ABC Upfront: Fall 2009

[Pavan]

ABC's good start to 2010 continues. I would order more Conveyor Belt of Love episodes, at least for summer.

With its Top Number in 6 Weeks, ABC’s Finishes No. 2 on Monday to Fox’s “Fiesta Bowl” in Adults 18-49 and Wins the Night Across Key Women Demos

From 8-10pm, “The Bachelor” Dominates the Return of NBC’s “Heroes” and
Stands as TV’s No. 1 Series Telecast on Monday in Adults 18-34 and Key Women

Growing Year to Year in Viewers and Young Adults, “The Bachelor” Marks its
Most-Watched Premiere in 4 Seasons and 2nd-Biggest Opener Since April 2004

At 10pm, ABC’s “Conveyor Belt of Love” is the Top Non-Sports Show with
Young Adults and Ranks No. 1 Overall with Women 18-34 and Women 18-49


Monday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)
With the season premiere of “The Bachelor” and the special “Conveyor Belt of Love,” ABC earned second place on Monday in Adults 18-49 (3.1/8) to Fox's “Fiesta Bowl” coverage, beating third-place CBS by 15% (2.7/7) and fourth-place NBC by 55% (2.0/5). The Net ranked No. 1 on the night across all key Women: Women 18-34 (4.3/11), Women 18-49 (4.4/11) and Women 25-54 (4.6/10).

• In Total Viewers (8.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.1/9), ABC's drew its strongest Monday numbers in 6 weeks - since 11/23/09.


“The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love” (8:00-10:00 p.m.)
From 8:00-10:00 p.m., ABC’s season opener of “The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love” drew an average audience of 9.5 million viewers and a 3.3 rating, 8 share in Adults 18-49, against original competition that included Fox’s “Fiesta Bowl” and the return of NBC’s “Heroes.” In fact head to head, “The Bachelor” premiere topped the 2-hour return of NBC’s “Heroes” by 4.6 million viewers and by 50% in Adults 18-49 (4.9 million and 2.2/5). “The Bachelor” stood as the TV’s No. 1 series telecast on Monday with Adults 18-34 and across all key Women demographics (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

• “The Bachelor” was up over its season premiere on the year-ago evening in both Total Viewers (+9%) and in Adults 18-49 (+6%), registering the most-watched opener for the franchise since April ’07 (4 seasons ago) and its highest young adult number since September ’07 (3 seasons ago). In fact it was the 2nd-most-watched opener for the show in its last 9 seasons – since April ’04.


“Conveyor Belt of Love” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
In the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s special “Conveyor Belt of Love” stood as the No. 1 series telecast with Adults 18-49 (2.7/7) and Adults 18-34 (2.5/7), and as the highest-rated program overall in Women 18-49 (3.6/9) and Women 18-34 (3.5/10). The ABC unscripted special defeated NBC's original “Jay Leno” in the time period by 1.7 million viewers (6.5 million vs. 4.8 million) and by 80% in Adults 18-49 (2.7/7 vs. 1.5/4).


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 34% currently, from 29% at the same point in 2009. 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: Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 1/4/10.

[Pavan]

Just a reminder for this:

LOST Half-Hour Affiliate Special: Lost: The Final Season - Beginning of the End
This program will be offered to ABC affiliates in an exclusive window the weekend of January 9-10, 2010 and will be available in a shared window with ABC Cable networks until the season premiere (Feb 2).

What began with a plane crash has turned into a worldwide phenomenon. And now, with its sixth and final season about to begin, discover how and why LOST has captured the imagination of a global audience and reshaped the way the world watches television. Relive the biggest moments of one of the most significant dramas in television and celebrate LOST.

Anyone see it scheduled on their affiliate yet? WABC here in NY is airing it this Sunday (Jan. 10) at 2:30pm.

[Pavan]

ABC TCA Winter Press Tour 2010 panels:

Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010

9:00 a.m. "Lost" - ABC Returning Series
Naveen Andrews, Emilie de Ravin, Michael Emerson, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Daniel Dae Kim, Evangeline Lilly, Terry O'Quinn, cast
Damon Lindelof, Co-Creator/Executive Producer; Carlton Cuse, Executive Producer

10:00 a.m. Executive Session and Writing Time
Stephen McPherson, President, ABC Entertainment Group

11:00 a.m.
"The Deep End" - ABC New Midseason Drama
Matt Long, Billy Zane, Clancy Brown, Leah Pipes, Tina Majorino, Ben Lawson, Mehcad Brooks, cast
David Hemingson, Jan Nash, Executive Producers

11:45 a.m.
"Happy Town" - ABC New Midseason Drama
Geoff Stults, Sam Neill, Lauren German, Steven Weber, Amy Acker, cast
Josh Applebaum, Andre Nemec, Scott Rosenberg, Executive Producers

12:30 p.m.
Lunch

2:00 p.m.
ABC Comedy Show Runner Panel & Writing Time
Eileen Heisler & DeAnn Heline ("The Middle"), Steven Levitan ("Modern Family")
and Bill Lawrence ("Cougar Town"/"Scrubs")

3:30 p.m.
ABC Family
Paul Lee, President, ABC Family

"10 Things I Hate About You" - ABC Family Returning Series
Larry Miller, Meaghan Martin, Lindsey Shaw, Ethan Peck, Dana Davis, Nicholas Braun, cast
Carter Covington, Robin Schiff, Executive Producers

4:15 p.m.
Daytime, Disney-ABC Television Group
Brian Frons, President, Daytime, Disney-ABC Television Group

"Being Erica" - SOAPnet Returning Series
Erin Karpluk, Michael Riley, cast
Jana Sinyor, Creator/Co-Executive Producer/Writer

5:00 p.m.
"All My Children" - 40th Anniversary - ABC Daytime
Susan Lucci, Cameron Mathison, Rebecca Budig, Bobbie Eakes, cast
Agnes Nixon, Creator, Julie Hanan Carruthers, Executive Producer

[tvcrazed]

thefutoncritic: Wonder how ABC would handle this (i.e. LOST): White House floating February 2 as a potential date for the State of the Union

[Pavan]

Son of a bitch. They better not do it on Feb. 2. Why not Feb. 3?? Or better yet Jan. 26.

As much as I love Better off Ted, it needs to be pulled now. Double pump Scrubs and maybe put LOST repeats in from 8-10pm.

[tvcrazed]

To me the show to pull is FORGOTTEN. At least BOT is critically acclaimed, if you look at any TV related blog today it is getting raves. I personally thought those 2 eps last night were brilliant and honestly the first one dropped only .2 from SCRUBS. Maybe the reason the second one did worse (.3)was because THE FORGOTTEN was on at 10p. Besides they are gonna get clobbered next week anyway from 8-10. AT least they would get a 2 with PRIMETIME (or dare i say it again ST) at 10p. Id also be very happy with LOST reruns at 10p. I have to believe they are gonna rer-un the finale in primetime.

[tvcrazed]

http://www.thedailynewsonline.com/ar...nt/6343976.txt

[yankeesrj12]

Originally Posted by tvcrazed

To me the show to pull is FORGOTTEN. At least BOT is critically acclaimed, if you look at any TV related blog today it is getting raves. I personally thought those 2 eps last night were brilliant and honestly the first one dropped only .2 from SCRUBS. Maybe the reason the second one did worse (.3)was because THE FORGOTTEN was on at 10p. Besides they are gonna get clobbered next week anyway from 8-10. AT least they would get a 2 with PRIMETIME (or dare i say it again ST) at 10p. Id also be very happy with LOST reruns at 10p. I have to believe they are gonna rer-un the finale in primetime.

The Forgotten would do much better without the horrible 2.96 million viewer and 1.1 demo lead in. Yes, Better off Ted only fell by .2 demo points or w/e it was from Scrubs, but when the demo is that small, its drastic. The Forgotten had 4.38 million viewers and a 1.2 demo last night. If it had a better lead in, it would grab 6-8 million viewers and a 1.6-2.0 demo. ABC now has a slew of successful comedies, they don't need sub-3 million viewer ones. What ABC has wanted for years is a procederal drama, so they wouldn't just kick it to the curb.

[Pavan]

I'd do this for Tuesdays for the next few weeks until LOST returns:

8:00pm Scrubs (Scrubs would build from 8 to 8:30 at least)
9:00pm Primetime: What Would You Do?
10:00pm the forgotten

And if they had any more episodes shot, Conveyor Belt of Love would work somewhere here.

[tvcrazed]

THE FORGOTTEN is not gonna happen, even ABC knows it as they have been promoting SHARK TANK more. FORGOTTEN had no promos before yesterday. It's not long term and ABC clearly knows it now.

[tvcrazed]

Originally Posted by yankeesrj12

The Forgotten would do much better without the horrible 2.96 million viewer and 1.1 demo lead in. Yes, Better off Ted only fell by .2 demo points or w/e it was from Scrubs, but when the demo is that small, its drastic. The Forgotten had 4.38 million viewers and a 1.2 demo last night. If it had a better lead in, it would grab 6-8 million viewers and a 1.6-2.0 demo. ABC now has a slew of successful comedies, they don't need sub-3 million viewer ones. What ABC has wanted for years is a procederal drama, so they wouldn't just kick it to the curb.

Running it for 4 months is hardly kicking it to teh curb. It's not showing growth or potential like CASTLE did. THAT's why they stuck with that one

[Pavan]

I am not a fan of the forgotten either (though I did watch last night and it was decent), but I think they should stick with it for the 18 episodes. But on Fridays at 9 and Shark Tank back on Tuesdays.

Also, LOST review screeners were posted today for TCA, but it's the two-part finale from season five. I think we won't get review screeners for S6 premiere this year.

[tvcrazed]

I agree with what you said Pavan re: Forgotten

http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/01/...e-cougar-town/

[Pavan]

As I said before, don't be surprised if you see 24 episodes of Desperate, Grey's, Private, B&S, Castle, Modern Family, and Cougar Town. I just think those are locks for 24. They are all owned by ABC (except MF).

[JulieSomoski]

Originally Posted by Pavan

I'd do this for Tuesdays for the next few weeks until LOST returns:

8:00pm Scrubs (Scrubs would build from 8 to 8:30 at least)
9:00pm Primetime: What Would You Do?
10:00pm the forgotten

And if they had any more episodes shot, Conveyor Belt of Love would work somewhere here.

I'd do Shark Tank at 8pm, Primetime at 9pm, and The Forgotten at 10pm effective next week for the rest of January. Primetime would be a good lead-in for The Forgotten, which I also believe still has potential. They could move The Forgotten to Friday, but airing against another procedural (Medium) and Dateline isn't going to help it any. Double shots of Scrubs on Fridays would be the best option then.

Meanwhile, I don't see the logic in not trying Better Off Ted in the Wednesday comedy block. If ABC would simply move it to 8pm, promote it with the other 3 comedies, and give it a chance to pick up new viewers in a better timeslot, I bet it could end up working to an extent. Bottom line is, they cannot continue with this Tuesday night lineup.