‘AMERICA’S GOT TALENT’ RANKS #1 IN BOTH 18-49 AND TOTAL VIEWERS FOR A THIRD WEEK IN A ROW

‘TALENT’ GENERATES THE #1 AND #2 RATINGS OF THE WEEK IN 18-49

THE WEDNESDAY EDITION OF ‘AMERICA’S GOT TALENT’ SCORES NBC’S BEST 18-49 AND TOTAL-VIEWER RESULTS IN THE TIME PERIOD SINCE OCTOBER 2008

TUESDAY’S ‘TALENT’ IS THE NIGHT’S #1 TELECAST ON ANY NETWORK IN 18-49 AND WINS ITS HOUR IN EVERY KEY RATINGS CATEGORY

UNIVERSAL CITY, California July 14, 2009 “America’s Got Talent” has delivered primetime television’s #1 rating in both adults 18-49 and total viewers for a third consecutive week, according to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research. The Wednesday and Tuesday editions of “America’s Got Talent” finished #1 and #2 in 18-49 for the primetime week of July 6-12, leading NBC to an average 1.3 rating, 5 share in 18-49 and 4.8 million viewers overall for the week.

NBC ranked #2 among the broadcast networks for the week in total viewers, adults 25-54 (tie), men 18-34 and men 25-54 (tie).

Also ranking among the top-10 programs for the week in primetime’s key demographic of adults 18-49 was Tuesday’s “Dateline NBC” special “Farewell to Michael Jackson” (#10, tied).

“America’s Got Talent” once again demonstrated its broad appeal, as last week’s Tuesday and Wednesday editions claimed two of the week’s top three rankings among such diverse categories as kids 2-11, teens 12-17, adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and total viewers.

Primetime averages for the week of July 6-12 in adults 18-49 were Fox (1.5/5), CBS (1.4/5), ABC, NBC and Univision (1.3/4), Telemundo (0.5/2) and CW (0.3/1). In overall total viewers the weekly averages were CBS (6.5 million), NBC (4.8 million), Fox (4.4 million), ABC (4.3 million), Univision (3.2 million), Telemundo (1.1 million) and CW (0.9 million).

Season to date, NBC is running within 0.7 of a rating point of first place in primetime’s key demographic of adults 18-49, versus a deficit of 1.3 points at this time last season.

NBC highlights for the week of July 6-12:

* On Tuesday, “America’s Got Talent” dominated its time period, winning the 9 p.m. ET hour in every important ratings category. “America’s Got Talent” was the #1 telecast of the night on any network in adults 18-49 and most other key ratings categories.

* Wednesday’s “America’s Got Talent” delivered the night’s #1 18-49 and total-viewers results for any program on any network that night and set a nine-month time-period high for NBC.

* Wednesday’s 8 p.m. encore of “America’s Got Talent” generated NBC’s biggest overall audience in that time slot since February.

Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET, “America’s Got Talent” (3.0/9 in adults 18-49, 10.6 million viewers overall) dominated the time period, winning the hour in all key ratings categories — adults, men and women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, plus total viewers. From its first half-hour to its second, “America’s Got Talent” increased its 18-49 rating by 26 percent (to a 3.4/9 from a 2.7/8) and its overall viewership by 18 percent or 1.7 million persons (to 11.4 million from 9.7 million).

“America’s Got Talent” was the #1 telecast of the night in adults 18-49 and most other key ratings categories.

On Wednesday July 8 from 8-9 p.m. ET, the encore telecast of “America’s Got Talent” (1.6/6 in 18-49, 6.3 million viewers overall) jumped week-to-week by 14 percent in 18-49 and 5 percent in total viewers to score NBC’s highest 18-49 rating in this time period in four weeks (since June 10) and biggest overall viewership in more than four months (since February 25). From its first half-hour to its second, the 8 p.m. ET “Talent” encore increased by 20 percent in 18-49 rating (to a 1.8/6 rating from a 1.5/5).

Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET, “America’s Got Talent” (3.3/10 in 18-49, 11.9 million viewers overall) generated the #1 results of the night in adults 18-49 and total viewers. “America’s Got Talent” was up week-to-week by 14 percent in 18-49 and 4 percent in total viewers, producing NBC’s highest 18-49 and total-viewer results in the time period since October 1, 2008 (with last year’s “America’s Got Talent” finale). From its first half-hour to its second, “America’s Got Talent” increased by 23 percent in 18-49 rating (to a 3.7/11 from a 3.0/9) and by 17 percent or 1.9 million persons in total viewers (to 12.9 million from 11.0 million).

“America’s Got Talent” posted dramatic growth in the Wednesday 9 p.m. ET time period versus NBC’s pre-”Talent” summer average in the slot — including gains of 94 percent in adults 18-49 (3.3 vs. 1.7), 83 percent in adults 18-34 (2.2 vs. 1.2) and 100 percent in adults 25-54 (4.2 vs. 2.1).