ABC's DESIGNATED SURVIVOR' Is No. 1 in Its 10 p.m. Slot for 3rd Time in 4 Weeks

ABC Wednesday Prime (8:00-11:00 p.m. - 5.5 million and 1.4/6 in AD18-49): With its comedies returning to originals and "Designated Survivor" at 10:00 p.m., ABC took 2nd to an "Empire"-driven FOX on Wednesday in Adults 18-49 (1.4/6), beating first-run schedules on CBS (1.3/5) and NBC (1.0/4). Continuing to close the gap, ABC's "Modern Family" marked its closest finish ever with "Empire" as Wednesday's No. 1 TV show in Adults 18-49, coming within 4-tenths of a rating point (2.0/8 vs. 2.4/9) compared to its previous best of a 6-tenths differential on 11/9/16.

At 8:00 p.m., ABC's "The Goldbergs" ranked No. 1 in its half-hour (tied w/CBS' "Survivor") and built 13% in Adults 18-49 (1.7/7 vs. 1.5/6) from its last original airing two weeks ago.

At 8:30 p.m., ABC's special preview of "Imaginary Mary" took 2nd in its half-hour to CBS' "Survivor" with Adults 18-49 (1.4/5), beating Fox's freshman "Shots Fired" by 40% (1.0/4). Editors please note: "Imaginary Mary" premieres in its regular Tuesday 9:30 p.m. time period next week on April 4, 2017. "Imaginary Mary" equaled the 2nd highest rated mid-season comedy debut this year in Adults 18-49, behind only CBS' "Big Bang"-led debut of "Superior Donuts" and matching NBC's "Trial & Error" coming out of the "This Is Us" finale.

At 9:00 p.m., ABC's "Modern Family" came within 3-tenths of "Empire" head-to-head in the half-hour with Adults 18-49 (2.0/8 vs. 2.3/9) and advanced 5% from its last original telecast. The ABC comedy was also up 10% in Total Viewers (6.7 million vs. 6.1 million) from its last original to a 6-week high - since 2/15/17.

In the 9:30 p.m. half-hour, ABC's "black-ish" took second with Adults 18-49 (1.5/5) to "Empire," beating the second half-hours of CBS' "Criminal Minds" by 25% (1.2/4) and NBC's "L&O: SVU" by 36% (1.1/4). "black-ish" held even with its last original in Adults 18-49.

Opposite original drama competition in the 10:00 p.m. hour on NBC ("Chicago P.D.") and CBS ("Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders"), ABC's "Designated Survivor" ranked No. 1 in the hour for the 3rd time in 4 weeks since its mid-season return with Adults 18-49 (1.1/4 - tied w/ "Chicago P.D.") and remained exactly even week to week.

L+3 Playback for Last Wednesday's "Designated Survivor" (3/22/17): ABC's "Designated Survivor" jumped to a 2.2 rating among Adults 18-49 after 3 days of TV playback to rank No. 1 at 10:00 p.m. by 2-tenths of a rating point over NBC's "Chicago P.D." (2.0 rating), which initially won the hour by 1-tenth in L+SD. The ABC drama moved up from No. 6 in L+SD to the No. 2 highest-rated program on Wednesday in L+3 in Adults 18-49 (tied with CBS' "Survivor" and behind only Fox's "Empire" return).

Projections Rationale: Lifts vs. L+SD are based on 2015-16 season averages for originals (excluding the premiere). Returning shows: Profile based on same show (either premiere or averages for originals).
New Series: Based on similar series.

Photo credit: ABC/ Bob D'Amico

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