ABC Grows Season to Date in Total Viewers and Holds Steady in Adults 18-49

ABC Grows its Overall Audience Year to Year and Holds Steady in Adults 18-49: Season to date based on all programming, ABC is up 2% in Total Viewers (8.7 million vs. 8.5 million) and holding steady in Adults 18-49. The Net is up year to year in Adults 18-49 on Thursday (+21%), Friday (+6%) and Sunday (+5%).

Season's Highest-Rated TV Series: The Net delivers 6 of the Top 15 entertainment series on broadcast TV this season in Adults 18-49 (more than any net), including the No. 1 freshman show ("How to Get Away with Murder"), the No. 1 new comedy ("black-ish") and the Top 2 dramas ("HTGAWM" and "Scandal"): "Modern Family" (4.9 rating) - No. 2, "HTGAWM" (4.6 rating) - No. 4, "Scandal" (4.3 rating) - No. 7, "Grey's Anatomy" (3.8 rating) - No. 11, "Once Upon A Time" (3.6 rating) - No. 12 and "black-ish" (3.5 rating) - No. 14. In addition, "HTGAWM" is the season's highest-rated show with key Women (W18-34/W18-49).

Strongest Thursday Start to a Season in 5 Years Opposite the NFL: Despite facing CBS' Thursday Night Football on the first 5 weeks of the season, ABC is up by double digits on the night versus the same point last year in Total Viewers (+29%) and Adults 18-49 (+21%). On both Nielsen measures, ABC is delivering its strongest start on the night in 5 years - since the beginning of the 2009-10 season.

Up on Friday in Viewers for the 4th Straight Year to an 11-Year High: Building for the 4th straight year on Friday in Total Viewers (+11%) and increasing its Adult 18-49 delivery (+6%), ABC is delivering its most-watched Friday start to a season in 11 years and best in 7 years with young adults - since the beginning of the 2003-04 and 2007-08 seasons, respectively. The Net ranks No. 1 on the night with "Shark Tank" as Friday's No. 1 TV show in Adults 18-49.

ABC's 2-Hour Comedy Block is Up and Ranks No. 1 in Adults 18-49: On average, ABC's 2-hour Wednesday comedy block leads its 8:00-10:00 p.m. time period by 9% in Adults 18-49 over its nearest competition (CBS). The comedy block is growing year to year in viewers (+10%) and young adults (+9%). "Modern Family" and "black-ish" are the Top 2 TV shows of the night in Adults 18-49.

Growing Returning Programs and Shows Improving Time Periods for ABC: In Adults 18-49, ABC's "The Goldbergs" (+8%), "Scandal" (+8%), "Once Upon A Time" (+13%) and "20/20" (+7%) are each up over their performance at the same point last season. In addition, ABC's "S.H.I.E.L.D." (+13%), "Forever" (+73%), "The Goldbergs" (+33%), "black-ish" (+30%), "Grey's" (+111%), "How to Get Away with Murder" (+13%), "Cristela" (+8%) and "Revenge" (+29%) are each improving their respective time periods with young adults.

ABC Leads Season with Upscale Young Adults: Among Adults 18-49 in homes with $100K+ Annual Income in the non-sports numbers, ABC (3.36 rating) ranks No. 1 this season, leading NBC by 16% (2.89 rating), CBS by 24% (2.71 rating) and FOX by 71% (1.97 rating). ABC airs 8 of the Top 20 highest-rated entertainment series (the most for any net) among high-income young adults, placing 5 of the Top 10 including the No. 1 series overall with "Modern Family" and the No. 1 new show with "How to Get Away with Murder:" "Modern Family" (8.99 rating) - No. 1, "HTGAWM" (6.22) - No. 4, "Scandal" (6.10) - No. 5, "Grey's Anatomy" (5.00) - No. 9, "black-ish" (4.86 - No. 1 new comedy) - No. 10, "Once Upon A Time" (4.22) - No. 14, "The Goldbergs" (3.91) - No. 16 and "The Middle" (3.47) - No. 20.

ABC Series Among Most Popularly Recorded and Played Back: On average during primetime, ABC's numbers for original programming jump from the first-reported Live + Same Day averages to the finalized Live + 7 Day ratings by 29% in Total Viewers (7.6 million to 9.8 million) and by 40% in Adults 18-49 (2.0/6 to 2.8/9), making it the biggest percentage gainer among the major nets on both counts. With a rise in DVR penetration year to year (48% to 49%), ABC's series remain among the most popularly recorded and played back TV shows again this season, as it delivers 3 of the Top 10 biggest broadcast gainers in Total Viewers, including the season's No. 1 biggest freshman gainer ("How to Get Away with Murder"). A total of 13 ABC series add 2 million viewers or more from their initially reported totals via time-shifted viewing: "HTGAWM" (+5.9 million), "Modern Family" (+4.7 million), "Castle" (+4.4 million), "Scandal" (+3.8 million), "Grey's" (+3.5 million), "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." (+3.3 million), "Forever" (+3.3 million), "black-ish" (+2.9 million), "Once Upon A Time" (+2.8 million), "Revenge" (+2.7 million), "Resurrection" (+2.6 million), "Nashville" (+2.5 million) and "The Goldbergs" (+2.0 million). Among Adults 18-49, 8 of ABC's series register substantial ratings increases of at least 1.0 rating points: "HTGAWM" (+2.3 rating), "Modern Family" (+2.1 rating), "Scandal" (+1.6 rating), "Grey's" (+1.6 rating), "S.H.I.E.L.D." (+1.4 rating), "black-ish" (+1.2 rating), "Once Upon A Time" (+1.2 rating) and "Castle" (+1.0 rating).

To post a comment, you must register and login.