Airing Against CBS’ Original Comedies and Fox’s Monday Premiere of “24,”
“The Bachelor” Grows Week to Week in Viewers and Adults 18-49, While Delivering ABC’s Best Ratings from 8-10pm in Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34 in 3 1/2 Months

“The Bachelor” Wins its Time Period and Stands as Monday’s No. 1 Program
in Women 18-34 for the Second Consecutive Week

Retaining Nearly All of its Week-Ago Debut Audience, “True Beauty” Beats NBC’s “Momma’s Boys” at 10pm by 1.9 Million Viewers and by 68% in Adults 18-49

Monday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)
Week 2 of ABC’s Monday line-up saw the Net hold 100% retention of the prior week’s night of premieres across each of the key Adult demographics: Adults 18-34 (3.0/8), Adults 18-49 (3.1/8) and Adults 25-54 (3.4/8).  The Net ranked No. 1 on the night among Women 18-34 (4.2/11) for the second week in a row.

“The Bachelor” (8:00-10:00 p.m.)
Airing against original comedies on CBS and the 2-hour Monday premiere of “24″ of Fox, ABC’s “The Bachelor” saw week-to-week increases in both Total Viewers (9.1 million vs. 8.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.2/8 vs. 3.1/8).  In addition, “The Bachelor” turned in ABC’s highest ratings in the 2-hour time period among Adults 18-34 (3.2/8) and Women 18-34 (4.6/11) since season premiere Monday 3 1/2 months ago – since 9/22/08.  “The Bachelor” topped NBC’s “Superstars of Dance” from 8:00-10:00pm by 2.0 million viewers and by 68% in the key young adult sales demo (7.1 million & 1.9/4 in Adults 18-49).

* “The Bachelor” dominated its time period and ranked as Monday’s No. 1 TV program among Women 18-34 for the second consecutive week

* Against stiff competition, “The Bachelor” gained audience during each half-hour from 8:00-10:00pm, building by 1.3 million viewers (8.5 million to 9.8 million) and by 29% in Adults 18-49 (2.8/7 to 3.6/8) from start to finish.

“True Beauty” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Taking second in the hour in viewers and young adults, “True Beauty” retained 86% in Total Viewers (6.5 million vs. 7.6 million) and 88% in Adults 18-49 (2.8/7 vs. 3.2/8) of its week-ago series debut.  The new ABC unscripted series outperformed its unscripted competition in the 10 o’clock hour, NBC’s “Momma’s Boys,” by 1.9 million viewers (6.5 million vs. 4.6 million) and by 65% in Adults 18-49 (2.8/7 vs. 1.7/4).  “True Beauty” won its hour among Women 18-34 (3.4/9) for the second straight week.

* “True Beauty” saw its audience increase from first half-hour to its second half-hour across all key Adult demographics: Adults 18-34 (2.5/7 to 2.6/7), Adults 18-49 (2.8/7 vs. 2.9/8) and Adults 25-54 (3.0/7 vs. 3.1/8).

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 29% currently, from 22% at the same point in 2008. 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: Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Program Ratings), 1/12/09.