ABC Leads Premiere Ratings in Affluent Younger Viewers
Advertisers pay a premium to reach affluent young adults, and ABC set the pace in that category during the opening week of the television season thanks to returning faves like “Modern Family” and newcomer “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD.”
According to Nielsen’s NAD data (National Audience Demographics), ABC won the Sept. 23-29 premiere week among adults 18-49 living in homes with $100,000-plus annual income. Excluding sports, its 2.8 regular-program average put it comfortably ahead of NBC (2.4), CBS (2.3) and Fox (1.9).
The Alphabet claimed seven of the top 15 programs, led by top dog “Modern Family” (6.8) and “Agents of SHIELD” (6.2), which tied with CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” for second. Other ABC shows in the top 15 were “Grey’s Anatomy” (3.9), rookie comedy “The Goldbergs” (3.6), “The Middle” (3.2), “Revenge” (3.2) and “Nashville” (3.1).
ABC also led in other upscale categories, including adults 18-49 with four-plus years of college and those living in homes earning $150,000 or more.
Besides “Big Bang,” CBS was represented in the top 15 by “How I Met Your Mother” (4.1), “The Crazy Ones” (3.9), “NCIS” (3.1) and “The Amazing Race” (3.0). NBC’s leaders were “The Voice” on Monday (4.8) and Tuesday (4.7) and “The Blacklist” (4.0). Fox didn’t place any show.
“Modern Family” drew the highest median income for any broadcast series ($80,400), up from $77,700 a year ago.
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