ABC Up 15% in the Ratings with Adults 18-49 from Last Year

ABC is up 15% in the 18-49 demo from this time last year. The ratings details are below:

Sunday Night (7:00-11:00 p.m.)
Up against NBC's "Sunday Night Football" and an NFL-overrun boosted CBS, ABC outdrew Fox's Sunday night schedule by 2.0 million viewers (7.4 million vs. 5.4 million).

* ABC was up from the year-ago Sunday by 15% in Adults 18-49 (2.3/6 vs. 2.0/5).

"America's Funniest Home Videos" (7:00-8:00 p.m.)
During the 7 o'clock hour, opposite CBS' huge Broncos-Patriots NFL primetime overrun, ABC's season opener of "America's Funniest Home Videos" grew from its year-ago season premiere in Total Viewers, across the Women demos and with Kids 2-11. The veteran ABC video clip show retained 100% of its year-ago opener with Adults 18-49 (1.5/4).

* From its first half-hour to its second half-hour, "AFVH" saw its numbers shoot up by 26% in viewers (5.7 million to 7.2 million) and by 50% in young adults (1.2/3 to 1.8/5).

"Once Upon a Time" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
More than doubling its Adult 18-49 lead-in (+120%) and building audience from start to finish, ABC's "Once Upon a Time" (3.3/8) finished No. 1 against its non-sports competition from 8:00-9:00 p.m., beating an NFL-overrun-fueled CBS by 10% ("60 Minutes"/"The Amazing Race" = 3.0/8) and Fox's animated comedies by 22% ("The Simpsons"/"Bob's Burgers" = 2.7/7). "Once Upon a Time" won its hour across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54) and stood as Sunday's No. 1 TV show with Women 18-34 for the 2nd week in a row. In addition, The Disney-owned drama retained over 90% of its big week-ago premiere with Women 18-34 (92%) and Kids 2-11 (94%).

* "Once Upon a Time" boosted its time period for ABC over the year-ago night by 30% in Total Viewers (9.6 million vs. 7.4 million) and by 65% in Adults 18-49 (3.3/8 vs. 2.0/5).

* Based on early DVR playback for the new season (Live + 3 Day), "Once Upon a Time" saw its numbers spike by 2.4 million viewers and by 1.1 Adult 18-49 rating points over its initially-reported Live + Same Day ratings.

"Revenge" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
During the 9 o'clock hour, "Revenge" moved ABC further ahead of its CBS competition, beating out the combination of "The Amazing Race" and "The Good Wife" by 30% in Adults 18-49 (2.6/6 vs. 2.0/5). In addition, the ABC sophomore drama ranked as the No. 1 entertainment program in its time period with key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

* On its new night and time, ABC's "Revenge" was up from its year-ago performance on Wednesday night (7.7 million and 2.4/6 on 10/5/11) in both viewers (+8%) and young adults (+8%).

* A big gainer in DVR playback, "Revenge" built from its L+SD to L+3 numbers by 2.2 million viewers and nearly 1.0 Adult 18-49 rating point (+0.9).

"666 Park Avenue" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Topping CBS' dramas ("The Good Wife"/"The Mentalist" = 1.0/3 and 1.6/4) in the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's "666 Park Avenue" (1.3/4 and 1.7/4) ranked as the No. 1 non-sports program in its time slot for the 2nd week in a row with key Adults (AD18-34/AD18-49). The new ABC drama was also the entertainment leader in the hour across all key Women demographics.

* During its first 3 days of DVR playback, "666 Park Avenue" saw its Adult 18-49 rating jump by 38% and added on another 2.0 million viewers over its Live + Same Day numbers.

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 46% currently, from 42% at the same point in 2011. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.