ABC Hits a Monday Season High for Adults 18-49

via press release:

February 9, 2010

Quick Take for Monday, February 8, 2010

(Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Hits a Season High on the Night in Adults 18-49 and

Is No. 1 on Monday in Key Women for the 6th Week in a Row

“The Bachelor” Tops Fox’s Original Dramas from 8-10pm,

Marking a Season High with its 5th Straight Week of Growth in Viewers

ABC’s “Castle” Tops NBC’s “Jay Leno” Monday Finale

by 5.2 Million Viewers and by 108% in Adults 18-49

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

Growing week to week, ABC hit a Monday season high among Adults 18-49 (3.6/9-tie) and drew its biggest overall audience (11.4 million) on the evening since November with the season finale of “Dancing with the Stars” on 11/23/09.   The Network won Monday for the 6th straight week among key Women: W18-34 (4.7/12) and W18-49(5.1/12).

“The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love” (8:00-10:00 p.m.)

From 8:00-10:00 p.m., ABC’s “The Bachelor” took second place among Total Viewers to CBS’ original comedy block, drawing a larger audience than Fox’s original dramas (“House”/”24”) for the 2nd week in a row (12.3 million vs. 11.9 million). The ABC unscripted series finished No. 1 in its 2-hour time period for the 4th consecutive week in Adults 18-34, besting runner-up Fox by 6% (3.8/10 vs. 3.6/10).  For its 6th straight telecast, “The Bachelor” overshadowed its time slot and qualified as Monday’s
No. 1 TV show with Women 18-34 (5.8/14).

• “The Bachelor” marked another season high in Total Viewers and equaled last week’s season high among Adults 18-49, tallying the show’s 5th consecutive week of growth of its overall audience.

“Castle” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC’s “Castle” earned second place in the 10 o’clock hour to CBS’ original “CSI: Miami,” beating out NBC’s original “Jay Leno” Monday finale by 5.2 million viewers (9.5 million vs. 4.3 million) and by 108% in Adults 18-49 (2.5/7 vs. 1.2/3).

• On average season to date, “Castle” is growing its time period year to year for ABC by 1.2 million viewers over the same nights last year.

• “Castle” attracts an advertiser-coveted Upscale audience, with an annual median income of $68,000 for its Adult 18-49 audience (among the highest on broadcast television) and pulling in 22% higher ratings than the norm in homes with $100k+ annual income (index of 122).

• One of TV’s biggest gainers in the 10 o’clock hour this season, ABC’s “Castle” is generating substantial increases over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback, picking up an average 1.8 million viewers and an additional 6-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point (+25%) 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 35% currently, from 29% at the same point in 2009. 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), 2/8/10.