ABC's NEW YEAR'S ROCKIN' EVE Grows to 2nd-Largest Audience Ever

During the week of December 28, 2015, ABC delivered 5 of the Top 15 entertainment programs in Adults 18-49, including the No. 1 show with "Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest Pt 2": "Primetime NYRE '16 Pt 2 " - No. 1, "Primetime NYRE '16 Pt 1 " - No. 2, while "Modern Family"-R, "Happy New Year, Charlie Brown" and "AFHV" tied at No. 15. ABC's "Primetime NYRE Pt 2" was also the week's most watched entertainment program overall and top-rated TV show in Teens 12-17.

• ABC's primetime delivery built by double digits week to week in Total Viewers (+14% - 4.1 million vs. 3.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (+25% - 1.0/3 vs. 0.8/3).

Wednesday
ABC claimed the night's Top 2 shows on the major networks in Adults 18-49, with encore telecasts of "Modern Family" (1.1/4) and "The Middle" (1.0/4).

Thursday
With its New Year's Eve line-up, ABC ranked a dominant No. 1 on the final night of 2015 over its broadcast competition, winning all 6 half-hours of prime and more than doubling runner-up NBC's NYE programming in Total Viewers (+123% - 9.8 million vs. 4.4 million) and nearly tripling it with Adults 18-49 (+180% - 2.8/11 vs. 1.0/4). In fact ABC beat the combined deliveries of CBS, NBC and FOX on the evening by 12% in Adults 18-49 (2.8/11 vs. 2.5/9). Please Note: ESPN carried the high-rated Cotton Bowl during Thursday's primetime (Alabama-Michigan State).

"Primetime NYRE '16 Pt 2" (10:00-11:00 p.m. - 13.0 million and 3.9/14 in AD18-49):
Jumping over its lead-in at 10:00 p.m., ABC's broadcast of "Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2016" eclipsed its broadcast competition during the final hour of the night and ranked as TV's No. 1 primetime entertainment program with Total Viewers and across each of the key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54).

• Head-to-head from 10:00-11:00 p.m., ABC's "Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2016" nearly quadrupled NBC's "New Year's Eve Game Night with Andy Cohen" (3.7 million and 1.0/4) in Total Viewers (+251%) and Adults 18-49 (+290%). ABC's show also towered over Fox's "Pitbull's New Year Resolution" earlier in the evening (2.6 million and 0.9/3 from 8:00-10:00 p.m.).

• The 10:00-11:00 p.m. segment of "Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve 2016" grew for the 2nd-consecutive year in Total Viewers (13.0 million vs. 12.9 million) and held even in Adults 18-49 (3.9/14), drawing its 2nd-largest-ever overall audience - the special premiered on the Net in 2000.

Social Activity:
In its entirety, "Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2016" on ABC was the No. 1 most tweeted program on New Year's Eve ever, as measured by Nielsen Social (Source: Nielsen, 12/31/11 - 12/31/15).

• A total of 3.5 million people in the U.S. saw one or more of the 529,000 tweets sent about "Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2016" on ABC on Thursday, 12/31/15, according to Nielsen. These tweets were sent by 161,300 people and generated more than 13.9 million Twitter TV impressions.

• The unique audience for "New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2016" represented 32% of the total Twitter TV audience for the day.

• The most tweeted about minute occurred at 1:15 a.m. EST (4,155 tweets during the minute), as viewers reacted to a performance by 5 Seconds of Summer.

Friday
ABC's "20/20" was the No. 1 broadcast program of the night in Adults 18-49 (1.1/3) and Adults 25-54 (1.5/4).

Sunday
"America's Funniest Home Videos" (7:00-8:00 p.m. - 5.9 million and 1.1/3 in AD18-49):
ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" grew for its 2nd consecutive telecast in Total Viewers (+11% - 5.9 million vs. 5.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (+22% - 1.1/3 vs. 0.9/3), drawing its biggest audience of the season and matching a season high among young adults.

"Galavant" (8:00-9:01 p.m. - 3.2 million and 0.9/2 in AD18-49):
Opposite the season finale of NBC's SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL and an NFL overrun-boosted CBS and Fox, the second season premiere of ABC's "Galavant" grew from its first half-hour to its second half hour by 17% in Teens 12-17 (0.6/3 to 0.7/3), while holding even in Adults 18-34 (0.6/2) and Women 18-34 (0.7/2). During its freshman season in the Live 7+Day ratings, "Galavant" grew by 1.7 million viewers (4.8 million to 6.5 million) and spiked 46% in Adults 18-49 (1.3 to 1.9) over its L+SD numbers.

WEEK NO. 15: ADULTS 18-49 TOTAL VIEWERS
No.1 NBC 1.8 No.1 CBS 6,720,000
No.2 CBS 1.2 No.2 NBC 6,660,000
No.3 ABC 1.0 No.3 ABC 4,140,000
No.4 FOX 0.9 No.4 FOX 2,840,000
No.5 CW 0.3 No.5 CW 1,080,000

Source: The Nielsen Company, National, Live+ Same Day Program Ratings for week of 12/28/15.

Image courtesy of ABC

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