ABC Nearly Catches an 'Empire'-Driven Fox for No. 1 on Wednesday

ABC ran a strong 2nd on Wednesday in Adults 18-49 (1.4/5), coming within 2-tenths of tying an "Empire"-driven FOX for No. 1 and beating CBS by 17% (1.2/5) and NBC by 27% (1.1/4). For the 2nd week in a row, ABC's "Modern Family" earned its narrowest margins ever with "Empire" as Wednesday's No. 1 TV show in Adults 18-49, coming within 4-tenths of a rating point (1.8/7 vs. 2.2/8).

From 8:00-10:00 p.m., ABC's Wednesday comedy block delivered 4 of the Top 5 TV shows of the night, with "Modern Family" (1.8/7) - No. 2, "The Goldbergs" (1.5/6) - No. 4, while "Speechless" (1.3/5) and "black-ish" (1.3/5) tied at No. 5. At 8:30 p.m., ABC's "Speechless" returned from the prior week's preemption holding even with its last original 3 weeks ago in Adults 18-49.

In 10:00 p.m. hour, ABC's "Designated Survivor" remained exactly even week to week in Adults 18-49 (1.1/4) and is projected to win the hour once TV Playback is included in its numbers. The new ABC drama has improved its hour by double digits on each telecast year to year, and on average this season to date has boosted Wednesday's 10 o'clock for ABC by an impressive 72% in Adults 18-49 over the same point last year.

L+3 Playback for Last Wednesday's "Designated Survivor" (3/29/17): ABC's "Designated Survivor" spiked by +1.1 rating points over its L+SD Adult 18-49 number after 3 days of TV playback, winning the 10:00 p.m. hour and tying Fox's "Empire" as Wednesday's No. 1 gainer in L+3 playback. In addition, with a +4.416 million viewer lift over its L+SD tally, "Designated Survivor" was the night's biggest overall gainer in Total Viewers. In the Live + 3 Day numbers, "Designated Survivor" emerged as Wednesday's 2nd-most-watched TV program (behind only CBS' "Survivor" and ahead of Fox's "Empire") and the No. 3 highest-rated program (tied with ABC's "The Goldbergs" and behind only "Empire" and ABC's "Modern Family").

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.

A note about DVR penetration: DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample is currently at 49% in U.S. TV Homes. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which are increasingly not reflected in the overnight Live + Same Day numbers. As a result, the Live + 7 Day ratings are the most accurate Nielsen measure to gauge the size of the TV audience.

Source: The Nielsen Company, Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings for 4/5/17.

Photo credit: ABC/Ron Tom

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