Nightline" Takes Top Spot in Late-Night 10 of 11 Weeks of Season in Total Viewers and Key Adult News Demo

Season to Date " Nightline " is No. 1 in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 for 3 rd Straight Year

Delivers Year-to-Year and Week-to-Week Growth in All Key Target Demos

ABC's "Nightline" finished as late-night's No. 1 program for the 3rd week running in all key target demos for the week of December 10, 2012 : Total Viewers (4.106 million), Adults 25-54 (1.599 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.181 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. "Nightline" has taken the top spot among the late-night programs in broadcast in 10 of 11 weeks this season in viewers and in the key adult news demo. "Nightline" saw its best performance of the season in Adults 25-54.

For the 4 th week in a row, "Nightline" was up on its week-ago performance in Adults 25-54 (+10%) and Adults 18-49 (+4%) - 1.452 million and 1.131 million, respectively, on w/o 12/3/12. Total Viewers is up +7%.

"Nightline" delivered across-the-board year-to-year growth in all key target demos: Total Viewers (+6%), Adults 25-54 (+8%) and Adults 18-49 (+1%) - 3.888 million, 1.482 million and 1.172 million, respectively, on w/o 12/12/11.

"Nightline" staked claim to the week's No. 1 late-night telecast with its Friday airing (12/14/12) in Total Viewers (4.609 million), Adults 25-54 (1.908 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.410 million).

Season to date, "Nightline" ranks No. 1 among the late-night broadcast programs in 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 3rd straight year that the ABC program is taking the top spot in all 3 measures.

"Nightline" aired a special one-hour report on Friday, December 14, giving viewers the most up-to-date information surrounding the tragedy at Sandy Hook elementary school. Earlier in the week, "Nightline" reported on the Australian shock jocks who made the Royal prank call; had the latest on the masked gunman who went on a shooting spree at a busy mall packed with holiday shoppers; reported on the life and death of Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera; and featured interviews with the Rolling Stones, actress Naomi Watts, Tom Hanks, who helped make a veteran's Hollywood dreams come true, and had a rare look inside the award-winning TV hit "Downtown Abbey".

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.

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 12/10/12, 12/3/12 & 12/12/11. Most Current - 2012-2013 Season (9/24 - 12/16/12) and 2011-2012 Season (9/19 - 12/18/11). (Note: Due to coverage of Hurricane Sandy, w/o 10/29/12 was coded as a breakout and is excluded from the season count)

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