"Nightline" Delivers Largest Overall Q3 Audience in the Time Period in 12 Years

"Nightline" Defeats CBS" in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, Turning in Largest-Ever Quarter Margins in Both Adult Demos

"Nightline" Leads CBS Across the Board for the 2013-2014 Television Season

"Nightline" Improves Year to Date in All Measures Compared to Same Point Last Year

For the Week, "Nightline" Beats CBS in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49

"Nightline" Delivers Strongest News Demo Performance in Six Weeks

3Q 2014 :

ABC News' "Nightline" averaged 1.497 million Total Viewers, 622,000 Adults 25-54 and 467,000 Adults 18-49 during the 3rd Quarter 2014, based on Most Current Data from Nielsen Media Research . "Nightline" defeated CBS' "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" in Total Viewers (+276,000) , Adults 25-54 (+169,000) and Adults 18-49 (+103,000), turning in its largest-ever quarter margins over the CBS program in both adult demos.

"Nightline" saw across-the-board increases from the year-ago quarter (1.437 million, 578,000 and 435,000 for 3Q13): Total Viewers (+4%), Adults 25-54 (+8%) and Adults 18-49 (+7%). In fact, "Nightline" delivered ABC largest overall audience in the time period during a 3rd quarter in 12 years - since 3Q02.

2013-14 Season:

During the 2013-14 Season, ABC News' "Nightline" averaged 1.653 million Total Viewers, 684,000 Adults 25-54 and 521,000 Adults 18-49. "Nightline" led CBS' "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" across the board: Total Viewers (+252,000), Adults 25-54 (+103,000) and Adults 18-49 (+58,000).

Year to date, "Nightline" has improved on its performance in Total Viewers (+5%), Adults 25-54 (+1%) and Adults 18-49 (+3%) compared to the same point last year when the ABC program moved into its new time period.

Week of September 15, 2014 :

ABC News' "Nightline" averaged 1.510 million Total Viewers, 621,000 Adults 25-54 and 449,000 Adults 18-49 during the week of September 15, 2014, based on Live +Same Day Data from Nielsen Media Research. "Nightline" beat CBS' "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" during the week in Total Viewers (+246,000) , Adults 25-54 (+163,000) and Adults 18-49 (+50,000) .

"Nightline" posted increases over the prior week (1.411 million and 606,000, respectively on w/o 9/1/14) in Total Viewers (+7%) and Adults 25-54 (+2%) . "Nightline" saw its strongest news demo performance in 6 weeks - since w/o 8/4/14.

NOTE: Due NFL Football on Thursday (9/18/14), CBS' "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" was retitled to "The Late Late Show Ferguson- THU" and was coded as a special. The telecast was excluded from the weekly averages. CBS' averages are based on 4 days (Mon-Wed and Fri).

ABC News' "Nightline" is anchored by Dan Harris, Dan Abrams, and Juju Chang. Roxanna Sherwood is executive producer, and Steven Baker is Senior Broadcast Producer. The program airs weeknights from 12:35-1:00 a.m., ET 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, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD weeks of 9/15/14, 9/8/14 and 9/169/13. Most Current: 2013-2014 Season (9/23/13 - 9/21/14) and 2012-2013 Season (9/24/12 - 9/22/13). Most Current - 3Q14: 6/30 - 9/21/14. 2Q14: 3/31 - 6/29/14. 3Q13: 7/1 - 9/22/13. Averages based on regular telecasts. "Nightline" premiered in its new time period in January 2013. NBC's year-ago week averages based on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon." "Nightline" year to date - 2014 (01/01 - 09/21/14) and 2013 (01/08 - 09/22/13). *Seth Meyers premiered on 02/24/14.

Most Current data is the metric ABC has consistently used for many years to report and track quarterly, sweeps and season ratings. It measures all available viewership up to seven days after a program airs. Because there is a two-week lag for Nielsen in processing Live + 7 data, Most Current numbers include Live + 7 data and the two most recent weeks of Live + Same Day data.

SEE ALSO: "GMA" is #1 for 2013-14 Television Season -Wins in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 for 2nd Straight Year

SEE ALSO: "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" is #1 for the 3rd Quarter in Adults 25-54

SEE ALSO: "WORLD NEWS TONIGHT" WINS 3rd QUARTER 2014 AMONG ADULTS 25-54 - UP THE MOST (+6%) COMPARED TO LAST YEAR