2011 Marks ABC Family's Most-Watched Year in Key Demographics

By: Dec. 29, 2011
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In another banner year, 2011 wrapped as ABC Family's most-watched year on record in Prime in Total Viewers (1.46 million), Adults 18-34 (400,000), Adults 18-49 (678,000) and Viewers 12-34 (627,000), as well as across key Women 18-34 (269,000), Women 18-49 (443,000) and Females 12-34 (437,000), posting solid gains year to year. Impressively, 2011 marked ABC Family's 8th consecutive year of growth in Prime in Total Viewers, Adults 18-34, Women 18-49 and Viewers 12-34, and 6th straight year in Women 18-34 and Females 12-34.

Competitively, ABC Family recorded its highest annual Prime rank ever in Women 18-34 (#3) and Women 18-49 (#3), was the #3 cable network in Prime for the 2nd straight year in Females 12-34 and ranked among the Top 10 cable networks for the 3rd consecutive year in Total Viewers (#10), Adults 18-34 (#8), Adults 18-49 (#10) and Viewers 12-34 (#7).

"2011 marks eight consecutive years of record ratings growth and is the most-watched year on record in Prime with our key Females demos," said Michael Riley, president, ABC Family. "The network's success has been driven by our brand-defining programming and original scripted fare, including the 2011 groundbreaking original series, 'Switched at Birth' and our well known 'The Secret Life of the American Teenager' and 'Pretty Little Liars,' making a great triple-threat for us. Our focus in 2012 will be to continue to build upon these successes and keep the emphasis on the great story-telling that resonates so strongly with our Millennial viewers."?

2011 Program and Daypart Highlights

ABC Family enjoyed another banner year with original programming, delivering the year's Top 2 scripted cable TV series in core Millennial Females 12-34 with seasons 1B and 2A of "Pretty Little Liars," and owning 4 of the Top 5 overall with season 4A of "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" and newcomer "Switched at Birth." In fact, "Switched at Birth" ranked as the #1 new cable series of Summer 2011 in Adults 18-34, Women 18-34, Viewers 12-34 and Females 12-34.

Among Females 12-34, ABC Family delivered the year's Top 2 scripted cable series with season 1B of "Pretty Little Liars" (2.32 million/5.0 rating) and season 2A of "Pretty Little Liars (2.25 million/4.9 rating), and 4 of the Top 5 scripted cable series overall with season 4A of "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" (1.75 million/3.8 rating) and newcomer "Switched at Birth" (1.67 million/3.6 rating).

Among Women 18-34, ABC Family held 3 of the year's Top 5 scripted cable series with season 1B of "Pretty Little Liars" (#3 – 1.20 million/3.5 rating), season 2A of "Pretty Little Liars" (#4 – 1.14 million/3.3 rating) and season 4A of "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" (#5 – 1.11 million/3.3 rating).

"Switched at Birth" ranked as the #1 new cable series of Summer 2011 in Adults 18-34 (1.27 million/1.9 rating), Women 18-34 (996,000/2.9 rating), Viewers 12-34 (2.05 million/2.2 rating) and Females 12-34 (1.67 million/3.6 rating).

The world TV premiere of "Mean Girls 2" (1/23/11) stood as the #1 TV movie of 2011 in Females 12-34 (1.80 million/3.9 rating), and was the #3 basic cable movie in Women 18-34 (745,000/2.2 rating). In addition, the debut of original movie, "Cyberbully" (7/17/11) was the year's #3 TV movie in Females 12-34 (1.72 million/3.7 rating).

Year to year in Prime, ABC Family levied across-the-board increases, including by double-digit percent margins in Adults 18-34 (+10% - 400,000 vs. 365,000), Women 18-34 (+10% - 269,000 vs. 245,000) and Females 12-34 (+10% - 437,000 vs. 398,000).

Notably, for the 3rd straight year The Walt Disney Company held 3 of cable's Top 10 networks in Total Viewers in Prime with Disney Channel (#2 – 2.65 million), ESPN (#3 – 2.34 million) and ABC Family (#10 – 1.46 million).

ABC Family – December 2011 (11/28/11-12/25/11)
Powered by the 14th annual "25 Days of Christmas" programming extravaganza, December 2011 ranked as ABC Family's 2nd-most-watched month in the network's history in Prime in Total Viewers (2.39 million), Adults 18-34 (622,000), Women 18-34 (395,000), Adults 18-49 (1.12 million), Women 18-49 (687,000) and Viewers 12-34 (872,000), behind only December 2010.

For the 3rd consecutive December, ABC Family ranked as cable's #1 network in Women 18-34 and Women 18-49, and also ranked #1 in Viewers 12-34 in Females 12-34; Top 5 ranks were achieved in Total Viewers (#4), Adults 18-34 (#3) and Adults 18-49 (#4).

Impressively, for the 5th consecutive December, The Walt Disney Company owned 3 of cable's Top 4 networks in Total Viewers with ESPN (#1 – 3.18 million), Disney Channel (#3 -- 2.62 million) and ABC Family (#4 – 2.39 million).

ABC Family – 4Q 2011 (9/26/11-12/25/11)
Also driven by a near record-setting "25 Days of Christmas" campaign, 4Q 2011 became ABC Family's #1 quarter on record in Prime in Adults 18-34 (444,000) and Adults 18-49 (768,000), and its #2 quarter of all time in Total Viewers (1.64 million), Women 18-34 (288,000), Women 18-49 (483,000) and Viewers 12-34 (650,000).

Competitively, ABC Family achieved its highest quarter rank ever in Adults 18-49 (#5), matched its highest rank ever in Women 18-49 (#3 – tied 3Q11) and recorded its 2nd-highest rank ever in Women 18-34 (#3 – tied 3Q11) and Females 12-34 (#2 – tied various quarters).

Versus 4Q10, ABC Family climbed by 5% in Adults 18-34 (444,000 vs. 422,000), by 8% in Women 18-34 (288,000 vs. 267,000), by 8% in Viewers 12-34 (650,000 vs. 604,000) and by 12% in Females 12-34 (423,000 vs. 377,000).

"25 Days of Christmas 2011" (12/1/11-12/25/11)
ABC Family's 14th annual "25 Days of Christmas 2011" wrapped as the event's 2nd-most-watched event on record among target demos Adults 18-34 (601,000), Women 18-34 (379,000), Viewers 12-34 (855,000) and Females 12-34 (538,000), behind only last year.

ABC Family swept cable's #1 rank from 7:00–10:00 p.m. among all target 18-34, 18-49 and 12-34 demographics, and ranked a strong #3 in Total Viewers.



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