Jackson
Jacko has put ABC backo in the February sweeps race.
According to Nielsen, the net's two-hour-plus interview with Michael Jackson, airing Thursday under the "20/20" umbrella, beat its tough competition from 8 to 10:05 p.m. in both adults 18-49 (11.0/25) and total viewers (27.11 million). Spec lost in 18-49 to two episodes of NBC's "Friends" from 8 to 9 but then beat everyone, including CBS drama "CSI" -- television's most-watched series -- from 9 to 10.
And at 10:05, the Alphabet's newsmag "Primetime," a Jackson post-game show of sorts, drew a big 9.6/23 in 18-49 and 22.74 million viewers overall, placing a close second to NBC's "ER" (9.9/24) in the demo.
Depending on how you look at it, this was either ABC's best Thursday performance with news programming, entertainment programming or a horror pic since at least 1991.
Triumphs galore
Net won the night in both adults 18-49 and total viewers, marking its first in-season Thursday victory in the demo in the nearly nine years since the May 1994 Stephen King miniseries "The Stand." It's also ABC's first February sweeps triumph on a Thursday in at least 12 years.
ABC's winning Thursday has improved the Alphabet's chances of at least a third-place finish for the month in adults 18-49. Net also finished in a virtual first-place tie with NBC on Friday, while Fox zoomed ahead on Saturday with a NASCAR race.
Through Saturday, what's shaping up as one of the most competitive sweeps in years had NBC in the lead among adults 18-49 with a projected 5.1 rating, followed by Fox (4.5), ABC (4.2) and CBS (3.6).
The potent NBC and CBS Thursday lineups were dented but held up remarkably well opposite Jacko, again demonstrating the power of broadcast TV. From 9 to 9:30, the six broadcasters combined for a 74 share of the 18-49 aud and a 76 share in 18-34.
ABC's strong showing in primetime carried over into latenight, where "Jimmy Kimmel Live" posted the highest metered-market household score (3.6/12) since its post-Super Bowl premiere. "Kimmel" was No. 1 in Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco.
Elsewhere on Thursday, NBC's "Friends" remained the night's No. 1 program in adults 18-49 (11.1/28), topping the Jackson special by 39% head-to-head at 8. That tough competish put a hit on the digits for the finale of CBS' "Star Search" (4.0/10 in A18-49, 13.61m), which placed third.
In the 9 o'clock hour, "CSI" (9.2/20, 25.60m) and NBC's "Will & Grace" (8.3/18) fell behind "20/20."
On Friday, it was a virtual tie for the 18-49 lead between NBC (3.7/11) and ABC (3.6/11), according to Nielsen prelims.
NBC's "Mister Sterling" drew its second best numbers (3.0/9 in A18-49, 11.1m), finishing a tick behind ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" (3.1/10 in A18-49) and taking the hour in adults 25-54 (4.0/11). A second "Videos" easily led at 9 for ABC (3.9/11), and the Peacock's "Law & Order: SVU" won at 10 (5.3/15) despite tough competish from a strong "20/20" on ABC (3.8/11) and a repeat of "CSI" on CBS (3.0/9).
CBS did better than usual on Friday thanks to a special "Price Is Right" at 8 that won the hour in total viewers (11.5m) and gave the net its second best 18-49 score in the hour this season (2.8/9) -- behind only "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in December.
Also at 8, Fox's "Fastlane" hit the skids after several strong outings, falling to fourth in 18-49 (2.3/7).
Net fared better on the NASCAR track Saturday, as the "Bud Shoot-out" gave the net a sweep of the night in the key demos, including 18-49 (prelim 3.7/11). At 10, CBS drama "The Agency," despite a third-place finish in 18-49 (2.2/6), moved up to first in adults 25-54 (3.4/8).
Contact Rick Kissell at
rick.kissell@variety.com