Ratings News - 23rd October 2012 *Full Tables Posted*

Metered Market Monday Ratings
ABC Wins Atypical Evening; NBC a Lock Among Adults 18-49

Monday 10/22/12
Metered Market Results

Household
Rating/Share
ABC 8.3/12
NBC 7.9/11
Fox 6.1/ 9
CBS 5.7/ 8
CW 0.9/ 1

----------

-Note: The year-to-year comparisons are excluded due to the third Presidential debate airing late night.

----------

-Winners:
Dancing With the Stars (ABC), The Voice (NBC)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
90210 (CW), Gossip Girl (CW)

----------

-Ratings Breakdown:
ABC led this atypical fifth Monday of the new season in the overnights, which featured the third (and finale) live Presidential Debate between President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. A one-hour edition of Dancing With the Stars on ABC (a non-elimination week) won the 8-9 p.m. time period with a 9.8 rating/15 share. But competing The Voice on NBC (#2: 7.8/12), also a one-hour installment, is a lock for dominance among adults 18-49. Comparably, Dancing With the Stars dipped by 23 percent in the overnights from the 8-9 p.m. portion of the year-ago telecast (12.7/19 on 10/24/11). The Voice, in contrast, increased by a whopping 189 percent from the year-ago 8-9 p.m. portion of former time period occupant The Sing Off (2.7/ 4 on 10/24/11).

CBS filled the 8-9 p.m. hour with repeats of The Big Bang Theory (#3: 6.1/ 9) and 2 Broke Girls (#4: 4.9/ 7), and The CW aired should-be-canceled 90210 (#5: 0.9/ 1), which sunk by 31 percent from year-ago occupant Gossip Girl (1.3/ 2 on 10/24/11). Over at Fox (which did not feature the debate), the seventh (and final) match-up between San Francisco and St, Louis in the Major League Baseball National League Championship Series averaged an estimated 6.1/ 9 in the overnights in primetime. One year earlier, game five of Texas versus St. Louis was considerably higher at a 9.5/15 in the overnights on 10/24/11.

Keep in mind, of course, that results for any live event are always approximate.

Overnights for the third Presidential Debate resulted in NBC leading the trio, with an estimated 8.3/11 from 9-10:30 p.m. A very close second was coverage on ABC at a 7.9/11, followed by CBS at a 6.1/ 9. Combined, the three-network tally for this last debate was a very ample 22.3/31 in the overnights.

Capping off the evening on The CW was soon-to-conclude Gossip Girl at a miniscule 0.8/ 1 from 9-10 p.m., which dropped by 53 percent from year-ago occupant Hart of Dixie (1.7/ 2 on 10/24/11). The CW announced last May that Sex and the City prequel The Carrie Diaries will replace Gossip Girl in the Monday 9 p.m. hour in midseason. But a wiser move would be to position promising looking The Carrie Diaries in the Monday 8 p.m. hour (instead of burying it behind 90210).

Source: Nielsen Media Research

Source: Marc Berman@TVMediaInsights