I didn’t see the “celebration of ‘Hank’” coming!

via ABC press release:

“Hank” Sees Week-to-Week Increases in Adults 18-34 and Key Men

Surging from its Lead-in at 8:30pm, ABC’s Freshman “The Middle” Tops

Its CBS Comedy Competition with Adults 18-34 and Men 18-34

ABC’s “Modern Family” is Wednesday’s No. 1 Entertainment TV Show

Among Men 18-49 for the Second Week in a Row

ABC’s “Cougar Town” Takes Second at 9:30 pm Among Key Men

ABC’s “Eastwick” Tops “NBC’s “Jay Leno” by 13% among Adults 18-49

“Hank” (8:00-8:30 p.m.)

At 8:00 p.m., ABC’s freshman comedy “Hank” saw week-to-week increases of 10% among Adults 18-34 (1.1/4 vs. 1.0/3), 8% in Men 18-49 (1.4/4 vs. 1.3/4) and 6% Men 25-54 (1.8/5 vs. 1.7/5).

• “Hank” is seeing  increases over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback, picking up half-a-million viewers and an additional 2-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.

“The Middle” (8:30-9:00 p.m.)

Building audience for ABC at 8:30 p.m., ABC’s “The Middle” grew from its lead-in by 10% in Total Viewers (6.4 million vs. 5.8 million) and by 33% (2.0/6 vs. 1.5/5).  ABC’s freshman “The Middle” beat its established CBS comedy competition in the time period (“Gary Unmarried”) among Adults 18-34 (+8% – 1.4/5 vs. 1.3/4) and Men 18-34 (+10% – 1.1/4 vs. 1.0/4).

• “The Middle” is posting significant gains over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback, picking up 800,000 viewers and an additional 4-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.

“Modern Family” (9:00-9:30 p.m.)

Building on its lead-in at 9:00 p.m., ABC’s “Modern Family” finished as the No. 2 non-sports program in the half-hour among Adult 18-49 (3.3/9-tied), while ranking No. 1 with Men 18-49 for the 3rd time in 4 airings (2.8/8-tied).

• The new ABC comedy stood as Wednesday’s No. 1 entertainment program with Men 18-49 (2.8/8-tied) for the 2nd week in a row.

• “Modern Family” is exhibiting big increases over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback, jumping by 1.2 million viewers and by an additional 6-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.

“Cougar Town” (9:30-10:00 p.m.)

Continuing to deliver strong lead-in retention for ABC at 9:30pm in a highly-competitive half-hour against the second-half of CBS’ “Criminal Minds” and Fox’s “Glee,” “Cougar Town” took second among its entertainment competition in its time slot in Men 18-49 (2.3/6) and Men 25-54 (2.8/7).

• Like its lead-in, “Cougar Town” is producing gains  over its first-reported numbers through DVR playback, increasing by 1.0 million viewers and by an additional 5-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.

“Eastwick” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

Opposite CBS’ veteran drama, “CSI: NY,” ABC’s freshman “Eastwick” defeated NBC’s “Jay Leno” in Adults 18-49 (+13% – 1.7/5 vs. 1.5/4).

• “Eastwick” is seeing bumps first-reported numbers through DVR playback, surging by 1.1 million viewers and by an additional 4-tenths of an Adult 18-49 rating point from the initially reported Live + Same Day Numbers to the Live + 7 Day DVR finals.

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 33% currently, from 27% 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 (National, Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 10/21/09.