NASHVILLE Season Finale Builds to 6-Week Highs in Viewers and Young Adults

ABC once again delivered Wednesday's No. 1 TV program in Adults 18-49, with "Modern Family" ranking as the evening's top-rated show for its 9th-consecutive original airing. During primetime, ABC's "Modern Family" (3.1/9) outdelivered the top shows on each of the other nets by double-digit percentages, beating CBS' "Criminal Minds" finale by 15% (2.7/8), Fox's "American Idol" by 48% (2.1/6) and NBC's "Chicago PD" by 94% (1.6/5).

The Net ranked No. 1 on the night for the 2nd week in a row with Women 18-34 (tie).

"The Middle" (8:00-8:30 p.m. - 6.9 million and 1.9/6 in AD18-49):
At 8:00 p.m., ABC's "The Middle" increased week to week by 5% in viewers and by 19% in young adults, hitting 3-week highs on both counts - since 4/23/14.

"Suburgatory" (8:30-9:00 p.m. - 5.0 million and 1.5/5 in AD18-49):
At 8:30 p.m., the finale of ABC's "Suburgatory" grew 15% week to week in Adults 18-49.

"Modern Family" (9:00-9:30 p.m. - 8.8 million and 3.1/9 in AD18-49):
More than doubling its Adult 18-49 lead-in at 9:00 p.m. (+107%), ABC's "Modern Family" (3.1/9) dominated its half-hour, leading CBS' "Criminal Minds" finale by 19% (2.6/8), Fox's "American Idol" by 55% (2.0/6) and NBC's "L&O: SVU" by 121% (1.4/4).

"Modern Family" was up for the 2nd week in a row with Total Viewers (+2%) and Adults 18-49 (+7%).

"Mixology" (9:30-10:00 p.m. - 3.9 million and 1.3/4 in AD18-49):
In the 9:30 p.m. half-hour, ABC's "Mixology" was even with the prior week in Adults 18-49 (1.3/4).

"Nashville" (10:00-11:00 p.m. - 5.0 million and 1.3/4 in AD18-49):
During the 10 o'clock hour, the season finale of ABC's "Nashville" was up for the 2nd-consecutive week in Total Viewers (+6%) and gained 8% in Adults 18-49, delivering 6-week highs on both measures - since 4/2/14.

On average during its sophomore season, "Nashville" grew its overall audience from its freshman season (7.0 million vs. 6.9 million).

"Nashville" is ABC's biggest percentage gainer this season from TV Playback and Top 3 among all broadcast series, with originals jumping up 80% from a 1.5 L+SD rating to a 2.7 Live + 7 Day Adult 18-49 rating.

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 49% currently, from 47% at the same point in 2013. 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 for 05/14/14.

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