December 3, 2001

"Alias" Wins its Time Slot

"Alias" Wins its Time Slot in Adults 18-49 and Draws its Largest Audience in 7 Weeks

Sunday Primetime (7:00-11:00 p.m.)
ABC qualified as the most watched network on Sunday, outdrawing its closest competition by more than 2 million viewers (14.4 million vs. 12.3 million - tie between CBS and Fox). Among Adults 18-49, ABC took a strong second place for the night, just two tenths of a rating point behind Fox (5.8/14). Once again Fox got a substantial boost from an NFL football game that ran well into the first hour of primetime, inflating that network's nightly average. In Adults 18-49, ABC (5.6/13) beat third-place CBS (3.5/8) by 60% and fourth-place NBC (2.8/7) by 100%.

* ABC drew its largest audience with regular programming on Sunday night in over 6 months - since 5/13/01. Among Adults 18-49, ABC posted its highest rating with regular programming on the night in nearly 9 months - since 2/11/01.

"The Wonderful World of Disney: Brian's Song" (7:00-9:00 p.m.)
Drawing 15.2 million viewers on average, "The Wonderful World of Disney's" presentation of "Brian's Song" ranked No. 1 in its 2-hour time period, topping NBC's television premiere of "Prince of Egypt" (7.9 million) by over 7 million viewers. Despite airing in an earlier time period with lower overall viewing levels, "Brian's Song" (15.2 million & 5.9/14) stood as the highest-rated movie of the night, outdelivering CBS' "Jack & The Beanstalk" (9:00-11:00 p.m.) by 1.8 million viewers and by 28% among Adults 18-49 (13.4 million & 4.6/12).

* Among Adults 18-49, "Brian's Song" gave ABC its highest rating for "The Wonderful World of Disney" in over 1 year (since 11/12/00), matching the franchise's strongest delivery in the key demographic in the last two seasons. In fact "Brian's Song" scored the third-highest Adult 18-49 rating for the Disney movie in the past 3 seasons.

"Alias" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
"Alias" won its time period among Adults 18-49 (4.8/11). Versus its original drama competition in the hour, "Alias" outdrew Fox's "X-Files" by 2.3 million viewers (11.0 million vs. 8.7 million).

* "Alias" drew its largest audience in 7 weeks (since 10/14) and tied its highest Adult 18-49 rating in 6 weeks.

"The Practice" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
"The Practice" dominated the final hour of Sunday night in viewers and young adults. The legal drama defeated its closest competition in the time period, the final hour of CBS' "Jack & the Beanstalk," by 2.5 million viewers (16.1 million vs. 13.6 million) and by 22% among Adults 18-49 (6.0/16 vs. 4.9/12).

* "The Practice" qualified as the most-watched program on Sunday night. Versus its delivery on the prior Sunday (15.3 million & 5.7/14), "The Practice" was up in both Viewers and Young Adults

Thanks to vaughnetc.!

© ABC Television Network Press Release 2001

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