[Pavan]

Updated release:

ABC is the Most-Watched Network on Tuesday
- “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” Opens Big,
Ranking as the No. 1 Television Program on Tuesday Night and Giving ABC Its Most-Watched 8:00 p.m. Comedy Debut in at Least 11 Years
- “Life With Bonnie” Wins its Time Period with Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, Building on its Lead-in in Several Key Demos
- “Push, Nevada” Gets Large Sampling in Tuesday Telecast,
Winning the Hour with 12 Million Viewers Tuesday (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC’s Tuesday night, which included the series premiere of “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” and the series previews of “Life with Bonnie” and “Push, Nevada”, made ABC the mostwatched network of the evening. ABC attracted 3.2 million more viewers (12.3 million vs. 9.1 million)
than Fox’s highly promoted lineup, which included the season premieres of “That ‘70s Show” and “Grounded for Life” and the special “World’s Funniest Movie Outtakes.” ABC also won the night with Adults 25-54 (5.1/13).

· ABC posted its highest Adults 18-49 rating (4.4/12) on Tuesday in 9 months (since 1/15/02), while
drawing the Network’s largest Tuesday night audience in 4 months.

“Everyone at ABC is absolutely delighted with last night’s outstanding performances of ‘8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter,’ ‘Life with Bonnie’ and ‘Push, Nevada,’” stated Susan Lyne, President, ABC Entertainment. “A lot of hard work went into this, and our strategy of premiering early for
advanced audience sampling worked. Despite being very distinct shows that appealed to different core audiences, they each performed -- which is a testament to our marketing, publicity and company-wide synergy efforts. They really made a difference, banging the ABC drum loudly enough to bring in viewers
even in the face of the Network’s limited promotional reach this summer.”

“8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” (8:00-8:30 p.m.)
“8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter” premiered at the top of its time period, delivering 17.3 million viewers and 6.1 rating, 19 share in Adults 18-49, making the series rank as the No. 1 program of the night in both Nielsen measures. In addition, the John Ritter comedy outperformed the highly promoted 5th season premiere of Fox’s “That ‘70s Show” by 7.3 million viewers (17.3 million vs. 10.0 million) and by 17% among Adults 18-49 (6.1/19 vs. 5.2/16).
· “8 Simple Rules” attracted the time period’s largest audience in 17 months (since 4/10/01) and saw its strongest Adult 18-49 rating in nearly 2 years (since 11/14/00) with series programming.
· Compared to 8:00-9:30 p.m. time period performance of the “Dharma & Greg” season premiere last year (9/25/01), “8 Simple Rules” improved the time period by 6.3 million viewers (17.3 million vs. 11.0 million) and 39% among Adults 18-49 (6.1/19 vs. 4.4/13).
· “8 Simple Rules” netted ABC’s largest audience in the time slot for a Tuesday night comedy season premiere in 6 years – since the season opener of “Roseanne” (9/17/96). In fact, “8 Simple Rules” ranks as ABC’s most-watched comedy debut on any night in the 8-8:30 p.m. time-slot in at least 11 years.

“Life With Bonnie” (8:30-9:00 p.m.)
The series preview of “Life with Bonnie” won its half-hour with 16.1 million viewers and a 6.0 rating, 16
share with Adults 18-49. The family sitcom ranked as the No. 2 program of the evening in both Nielsen
measures, behind the premiere of “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter”. Additionally, the
series outdelivered the 3rd season opener Fox’s “Grounded for Life” by 7.2 million viewers (16.1 million
vs. 8.9 million) and by 28% among Adults 18-49 (6.0/16 vs. 4.7/13).
· “Life with Bonnie” posted the time period’s largest audience in 15 months (since 6/12/01) and saw its
highest Adult 18-49 rating in 1-1/2 years (since 1/30/01) with series programming.
· Compared to the 8:30-9:00 p.m. performance of the “Dharma & Greg” season premiere last year
(9/25/01), “Life with Bonnie” bettered the time period by 3 million viewers (16.1 million vs. 13.1
million) and 5% among Adults 18-49 (6.0/16 vs. 5.6/14).
· “Life With Bonnie” showed strong retention among young adults. The series retained 98% of its
Adults 18-49 lead-in (5.9 vs. 6.0) and 100% of its Adults 18-34 lead-in (4.7). The sitcom built on its
lead-in in each of the female demos: Women 18-49 (7.5 vs. 7.1), Women 18-34 (6.1 vs. 5.7) and
Women 25-54 (9.1 vs. 8.4).
· “Life With Bonnie” attracted ABC’s largest audience in the 8:30-9:00 p.m. time period for a Tuesday
night comedy season premiere in 5 years (9/30/97).
“Push, Nevada” (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
The series preview of “Push, Nevada” saw solid sampling, as the series made ABC the most-watched
network in the hour (12.0 million). The drama also won its time period among Adults 25-54 (5.2/12).
· The preview of “Push, Nevada” posted ABC’s second-best performance in the time period in Total
Viewers and Adults 18-49 (4.2/11) for a series in 6 months (since 3/19/02), behind the season finale of
“NYPD Blue” (5/21/02).
· Demonstrating strong male appeal, “Push Nevada” won its hour among Men 25-54 (5.0/12) and
placed second among Men 18-49 (4.1/11). In both demos, “Push, Nevada” scored the time period’s
second-best rating for a series in 6 months (since 3/19/02), behind the season finale of “NYPD Blue”
(5/21/02).
“Regis and Kelly in Primetime” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
“Regis and Kelly in Primetime” placed second in its hour among Adults 18-49 (2.8/8) and Adults 18-34
(2.4/7). The primetime special won the hour with Men 18-34 (2.0/6).