ABC Dramas Grow Across the Board

via press release:

Opposite Huge Sports Competition, ABC’s Sunday Grows Week to Week

Surging 10% Week to Week, ABC’s “Once Upon A Time” Stands as Sunday’s

No. 1 Scripted Broadcast Show for the 4th Consecutive Week in Adults 18-49

ABC’s “Revenge” Marks Best-Since-Premiere Results and Builds Year to Year

Hitting its Highest Numbers Since its Debut, ABC’s “666 Park Avenue”

Grows by Double-Digit Percentages Week to Week with Young Adults

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

Despite another Sunday of big sports competition from NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” contest (Pittsburgh Steelers-Cincinnati Bengals) and an NFL-fueled CBS from a monster Jets-Patriots overrun into the first hour of prime, as well as Fox with MLB Playoffs (National League Championship Game 6), ABC built its numbers week to week in Total Viewers (+3%) and Adults 18-49 (+5%).  ABC beat out Fox’s MLB post-season baseball coverage on the night in both viewers (7.3 million vs. 5.7 million) and young adults (2.3/6 vs. 1.6/4).

“Once Upon A Time” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Catapulting over its lead-in by 154% in Adults 18-49 (3.3/8 vs. 1.3/4) and building from start to finish, ABC’s “Once Upon A Time” registered as Sunday’s No. 1 scripted broadcast series for the 4th week running. From 8:00-9:00 p.m., “Once Upon A Time” ranked No. 1 in its hour with key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54) and was the top-rated broadcast show with Teens 12-17 (tying “Sunday Night Football”). Season to date based on L+7 ratings, “Once Upon A Time” spikes by 3.0 million viewers and by 1.3 Adult 18-49 rating points (+35%) over its initially-reported Live + Same Day ratings.

• “Once Upon a Time” grew week to week in Total Viewers (+3% - 9.7 million vs. 9.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (+10% - 3.3/8 vs. 3.0/8), while delivering a best-since-premiere number with Teens 12-17.

“Revenge” (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

Exhibiting strong lead-in retention in the 9 o’clock hour, ABC’s “Revenge” finished No. 2 against its broadcast competition across all key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54). A big gainer in DVR playback, on average this season “Revenge” leaps from its L+SD to L+7 numbers by 2.8 million viewers and by 1.2 Adult 18-49 rating points (+41%).

• Marking its strongest results since its season premiere, ABC’s “Revenge” was up over the prior week in both viewers (+4% - 8.6 million vs. 8.3 million) and young adults (+8% - 2.8/6 vs. 2.6/6).  In addition, “Revenge” was up nicely over its year-ago Wednesday telecast (8.0 million and 2.5/7 on 10/19/11), increasing by 8% in Total Viewers and by 12% in Adults 18-49.

“666 Park Avenue” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s “666 Park Avenue” beat out its CBS veteran drama competition in Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34.   In fact, the new ABC drama qualified as the No. 1 entertainment broadcast series in its time slot for the 4th week in a row with Women 18-34.  Ranking among the biggest freshman series this season in DVR playback, on average “666 Park Avenue” sees its Live + 7 Day Adult 18-49 rating jump by 53% (+1.0 rating) and adds on another 2.3 million viewers over its Live + Same Day numbers.

• Building week to week in Total Viewers (+2% - 4.9 million vs. 4.8 million), Adults 18-49 (+20% - 1.8/4 vs. 1.5/4) and Adults 18-34 (+17% - 1.4/4 vs. 1.2/3), ABC’s “666 Park Avenue” earned its highest numbers since its series debut telecast on the two latter measures.

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 46% currently, from 42% 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.