ABC's ONCE UPON A TIME Opens with Strong Performance

Opposite NBC's Sunday Night Football and an NFL overrun-boosted Fox, ABC beat its non-sports competition on Sunday night by 25% in Adults 18-49 (CBS = 1.6/4). ABC's season premieres of "Once Upon a Time" (2.6/7) and "Revenge" (2.4/6) opened as Sunday's top-rated broadcast dramas in Adults 18-49, leading by strong margins over CBS' season openers of "The Good Wife" (1.5/3) and "The Mentalist" (1.6/4).

"Once Upon a Time" (8:00-9:00 p.m. - 8.5 million and 2.6/7 in AD18-49)
Building sharply on its lead-in at 8:00 p.m., ABC's season opener of "Once Upon a Time" was the ?No. 1 entertainment program in the 8 o'clock hour in Adults 18-49, leading season premieres of CBS' "Amazing Race" (+30% - 2.0/6) and Fox's NFL-led comedies (+4% - 2.5/7 for "The Simpsons"/"Bob's Burgers"). The ABC drama was the No. 1 most social broadcast series of the evening with 136,627 tweets, the highest number ever for the show.

Topping its May finale (+13% - 2.3/7), "Once Upon a Time" was also up 13% from its Jan-May average for originals in Adults 18-49 (Jan 6-May 12 L+SD originals = 2.3/6). In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, "Once Upon a Time" earned its highest numbers since January - since 1/6/13 and 1/13/13, respectively.

"Revenge" (9:00-10:00 p.m. - 8.0 million and 2.4/6 in AD18-49)
Retaining 92% of its lead-in at 9:00 p.m. (2nd-best-ever), ABC's "Revenge" opener beat out CBS' "The Good Wife" opener in The Hour by 60% in Adults 18-49 (2.4/6 vs. 1.5/3).

Like its lead-in, "Revenge" outdelivered its May finale (+41% - 1.7/5) and was up 33% over its Jan-May average for originals (Jan 6-May 12 L+SD originals = 1.8/4). The ABC drama drew its biggest audience since October and equaled its best young adult rating since November - since 10/28/12 and 11/11/12, respectively.

"Betrayal" (10:00-11:00 p.m. - 5.3 million and 1.5/4 in AD18-49)
In Adults 18-49, the series debut of "Betrayal" was up over ABC's most-recent drama debut in The Hour (+7% - 1.4/4 for "Red Widow" from 10:00-11:00 p.m. on 3/3/13) and topped the drama's original average during its run by 36% (1.1/3 - L+SD March 3-May 5). In the 10 o'clock hour, the new ABC drama ran neck-and-neck with CBS' season premiere of "The Mentalist" in Adults 18-49 (1.5/4 vs. 1.6/4) and led with Adults 18-34 and key Women (W18-34/W18-49).

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 48% currently, from 45% 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. Source: The Nielsen Company, Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings, 09/29/13.

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