ABC TV Ratings for Friday, March 2, 2012

The alphabet network continues to find Friday night success, thanks to their non-scripted line-up of Shark Tank, Primetime: What Would You Do?, and 20/20. Check out there take on the numbers below.

You can also check out our ratings pages for Shark Tank, Primetime, and 20/20 to see the week-to-week ratings trends, averages, rankings, and more.

Here’s the ABC press release for the Friday, March 2, 2012 ratings:

ABC is #1 with its 2nd-Highest Friday this Season in Adults 18-49

ABC ranked #1 on Friday in Adults 18-49 (tying CBS’ original line-up), beating NBC by 13% and Fox by 55%.

· Growing week to week by double digits in viewers (+16%) and young adults (+13%), ABC equaled its 2nd-highest rated Friday night this season in Adults 18-49.

During the 8 o’clock hour, ABC’s Shark Tank finished a strong second in Adults 18-49, while ranking #1 against its network rivals with Adults 18-34, key Men (M18-34/M18-49) and Kids 2-11.

· Building its overall audience for the 2nd week in a row, Shark Tank pulled in the series’ 2nd-most-watched-ever regular telecast.

· Continuing to generate big year-over-year gains for ABC, Shark Tank is improving its hour by 49% in Total Viewers and by 64% in Adults 18-49 over the same nights last year. In fact, in viewers and young adults, it is ABC’s top series in the hour in 6 years – since the 2005-06 season. In addition, Shark Tank is posting its strongest season yet, up 17% in Total Viewers and 20% in young adults over last season.

ABC’s Primetime: What Would You Do? ranked #1 during the 9 o’clock hour in Adults 18-49 (tied w/NBC’s Grimm), beating the season finale of CBS A Gifted Man by 21%. In addition, the ABC newsmagazine won the hour in Adults 18-34, beating out NBC’s Grimm by an impressive 40%.

· Matching season highs, ABC’s Primetime: What Would You Do? jumped week to week by 1.3 million viewers and by 21% in Adults 18-49

During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s 20/20 ran in a near-tie for #1 with CBS’ Blue Bloods among Adults 18-49 (pacing within 1-tenth of a rating point and tied in audience share) and won the hour with Women 18-49. In addition, 20/20 beat out its newsmagazine competition by wide margins, outdelivering NBC’s Dateline by 1.5 million viewers, by 31% in Adults 25-54 and by 23% in Adults 18-49. ABC’s 20/20 featured Elizabeth Vargas’ exclusive interview with Gabe Watson, the man who was once accused of killing his new wife while scuba diving on their honeymoon in Australia.

· 20/20’s numbers surged week to week by 1.0 million viewers, by 24% in Adults 25-54 and by 33% in Adults 18-49.