NIGHTLINE Beats Competition in 4th Quarter of 2012

ABC's "Nightline" stood as late-night's No. 1 program during 4th Quarter 2012 in Total Viewers (3.905 million) and Adults 25-54 (1.437 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. 4Q12 marked the 8th time in 9 quarters that the ABC late-night program led in overall viewers against NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "The Late Show," and in 7 of the last 9 quarters in the key adult news demo.

"Nightline" improved across the board versus the previous quarter (3.264 million, 1.213 million, and 920,000, respectively, on 3Q12) among Total Viewers (+20%), Adults 25-54 (+18%) and Adults 18-49 (+17%).

"Nightline" led an NBC Jay Leno-hosted "The Tonight Show" by its largest Total Viewer (+383,000) and Adults 25-54 (+104,000) advantages during a 4th quarter in 19 years - since 4Q93.

"Nightline" posted its widest margins over CBS' "The Late Show" during a 4th quarter in 14 years in Total Viewers (+796,000) and in 13 years in Adults 25-54 (+222,000) - since 4Q98 and 4Q99.

Week of December 24, 2012

For the week of December 24, 2012, ABC's "Nightline" drew 3.617 million Total Viewers, 1.227 million Adults 25-54 and 915,000 Adults 18-49, according to Nielsen Media Research, ranking No. 1 for the week in Total Viewers.

For the 5th week in a row, "Nightline" improved on its year-ago performance in Total Viewers (+7% - 3.385 million on w/o 12/26/11).

Season to date, "Nightline" ranks No. 1 among the late-night broadcast programs in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, ahead of both NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "The Late Show." This marks the 3rd straight year that the ABC program is taking the top spot in overall viewers and in the key news demo.

NOTE: Due to Christmas Eve on Monday (12/24/25) and Christmas Day on Tuesday (12/25/12), ABC's "Nightline," NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "The Late Show" averages are based on 3 days (Wed-Fri).

During the week of December 24th, "Nightline" featured Barbara Walters' exclusive interview with President and Mrs. Obama; kept viewers up-to-date on the fiscal cliff negotiations in Washington; went in search of the lost ark as Christiane Amanpour previewed her "Back to the Beginning" special; and spoke to comedy icons Bette Midler and Billy Crystal, among other reports.

ABC News' "Nightline" is anchored by Cynthia McFadden, Terry Moran and Bill Weir. Juju Chang is a correspondent. Jeanmarie Condon is the Executive Producer. The program airs weeknights from 11:35 p.m., ET to 12:00 a.m. on the ABC Television Network. Together with "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "Nightline" is part of ABC's winning late night strategy of airing news and entertainment programming.

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