"Nightline" Ranks as the #1 Show in Late-Night Among Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49 Season-to-Date  

"Nightline" Stands as the Only Late-Night Program to Grow Week-to-Week in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49

For the week of December 12, 2011, ABC's " Nightline" drew 3.888 million Total Viewers, 1.482 million Adults 25-54 and 1.172 million Adults 18-49, according to Nielsen Media Research.  " Nightline" ranked No. 1 in Adults 18-49 outdrawing both NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "The Late Show."

"Nightline" posted across the board week-to-week increases among Total Viewers (+8%) , Adults 25-54 (+8%) and Adults 18-49 (+12%) , standing as the only late-night program to grow over the previous week in all 3 measures compared to NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "The Late Show."

The ABC late-night program improved on the year-earlier week for the 5th time in the last 6 weeks in Total Viewers (3.867 million on w/o 12/13/10) .

Season to date, "Nightline" ranks No. 1 in late-night among Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, ahead of both NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "The Late Show," marking the 2nd straight year that the ABC program is taking the top spot in overall viewers and in the key adult news demo.  Season to date, "Nightline" is up by +1% in Total Viewers compared to the same point last year, standing as the only program to grow year to year in Total Viewers versus "The Tonight Show" (-3%) and "The Late Show"  (-7%).   

ABC News' "Nightline" is anchored by Cynthia McFadden, Terry Moran and Bill Weir. John Donvan and Juju Chang are correspondents. Jeanmarie Condon is the Executive Producer. The program airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m., ET on the ABC Television Network.

(Week of December 12, 2011)

TOTAL VIEWERS   A25-54(000)/ Rtg   A18-49(000)/ Rtg

ABC "Nightline"       3,888,000     1,482,000/ 1.2    1,172,000/ 0.9

CBS "Late Show"       3,431,000     1,490,000/ 1.2     1,133,000/ 0.9

NBC "Tonight Show"    3,906,000     1,456,000/ 1.2    1,092,000/ 0.9

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 12/12/11, 12/5/11 & 12/13/10.  Most Current: 2011-2012 Season (9/19 - 12/18/11) and 2010-2011 Season (9/20 - 12/19/10).