"Nightline" Takes the Top Spot in Total Viewers for the 3rd Straight Season and the 2nd Year in a Row in the Key Adult News Demo
"Nightline" Ranks as the No. 1 Program in Latenight in the Final Week of the 2011-12 Season Across all Key Demos
"Nightline" Turns in its Biggest 3rd Quarter Lead in Adults 25-54 over CBS' "The Late Show" in 13 Years
For the week of September 17, 2012, ABC's "Nightline" ranked as the No. 1 program in latenight in the final week of the 2011-12 season across all key target demos: Total Viewers (3.520 million) , Adults 25-54 (1.333 million) and Adults 18-49 (960,000), according to Nielsen Media Research.
"Nightline" saw across-the-board increases over the prior week in Total Viewers (+5%) , Adults 25-54 (+10%) and Adults 18-49 (+10%) to finish the season with its best performance in 2 months in all 3 Nielsen measures - since w/o 7/16/12, w/o 7/16/12 and w/o 7/23/12, respectively.
"Nightline" also improved on the final week of the 2010-11 season (3.376 million and 1.249 million, respectively, on w/o 9/12/11) in Total Viewers (+4%) and Adults 25-54 (+7%).
During the week of September 27, Nightline dedicated a full show on what it's like living in solitary confinement, with one of our reporters living there for 48 hours, covered the latest on the West Nile virus, the Romney fundraiser tapes and the lawsuit filed by the Prince of Whales against the paparazzi that photographed them while on vacation.
3Q12:
During the 3rd Quarter 2012, ABC's "Nightline" attracted 3.257 million Total Viewers, 1.210 million Adults 25-54 and 918,000 Adults 18-49, according to Nielsen Media Research.
"Nightline" led CBS' "The Late Show" by +228,000 in Adults 18-49, its largest-ever 3rd quarter advantage over the CBS latenight program. In Adults 25-54 (+285,000), "Nightline" turned in its biggest 3rd quarter lead in 13 years - since 3Q99.
2011-12 Season:
For the 2011-12 television season, ABC News' "Nightline" ranked as the No. 1 program in late-night in Total Viewers (3.700 million) and Adults 25-54 (1.436 million), according to Nielsen Media Research . The ABC latenight program took the top spot in Total Viewers for the season for the 3rd straight season and the 2nd year in a row in the key adult news demo versus NBC's "The Tonight Show" and CBS' "The Late Show."
"Nightline" defeated NBC's "The Tonight Show" during the TV season with its largest Adults 25-54 lead (+45,000) in 17 years - since the 1994-95 season .
"Nightline" beat CBS' "The Late Show" by its largest margins in both Total Viewer (+728,000) and Adults 25-54 (+186,000) in 13 years - since the 1998-99 season.
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. Together with "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "Nightline" is part of ABC's winning late night strategy of airing news and entertainment programming.
Week of September 17, 2012
| PROGRAM AVERAGES | TOTAL VIEWERS | A25-54(000)/ Rtg | A18-49(000)/ Rtg |
| ABC "Nightline" | 3,520,000 | 1,333,000/ 1.1 | 960,000/ 0.8 |
| CBS "Late Show" | 2,887,000 | 1,057,000/ 0.9 | 802,000/ 0.6 |
| NBC "Tonight Show" | 3,129,000 | 1,153,000/ 1.0 | 912,000/ 0.7 |
3rd Quarter 2012
| PROGRAM AVERAGES | TOTAL VIEWERS | A25-54(000)/ Rtg | A18-49(000)/ Rtg |
| ABC "Nightline" | 3,257,000 | 1,210,000/ 1.0 | 918,000/ 0.7 |
| CBS "Late Show" | 2,353,000 | 925,000/ 0.8 | 690,000/ 0.5 |
| NBC "Tonight Show" | 3,456,000 | 1,310,000/ 1.1 | 1,038,000/ 0.8 |
2011-12 Season
| PROGRAM AVERAGES | TOTAL VIEWERS | A25-54(000)/ Rtg | A18-49(000)/ Rtg |
| ABC "Nightline" | 3,700,000 | 1,436,000/ 1.2 | 1,107,000/ 0.9 |
| CBS "Late Show" | 2,972,000 | 1,250,000/ 1.0 | 957,000/ 0.7 |
| NBC "Tonight Show" | 3,641,000 | 1,391,000/ 1.2 | 1,070,000/ 0.8 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 9/17/12, 9/10/12 & 9/12/11, or as dated. 3Q11: 6/25 - 9/23/12. 2Q12: 3/26 - 6/24/12. 3Q11: 6/27 - 9/18/11. Television Season 2011-12 (9/19/11 - 9/23/12) and 2010-2011 (9/20/10 - 9/18/11).
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