With “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” and “CMA Country Christmas,” ABC Generates its 2nd-Most-Watched Thursday Evening of the Season

by CMA | Dec 06, 2011

ABC’s Repeat “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” Beats NBC’s Original Comedies

At 8pm and Posts the Net’s 2nd-Best Young Adult Number in the Hour This Season

Finishing as the Most-Watched Show in its Slot, ABC’s “CMA Country Christmas” Jumps Year to Year by 23% Among Total Viewers and by 50% Among Adults 18-49

ABC’s “CMA Country Christmas” Concert Outperforms CBS’ “Grammy Nominations Concert” from the Previous Night by Strong Margins in Viewers and Young Adults

Thursday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

With its annual rebroadcast of “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” and “CMA Country Christmas,” ABC ranked as the 2nd-most-watched network on Thursday (8.4 million) to Fox’s all-original lineup (“The X Factor Results Show”/”Bones”), while also finishing second against its net rivals in young adults (2.1/6) and No. 1 with Kids 2-11 (1.7/7).

  • The Net drew its 2nd-largest audience on the night this season, posting its best number since season-premiere Thursday – since 9/22/11.

 

“Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

From 8:00-9:00 p.m., ABC’s repeat airing of “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” (7.2 million and 2.2/6) nearly doubled the audience of NBC’s original comedies (“Community”/”Parks and Recreation” = 3.7 million and 1.8/5) in the hour and led by 22% in Adults 18-49. The animated Christmas special won its hour by a wide margin over its nearest broadcast competition with Kids 2-11, beating out Fox’s “The X Factor Results Show” by 38% (2.9/9 vs. 2.1/7) to stand as the No. 1 broadcast program of the night.

  • Boosting the slot week to week in viewers (+22%) and young adults (+22%), “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” tallied ABC’s 2nd-highest Adult 18-49 number in the hour this season.

“CMA Country Christmas” (9:00-11:00 p.m.)

From 9:00-11:00 p.m., ABC’s “CMA Country Christmas” (9.0 million) stood as the most-watched TV program overall during its 2-hour time period. In addition from 9:00-11:00 p.m. among Adults 18-49, ABC beat out NBC’s original programming (“The Office”/”Whitney”/”Prime Suspect”) by 11% (2.1/6 vs. 1.9/5).

  • The ABC Christmas special, filled with music and memories from your favorite country stars, jumped over last year’s broadcast by 23% in Total Viewers and by 50% in Adults 18-49 (7.3 million and 1.4/4 on 11/29/10).

 

  • ABC’s “CMA Country Christmas” concert topped CBS’ “Grammy Nominations Concert” from the previous night (5.7 million and 1.9/5 on 11/30/11, from 10:00-11:00 p.m.) by 3.3 million viewers and by 11% with young adults.

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 43% currently, from 38% at the same point in 2010. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.

Source: The Nielsen Company (National, Live + Same Day Program Ratings), 11/17/11.

 

Contacts: Jeff Lindsey (818) 460-5095 jeffrey.s.lindsey@disney.com / Salima Merchant (818) 460-6847 salima.merchant@disney.com / Pons Rongavilla (818) 460-5615 ponciano.rongavilla@disney.com

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