NBC's WHITNEY Premiere Earns Best 18-49 Rating in Time Slot

By: Caryn Robbins Nov. 15, 2012

From 8-8:30 p.m. ET, the second season debut of WHITNEY (1.4/4 in 18-49, 4.2 million viewers overall) earned NBC's best 18-49 rating in the time period with comedy programming since premiere week (September 26) and biggest total-viewers results with comedy since October 3. In a highly competitive time period versus CBS's "Survivor," Fox's "X Factor," ABC's "The Middle" and CW's "Arrow," "Whitney" is up 17 percent in 18-49 rating (to a 1.4 from a 1.2) versus NBC's averages in the time period so far this season with comedy.

* From 8:30-9 p.m. ET, "Guys With Kids" (1.3/4 in 18-49, 3.8 million viewers overall) retained 92 percent of its 18-49 lead-in from "Whitney" and built on that lead-in by 11 percent in adults 18-34 (to a 1.0 rating from a 0.9).

* At 9 p.m. ET, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1.6/4 in adults 18-49, 5.7 million viewers overall) built on its lead-in by 23 percent in 18-49 rating and by 50 percent in total viewers. From its first half-hour to its second, "SVU" grew in every key ratings category, including gains of 20 percent in 18-49 rating (to a 1.8 from a 1.5) and 21 percent in total viewers (6.3 million vs. 5.2 million). "SVU" topped NBC's time-period average last season by 60 percent in 18-49 rating (with a 1.6 vs. a 1.0) and by 18 percent in total viewers (5.733 million vs. 4.868 million) in a highly competitive time period versus ABC's "Modern Family" and "Suburgatory," CBS's "Criminal Minds" and Fox's "X Factor."

* Keep in mind that last season, "Law & Order: SVU" originals added an average of 47 percent to these next-day "live plus same day" ratings in 18-49 when Nielsen reported "live plus seven day" results.

* At 10 p.m. ET, "Chicago Fire" (1.6/4 in adults 18-49, 5.7 million viewers overall) retained 100 percent of its 18-49 lead-in from "SVU" and built on its lead-in in all key adult-male demos. "Chicago Fire" matched the rating for its most recent telecast with regular programming as its lead-in (1.6 on October 31, note that last week's lead-in was a special Wednesday edition of "The Voice").

In Late-Night Metered Markets Wednesday night (the New York market is excluded from these averages):

* In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 2.7/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.6/7; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.9/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.6/5.

* In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.9/4; "Late Show," 0.6/3; "Nightline," 0.8/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

* At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.3/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

* At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/4 in metered-market households and a 0.4/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

NOTE: All ratings are "live plus same day" from Nielsen Media Research unless otherwise indicated.