ABC is Monday’s Most-Watched Net, Beating CBS by 2.8 Million Viewers

via press release:

ABC is Monday’s Most-Watched Net, Beating CBS by 2.8 Million Viewers

Monday’s Most-Watched Telecast for the 3rd Time in 4 Weeks, ABC’s “DWTS”

Tops Fox’s “Lie To Me” by 32% and NBC’s “Trauma” by 106% at 9pm in Adults 18-49

“DWTS” Grows its Overall Audience Week to Week

Hitting Season Highs, “Castle” Tops NBC’s “Jay Leno” with its

Largest Margins Yet in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49

Monday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC qualified as the most-watched TV network (14.3 million) on Monday, outdrawing CBS by 2.8 million viewers (11.5 million), Fox by 3.9 million viewers (10.4 million) and NBC by 8.9 million viewers (5.4 million).

“Dancing with the Stars” (8:00-10:00 p.m.)

Up week to week, ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” stood as TV’s most-watched program (16.5 million) on Monday for the 3rd time in 4 telecasts (placing second the previous week only to ESPN’s record-setting “Monday Night Football” game). The ABC dance competition built its audience from its first hour to its second hour in Total Viewers (16.1 million to 16.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.3/8 to 3.7/9).  In fact among Adults 18-49 from 9:00-10:00 p.m., “DWTS” dominated Fox’s “House-“driven “Lie To Me” by 32% (2.8/7) and NBC’s high-profile “Trauma” by 106% (1.8/7).

• “DWTS” won its 2-hour time period for the 3rd week running among Women 18-49 (4.9/12) and Women 25-54 (6.4/14).

“Castle” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

Hitting season highs in viewers and young adults, ABC’s “Castle” dominated NBC’s “Jay Leno” in the 10 o’clock hour, more than doubling the NBC program in Total Viewers (+5.1 million viewers – 10.0 million vs. 4.9 million) and leading by the largest margin yet in Adults 18-49 (+60% - 2.4/6 vs. 1.5/7).

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 33% currently, from 27% at the same point in 2008. 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: Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 10/12/09.