“Desperate Housewives” Stands As Sunday’s No. 1 Entertainment Series in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49

via press release:

October 19, 2009

Quick Take for Sunday, October 18, 2009

(Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

Growing its Overall Audience Week to Week Against Big Sports Competition on

CBS, NBC and TBS, ABC Outdraws Fox’s Sunday Lineup by 4.0 Million Viewers

Increasing its Viewer Count Week to Week, ABC’s “Home Edition”

Finishes No. 1 at 8pm with Women 18-49 for the 4th Week in a Row

Building its Audience Week to Week, “Desperate Housewives” Stands

As Sunday’s No. 1 Entertainment Series in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49

Hitting Season-Highs, ABC’s “Brothers & Sisters” Dominates CBS at 10pm

Sunday Night (7:00-11:00 p.m.)

Opposite NBC with a strong “Sunday Night Football” contest (Bears-Falcons) and for the 2nd straight week against an NFL overrun-boosted CBS (1-hour and 15-min Bills-Jets overrun), ABC outdrew its non-sports-driven competition on the evening, leading Fox by 3.8 million viewers (10.4 million vs. 6.6 million).

• Despite facing all of the sports competition in prime, including TBS with the National League Dodgers-Phillies MLB playoff game, ABC increased its overall audience week to week (+4% - 10.4 million vs. 10.0 million).

“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Competing against CBS with its NFL overrun into the second hour of Sunday’s prime, ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” outdrew its Fox competition (“The Simpsons”/”Cleveland Show”) by 2.2 million viewers (10.4 million vs. 8.2 million) and finished No. 1 in the 8 o’clock hour among Women 18-49 (3.9/10-tie) for the 4th consecutive week.

• “Home Edition” was up 6% over the prior week in Total Viewers (10.4 million vs. 9.8 million).

“Desperate Housewives” (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” stood as Sunday’s No. 1 entertainment TV program in both Total Viewers (13.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.6/11).  In fact “Housewives” has registered as Sunday’s most-watched entertainment series on all 4 weeks this season.

• “Housewives” grew week to week in Total Viewers, Adults 18-34 and across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

• “Housewives” is generating an even bigger increase this season than last over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback, picking up an average 1.6 million viewers and an additional 7-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals. 

“Brothers & Sisters” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC’s “Brothers & Sisters” dominated its non-sports competition in the 10 o’clock hour by wide margins, leading CBS’ combo of “Amazing Race”/“Three Rivers” by 2.0 million viewers (9.8 million vs. 7.8 million) and 52% in Adults 18-49 (3.2/8 vs. 2.1/5).  “Brothers & Sisters” finished No. 1 in the hour for the 4th consecutive week among key Women demos (W18-49/W25-54).

• Posting solid gains week to week in viewers and young adults, “Brothers & Sisters” hit season highs in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 (tie).  In fact the ABC drama drew its biggest audience since March and matched its top Adult 18-49 number since April – since 3/22/09 and 4/19/09, respectively.

• Like its lead-in, “Brothers & Sisters” is seeing a sizeable uptick this season over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback (also bigger than last season), picking up an average 1.1 million viewers and an additional 5-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals. 

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), 10/18/09.