The Rise (And Rise) of ABC



(image via oldradio)

By any standards of accounting this was a banner week for ABC Television. As Jacques Steinberg writes in the Gray Lady, "For the first time since the network newscasts led by Brian Williams, Charles Gibson and Katie Couric began competing in September, 'World News' with Mr. Gibson on ABC was the most watched of the three, according to ratings estimates for last week released yesterday by Nielsen Media Research." Especially on the all-important Must-See-Thursday night (Where the studios traditionally blitz dollars to advertise their weekend openers). From MedialifeMagazine:

"It took CBS three and a half years from the time it started programming aggressively on Thursdays to finally overtake longtime No. 1 NBC among adults 18-49 on TV’s most lucrative night.

"It took ABC only one week, the first week of this season, to take it away, and in recent weeks that lead has been growing. The only real question now is how much the network can continue to build its average on the night.

"Last Thursday, on Feb. 8, ABC finished 16 percent ahead of No. 2 CBS with a 6.5 rating, 25 percent above its season-to-date average on the night, according to Nielsen data analyzed by Fox. It was the network’s second-best Thursday this season, behind only its premiere night, and it was up 48 percent over the equivalent night last year.

"There are several reasons ABC has become so successful so fast, and one certainly is that CBS has also taken a 25 percent tumble on Thursday. Ratings for 'Survivor' and 'CSI' are down from last year, in part due to the increased competition from ABC, and new 10 p.m. show 'Shark,' while strong with total viewers, is not with 18-49s.

"Another reason is that ABC is especially strong with 18-34s, where CBS lags. 'Ugly Betty' and 'Grey’s Anatomy,' which air at 8 and 9 p.m., had season highs in that demographic last week."



This newfound momentum may be what is feuling The Chattering Class talk that Jimmy Kimmel may be on the way to the exit (see below). There is also the matter of ABC's "Primetime" ratings, according to Medialife:

"Viewers showed some big love to ABC’s 'Primetime: The Outsiders' last night as the show focused on the outlawed but still practiced custom of polygamy.

"That resulted in a big bump over the previous week’s installment, despite strong competition from Fox’s 'House.'

“'Primetime' averaged a 3.4 adults 18-49 rating in the 9 p.m. timeslot, according to Nielsen overnights, up 31 percent over the previous week’s 2.6 average.

"The long-running newsmagazine, which has acted as a utility fill-in for ABC for years, finished third in its timeslot behind Fox’s 'House,' which matched a series high, and CBS’s 'The Unit.' It also drew ABC’s best rating in the timeslot in three months."

And best of all for ABC, Diane Sawyer, despite getting hammered in cyberspace, delivered big ratings on her Middle Eastern trip. Even Alessandra Stanley, who has written acidly of Sawyer's "poised, creamy insincerity (Exaggerated c ough suggesting feigned detachment)," went in for the congratulatory, "Diane Sawyer, a host of ABC’s 'Good Morning America,' looked an awful lot like a globe-trotting, war-seasoned evening news anchor as she donned a head scarf to confront the president of Iran on Monday’s evening news."

This is definitely ABC's week.