The alphabet network typically fills their Saturday night schedule with repeats or movies. Last Saturday, they tried a two-hour installment of 20/20 instead and saw some ratings benefits.

Here’s ABC’s spin on the ratings for Saturday, March 3, 2012:

20/20 Premiere Topples Fox’s Q’ Viva! The Chosen Debut

Driven by the premiere of 20/20: My Extreme Affliction against original programming in each of the other nets, ABC posted a definitive first-place finish on Saturday in Adults 18-49, outdelivering CBS by 33% (w/48 Hours Mystery), Fox by 71% (w/the debut of Q’ Viva! The Chosen) and NBC by 140% (w/The Firm).

Building on its lead-in at 9pm, ABC’s 20/20: My Extreme Affliction surged to the top of its 2-hour time period in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54, beating runner-up CBS by 30% and 20%, respectively. Anchored by John Quinones, ABC’s 20/20 took viewers into the lives of people with some of medicine’s most extreme conditions or who have unbelievable abilities.

· Saturday’s #1 TV program in Adults 18-49, ABC’s 20/20: My Extreme Affliction outdelivered its premiere competition on the evening, topping Fox’s debut of Q’ Viva! The Chosen (8-10pm) by a resounding 86%.

· 20/20 generated substantial time period improvement for ABC in the 2-hour time period, boosting the slot by 1.6 million viewers, by 30% in Adults 18-49 and by 50% in Adults 25-54 over its season averages with regular non-sports programming.