ABC Takes Thanksgiving Week with Late Night Slate

With its late-night lineup of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" at 11:35 p.m. and "Nightline" at 12:35 a.m. during the week of Thanksgiving (week of November 25, 2013), ABC was up by 8% over the prior week in Total Viewers (2.645 million vs. 2.442 million) to deliver a new season high for the 2nd-consecutive week. In fact, ABC attracted its biggest audience in late-night in 1 year - since the week of 11/26/12.

ABC grew over Thanksgiving week last year (w/o 11/19/12) by 18% in Total Viewers (2.645 million vs. 2.237 million) and by 25% in Adults 18-49 (823,000 vs. 660,000).

During the 2013 November sweep, ABC posted its best-ever performance in late-night for any sweep in both Total Viewers (2.439 million) and Adults 18-49 (821,000) since premiering its current late-night lineup in January 2013.

ABC drew a larger overall audience in late-night than CBS (+10% - 2.439 million vs. 2.219 million) for the 3rd-straight November sweep, while holding its largest-ever advantage over CBS during any sweep period among Adults 18-49 (+30% - 821,000 vs. 631,000) to win over CBS for the 2nd November in a row.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live" (M-F 11:35 p.m.)

During Thanksgiving week (week of November 25, 2013), ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" grew for the 2nd week in a row in Total Viewers (+9% - 3.103 million vs. 2.858 million) to its most-watched week ever, surpassing the show's previous high by 3% (its premiere week at 11:35 p.m. on w/o 1/7/13 = 3.017 million). "JKL's" Tuesday telecast (on 11/26/13) attracted 3.386 million Total Viewers to qualify as the show's 2nd-most-watched regular broadcast ever on any night, behind only the Matt Damon takeover episode (on Thursday, 1/24/13).

"JKL" soared over Thanksgiving week last year (w/o 11/19/12) by enormous double-digits in Total Viewers (+77% - 3.103 million vs. 1.750 million) and Adults 18-49 (+69% - 951,000 vs. 563,000). "JKL" also saw sizable gains over the same week last year (2.129 million and 644,000, respectively, on w/o 11/26/12) in both Viewers (+46%) and Adults 18-49 (+48%), growing year over year on all 10 weeks of the season.

ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" stood as the week's No. 2 talk show in late-night in both Total Viewers (3.103 million) and Adults 18-49 (951,000), behind only NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

"JKL" drew a larger overall audience than CBS' "The Late Show with David Letterman" for the first time this season (+5% - 3.103 million vs. 2.962 million) and also beat the CBS late-night program by 10% in Adults 18-49 during the week (951,000 vs. 864,000).

In its first November sweep in its new 11:35 p.m. time slot, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" attracted its biggest-ever audience for any sweep period (2.796 million) and posted its best performance in nearly 7 years among Adults 18-49 (956,000) - since the 2007 February sweep. "JKL" catapulted over the 2012 November sweep (2.117 million and 756,000) by 32% in Total Viewers and by 26% in Adults 18-49, growing over the previous November for the 4th year in a row.

During the November 2013 sweep, "JKL" scored 2 of its 3 largest-ever audiences with the weeks of 11/25/13 (No. 1 - 3.103 million) and 11/18/13 (No. 3 - 2.858 million).

ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" delivered its largest margin of victory over CBS' "The Late Show with David Letterman" in Adults 18-49 (+24% - 956,000 vs. 769,000), outperforming the CBS program on 15 of their 18 head-to-head regular match-ups during the sweep. In addition, "JKL" scored its most competitive finish ever during any sweep period with the CBS program in Total Viewers, as just 168,000 viewers separated the two programs (2.796 million vs. 2.964 million).

"Nightline" (M-F 12:35 a.m.)

ABC News' "Nightline" drew 1.739 million Total Viewers, 740,000 Adults 25-54 and 570,000 Adults 18-49 for the week of November 25, 2013, according to Nielsen Media Research. For the 2nd week in a row, "Nightline" was up over the previous week across all key target demos: Total Viewers (+3%), Adults 25-54 (+3%) and Adults 18-49 (+1%) - 1.683 million, 716,000 and 565,000, respectively, on w/o 11/18/13.

"Nightline" outperformed CBS' "The Late Late Show" during the week in Total Viewers (+267,000), Adults 25-54 (+115,000) and Adults 18-49 (+90,000). "Nightline" has beaten the CBS program in all 10 weeks of the season in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 and in 9 of 10 weeks in Adults 25-54.

In its first November sweep in its new 12:35 a.m. time slot, "Nightline" turned in its best sweeps numbers to-date in Total Viewers (1.737 million), Adults 25-54 (728,000) and Adults 18-49 (556,000), according to Nielsen Media Research.

"Nightline" beat CBS' "The Late Late Show" during the 2013 November sweep across all key target demos: Total Viewers (+258,000), Adults 25-54 (+95,000) and Adults 18-49 (+62,000). "Nightline" has outperformed the CBS program for the last 3 sweeps period in Total Viewers and in 2 of the last 3 in the key adult demos. Further, airing in its 4th sweeps period in its new time period, "Nightline" led "The Late Late Show" by its largest sweep advantages ever in all 3 measures: Total Viewers (tie), Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

Late-Night (Week of Nov 25): TOTAL VIEWERS A18-49(000)

ABC 2,645,000 823,000

CBS 2,215,000 672,000

NBC 2,700,000 967,000

Late-Night (2013 Nov Sweep): TOTAL VIEWERS A18-49(000)

ABC 2,439,000 821,000

CBS 2,219,000 631,000

NBC 2,492,000 832,000

Note: Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the Wednesday - Friday telecasts (11/27 - 11/29) of "JKL" and "Nightline" were coded as specials and were excluded from the show's averages.

Source: The Nielsen Company, Live + Same Day National Program Ratings for weeks of 11/25/13, 11/18/13, 11/26/12 & 11/19/12 or as dated. Most Current Program Ratings for 2013 November Sweep (10/31-11/24/13), 2012 November Sweep (10/25-11/21/12).

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