25-54 (+9% – 1.2/4 vs. 1.1/3). The ABC drama hit 6-week highs in viewers and young adults (tie), while equaling a 9-week high in Adults 25-54 – since 7/9/14 and 6/18/14, respectively.
- Among Adults 18-49 in the hour, “Motive” (0.8/3) ran neck and neck with the second hour of CBS’ “Extant” (0.9/3) and tied NBC’s “America’s Got Talent”-led “Taxi Brooklyn” (0.8/3). “Motive” beat “Taxi Brooklyn” by 9% in Adults 25-54 (1.2/4 vs. 1.1/3).
- “Motive” improved its hour for ABC over original programming on the same night last year (“Lookout” on 8/21/13 = 2.9 million, 0.7/2 and 0.9/3) in Total Viewers (+38%), Adults 18-49 (+14%) and Adults 25-54 (+33%).
Thursday
“Rookie Blue” (9:00-11:00 p.m. – 5.3 million and 1.0/3 in AD18-49):
From 9:00-11:00 p.m., ABC’s season finale of “Rookie Blue” grew week to week in Total Viewers (+15% – 5.3 million vs. 4.6 million) and was up for the 2nd week in a row among Adults 18-49 (+11% – 1.0/3 vs. 0.9/3), drawing its biggest audience in 5 weeks (since 7/17/14) and matching a best-since-premiere number with young adults. The ABC drama built from its first hour to its second hour by double digits in Total Viewers (+18% – 4.9 million to 5.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (+22% – 0.9/3 to 1.1/4), finishing as the most-watched TV program from 10:00-11:00 p.m.
- “Rookie Blue” topped its last season’s finale (4.7 million and 1.0/3 on 9/12/13) by 13% in Total Viewers, marking its most-watched-ever season closer.
Saturday
ABC Saturday Prime (8:00-11:00 p.m. – 5.2 million and 1.2/5 in AD18-49): With coverage of the “NASCAR Series at Bristol,” ABC ranked as the No. 1 network on Saturday night in Total Viewers (5.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.2/5), beating runner-up CBS with NFL coverage (4.5 million and 1.0/4). ABC scored its highest numbers on the night this summer in both viewers and young adults. Airing from 7:30-11:00 p.m., “NASCAR Series at Bristol” was easily Saturday’s No. 1 TV program in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, beating CBS’ NFL pre-season game (8:00-11:14 p.m.) by 13% in Total Viewers (5.1 million vs. 4.5 million) and by 20% among Adults 18-49 (1.2/5 vs. 1.0/4). In addition, the NASCAR race won the night over CBS’ NFL pre-season game in key Men demos (M18-49/M25-54).
Sunday
“Rising Star” (9:00-10:00 p.m. – 3.6 million and 1.0/3 in AD18-49):
The finale of ABC’s “Rising Star” was up for the 2nd week in a row in Adults 18-49 (+25% – 1.0/3 vs. 0.8/2) to deliver a 5-week high – since 7/20/14. The ABC unscripted series grew from its first half-hour to its second half-hour by 11% among young adults (0.9/3 to 1.0/3).
WEEK NO. 48: ADULTS 18-49 TOTAL VIEWERS
No.1 CBS 1.2 No.1 CBS 5,820,000
No.1 NBC 1.2 No.2 NBC 5,100,000
No.3 ABC 0.9 No.3 ABC 4,020,000
No.4 FOX 0.8 No.4 FOX 2,550,000
No.5 CW 0.3 No.5 CW 900,000
Source: The Nielsen Company, National, Live+ Same Day Program Ratings for week of 08/18/14.
