ABC's DANCING WITH THE STARS Marks Closest Margins This Season with 'The Voice'

With "Dancing" and "The Good Doctor" (TV's most watched drama this season), ABC stood as Monday's top broadcaster for the 4th consecutive week (9.8 million) and ran a strong second with Adults 18-49 (1.5/5), beating CBS by 15% (1.3/5) and FOX by 67% (0.9/3).

Please note: ABC's Monday lineup was preempted in Washington, D.C., for local NFL coverage (2.159% U.S.).

"Dancing with the Stars" (8:00-10:00 p.m. - 9.3 million and 1.3/5 in AD18-49):
From 8:00-10:00 p.m., ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" ranked No. 2 to NBC's "The Voice" in Total Viewers and across all key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). In addition, ABC's "Dancing" dominated Fox's dramas in the 2-hour time period ("Lucifer"/"The Gifted") by 6.1 million viewers (9.3 million vs. 3.2 million) and by 44% in Adults 18-49 (1.3/5 vs. 0.9/3). "Dancing" delivered its narrowest margins this season with NBC's "The Voice" in viewers and young adults, coming within 615,000 viewers and 8-tenths of a rating point.

"The Good Doctor" (10:00-11:00 p.m. - 10.7 million and 1.9/7 in AD18-49):
Building on its "Dancing" lead-in for the 5th week in a row at 10:00 p.m. (+15%/+46%), ABC's "The Good Doctor" once again beat its combined drama competition on NBC ("The Brave" = 5.3 million and 1.0/4) and CBS ("Scorpion" = 5.1 million and 0.8/3) to finish as the No. 1 series in the hour for the 5th time in as many telecasts with Total Viewers (10.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.9/7).

• Season to date through 4 weeks in Nielsen's Most Current data stream (includes available TV Playback), ABC's "The Good Doctor" is now TV's most watched drama (over CBS' "NCIS" and NBC's "This Is Us"), as well as TV's No. 1 10:00 p.m. series in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. The new show is producing triple-digit time period increases year to year for ABC in Monday's 10 o'clock hour with Total Viewers (+164%) and Adults 18-49 (+208%).

"The Good Doctor" Delivers Season's 4 Largest L+3 Viewer Lifts:
For last week's fourth telecast of the series, ABC's "The Good Doctor" tied the prior week for a playback lift high in Adults 18-49, growing by another +1.6 rating points (+80%) after 3 days of TV playback. "The Good Doctor" spiked to a 3.6 L+3 rating to hold exactly even with the prior week and to come within 1-tenth of its series high set in its first and second telecasts (3.7 rating). The ABC freshman drama also marked its 4th consecutive week of +5.0 million viewer growth and now claims each of the four biggest L+3 increases on any network of the new season so far. "The Good Doctor" grew to 16.1 million viewers after 3 days of playback (jumping by +5.5 million over L+SD) to nearly catch CBS' "The Big Bang Theory" as Monday's most watched TV show with just 400,000 viewers between the two programs (16.1 million vs. 16.5 million).

Projections Rationale:
Lifts vs. L+SD are based on the 2016-17 season for premiere telecast or an average for originals (excluding the premiere).
Returning shows: Profile based on same show (either premiere or averages for originals).
New Series: Based on similar series.

Source: The Nielsen Company, Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings, 10/23/17.

Photo credit: ABC/ Eric McCandless

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