ABC's "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 During 1st Quarter 2012 in All Target Demos

"Nightline" Leads the 1st Quarter for the 2nd Year in a Row

Season to Date, "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Latenight Among Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49

ABC's "Nightline" ranked No. 1 during 1st Quarter 2012 in all target demos: Total Viewers (3.780 million), Adults 25-54 (1.498 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.123 million), taking the top spot for the 2nd consecutive quarter, according to Nielsen Media Research.  In fact, 1Q12 marked the 6th quarter in a row for the ABC latenight program to stand as the most-watched latenight program versus NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "The Late Show," while leading for the 5th time in the last 6 quarters in the Adults 25-54.

In addition, "Nightline" led the 1st quarter for the 2nd year in a row, representing the ABC program's first-ever, back-to-back 1st quarter victories over NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "The Late Show" across all 3 Nielsen measures.

"Nightline" outdelivered NBC's "The Tonight Show" by 51,000 Adults 25-54 and 20,000 Adults 18-49 during the quarter, scoring its largest 1st quarter adult demo margins over the NBC program in 17 years - since 1Q95.

"Nightline" delivered its largest leads over CBS' "The Late Show" during a 1st quarter in 13 years in Total Viewers (+551,000) and in 9 years in Adults 25-54 (+111,000) - since 1Q99 and 1Q03, respectively.  

Week of March 19, 2012

ABC's "Nightline" finished as the No. 1 program in latenight, marking the 4th straight week to take the top spot among Adults 25-54 (1.434 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.078 million), for the week of March 19, 2012, according to Nielsen Media Research.  "Nightline" has ranked No. 1 in both key adult demos for the 5th time in the last 6 weeks.  

Season to date, "Nightline" ranks No. 1 in latenight among Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, ahead of both NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "The Late Show." This marks the 2nd straight year that the ABC program is taking the top spot in overall viewers and in the key adult news demo.

Note: Due to CBS' coverage of NCAA Basketball, "The Late Show" was delayed and was re-titled "Late Show/D. Letterman" and broken out on Thu (3/22/12) and Fri (3/23/12); ratings are excluded from the averages.  "Nightline" and "Tonight Show" are based on 5 days.

ABC News' "Nightline" is anchored by Cynthia McFadden, Terry Moran and Bill Weir. Juju Chang is a correspondent. Jeanmarie Condon is the Executive Producer. The program airs weeknights from 11:35 p.m., ET to 12:00 a.m. on the ABC Television Network.

(1st Quarter, 2012)      
PROGRAM AVERAGES TOTAL VIEWERS A25-54(000)/Rtg A18-49(000)/Rtg
ABC "Nightline" 3,780,000 1,498,000/1.2 1,123,000/0.9
CBS "Late Show" 3,229,000 1,387,000/1.1 1,059,000/0.8
NBC "Tonight Show" 3,740,000 1,447,000/1.2 1,103,000/0.9
       
(Week of March 19,2012)      
PROGRAM AVERAGES TOTAL VIEWERS A25-54(000)/Rtg A18-49(000)/Rtg
ABC "Nightline" 3,625,000 1,434,000/1.2 1,078,000/0.8
CBS "Late Show" 3,323,000 1,340,000/1.1 1,026,000/0.8
NBC "Tonight Show" 3,680,000 1,361,000/1.1 1,018,000/0.8

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI (Total Viewers and Adults 25-54); Live+SD for 3/19/12, 3/12/12 & 3/21/11.   Most Current:  2011-2012 Season (9/19/11 - 3/25/12) and 2010-2011 Season (9/20/10 - 3/27/11).  1Q12: 12/26/11- 3/25/12.  4Q11: 9/19/11 - 12/25/11.  1Q11: 12/27/10 - 3/27/11.

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