ABC Sweeps Thursday Night with its Broadcast of “The 46th Annual CMA Awards”

With its broadcast of “The 46th Annual CMA Awards,” ABC won Thursday night, beating out runner-up CBS by 7% in Total Viewers (13.6 million vs. 12.7 million) and by 19% in Adults 18-49 (3.8/10 vs. 3.2/9).  ABC ranked No. 1 in 5 of 6 half-hours of the night in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.  In fact the Network swept the evening, finishing No. 1 in Viewers and all key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54), while standing as the highest-rated broadcaster in Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11.

Please note: ABC’s “CMA Awards” telecast moved from its traditional Wednesday night airing to Thursday this year.  Also, due to the ongoing impact of Sandy with continuing power outages and preemptions in the east, year-to-year comparisons for the “CMA Awards” are not valid apples-to-apples comparisons.

ABC marked its most-watched non-sports Thursday in well over 3 years and delivered its top non-sports Adult 18-49 number on the evening in nearly 2-1/2 years – since 9/24/09 and 5/20/10, respectively.

The Net scored its highest Adult 18-49 number on any night this season.

A note about increasing DVR penetration (you can watch the whole show online) 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 46% currently, from 43% 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, 11/01/12.

Contacts: Jeff Lindsey (818) 460-5095 jeffrey.s.lindsey@disney.com / Salima Merchant (818) 460-6847 salima.merchant@disney.com / Pons Rongavilla (818) 460-5615 ponciano.rongavilla@disney.com