ABC's THIS WEEK Attracts Largest Overall May Sweep Audience in 15 Years

"This Week with George Stephanopoulos" won the 2014 May Sweep in Adults 25-54 (807,000), according to Nielsen Media Research. "This Week" scored its first sweeps victory in the key adult news demo in nearly 21 years - since July 1993.

Competitively, "This Week" posted its first May Sweeps win over NBC's "Meet the Press" in 21 years with its largest news demo sweeps advantage (+177,000) in nearly 21 years - since May 1993 and July 1993, respectively. In addition, "This Week" outperformed CBS' "Face the Nation" in Adults 25-54 (+15,000) during a May Sweep for the first time in 5 years - since May 2009.

In Total Viewers, "This Week" outdelivered NBC's "Meet the Press" by 442,000 viewers to post its first May Sweep win over the NBC program in 18 years and its biggest overall viewer lead during any sweep in more than 17 years - since May 1996 and November 1996, respectively.

Improving on the year-ago sweep (May 2013) by double digits in both Total Viewers (+15% - 2.777 million vs. 2.425 million) and Adults 25-54 (+20% - 807,000 vs. 674,000), "This Week" attracted its largest overall May Sweep audience in 15 years and its strongest Adults 25-54 performance in 5 years - since May 1999 and May 2009, respectively. Further, "This Week" stood as the only public affairs program to build on its May 2013 performance as CBS' "Face the Nation" (-5%/-7%), NBC's "Meet the Press" (-11%/-16%) and Fox's "Fox News Sunday" (-6%/-16%) all lost viewers.

May 18, 2014

On May 18, 2014, ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" averaged 2.739 million Total Viewers and 720,000 Adults 25-54, according to Nielsen Media Research. "This Week" outperformed NBC's "Meet the Press" for the 4th consecutive time in both Total Viewers (+259,000) and Adults 25-54 (+22,000). In fact, "This Week" has beaten "Meet the Press" in 11 of their last 12 match ups in Total Viewers and 10 of the last 12 in Adults 25-54.

For the 4th week in a row, "This Week" built on its performance on the year-ago Sunday in both Total Viewers (+6%) and Adults 25-54 (+3%) - 2.590 million and 700,000, respectively on 5/19/13. In fact, "This Week" stood as the only public affairs program to improve year to year, as CBS' "Face the Nation" (-2%/-13%), NBC's "Meet the Press" (-9%/-8%)and Fox's "Fox News Sunday" (-10%/-10%) all posted losses.

Season to date, "This Week" is up by double-digits in Total Viewers (+13%) and Adults 25-54 (+12%) versus its year-ago season averages. Growing in both measures for the 2nd year in a row, "This Week" is delivering its strongest performance in 5 years - since the 2008-09 season. In addition, "This Week" is up the most from the same point last season in both Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 versus CBS' "Face the Nation" (+1%/+2%), NBC's "Meet the Press" (-6%/-8%) and Fox's "Fox News Sunday" (+2%/-10%).

In addition, "This Week" leads NBC's "Meet the Press" this season in both Total Viewers (+113,000) and Adults 25-54 (+40,000), beating the NBC program during a season for the first time in 17 years in overall viewers and in 20 years in the key adult news demo - since the 1996-97 and the 1993-94 seasons, respectively.

Robin Sproul, Vice President and Washington Bureau Chief, serves as the Executive in Charge of "This Week" and Jonathan Greenberger serves as the Executive Producer.

Follow "This Week" on Twitter HYPERLINK "https://twitter.com/" l "!/thisweekabc" @ThisWeekABC.

May 2014 Sweep TOTAL VIEWERS A25-54 (000)/Rtg
ABC "THIS WEEK" 2,777,000 807,000/0.7
NBC "MEET THE PRESS" 2,335,000 630,000/0.5
CBS "FACE THE NATION" 2,871,000 792,000/0.7
CBS "FACE THE NATION-2" 1,653,000 435,000/0.4
FOX "FOX NEWS SUNDAY" 1,128,000 359,000/0.3

Sunday, May 18, 2014 TOTAL VIEWERS A25-54 (000)/Rtg
ABC "THIS WEEK" 2,739,000 720,000/0.6
NBC "MEET THE PRESS" 2,480,000 698,000/0.6
CBS "FACE THE NATION" 2,874,000 821,000/0.7
CBS "FACE THE NATION-2" 1,665,000 517,000/0.4
FOX "FOX NEWS SUNDAY" 1,093,000 409,000/0.3

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI (Total Viewers and Adults 25-54); Live+SD for 5/18/14, 5/11/14 and 5/19/13 or as dated. Most Current: 2013-2014 Season (9/23/13 - 5/18/14) and 2012-2013 Season (9/24/12 - 5/19/13). NOTE: "Meet the Press" was pre-empted on 5/11/14. Sweep periods (November, February, May and July). All averages based on regular telecasts. Most Current: May 2014 Sweep (4/24-5/21/14), May 2013 (4/25-5/22/13) and February 2014 Sweep (1/30-2/26/14). NOTE: Due to the digital transition, the 2009 February sweep was 3/5 - 4/1/09.

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