Nielsen Releases First Local Demographic Ratings For Series Premiering In Summer

Nielsen Releases First Local Demographic Ratings For Series Premiering In Summer

'Dancing with the Stars' is Surprise Hit of the Season

NEW YORK, July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Nielsen Media Research today released, for the first time, local demographic ratings for programs premiering during the summer television season. The ratings were available in the seven major markets where Nielsen has introduced its Local People Meter (LPM) service, which electronically and continually records audience demographic information.

Nielsen first introduced Local People Meters in 2002 in Boston. In 2004, it launched LPM service in the New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco markets; and added Washington, DC and Philadelphia in 2005.

Local People Meters enable Nielsen to provide clients in these markets with demographic information for shows that premiered in June, something that was not possible in prior years because June is not a "sweeps" or survey month (the four to seven times a year when local demographic information is recorded in paper diaries). Moreover, Nielsen can now provide overnight demographic data on shows that were broadcast during the July sweep; prior to the implementation of Local People Meters this data would not have been available until mid-August.

The five series for which Nielsen released ratings are all reality shows on the major national broadcast networks. Next week, Nielsen plans to issue similar ratings for shows that premiered this summer on cable television.

Nielsen's LPM data shows that ABC's "Dancing with the Stars," has been the runaway broadcast television hit of the summer reality season. The show, which paired celebrities and professional dancers in a series of ballroom dance competitions, scored impressively across all demographic groups (see attached ratings tables for more detail):

* It was the highest rated broadcast TV program among all adults 18 and older.

* The show garnered double digit ratings among women 18+ in all LPM markets except Washington, DC; and in five markets it outscored all four of the other reality shows combined for this demographic.

* Although it was the most popular program among both women and men over the age of 18, ratings for women were more than twice that of men in all seven markets.

Four other shows that scored higher among women than men were "I Want to be a Hilton," where contestants vie for a chance to enter high society; "Hell's Kitchen," about a boot camp for budding restaurateurs; "Rock Star: INXS, a competition to determine the new lead singer for 80s alt-pop group INXS; and "Beauty and The Geek," which pairs seven gorgeous women who are academically challenged with seven brilliant but socially impaired geek guys.

* Ratings for "I Want to be a Hilton" were twice as high for women 18+ than for men 18+, in all markets but Washington, DC.

* "Hell's Kitchen" and "Rock Star" rated higher among women than men in all markets except San Francisco and Washington, DC respectively, where they tied in both cities.

* "Beauty and the Geek" rated higher among women in all markets except San Francisco, where ratings among men (1.0) were slightly higher than among women (0.9)

By markets, highlights of LPM ratings for summer shows included the following (see tables for more detail):

* Philadelphia - With a 4.5 rating, "Hell's Kitchen" had a higher rating among 18-49 year-olds in Philadelphia than in any other LPM market. Among women, "Dancing with the Stars," "Hell's Kitchen," "I Want to be a Hilton" and "Rock Star" all had higher ratings in Philadelphia than in any other market.

* New York -With a 2.5 rating, "I Want to be a Hilton" scored higher among 18-49 year-olds in New York than in any other LPM market. As in other markets, "Dancing with the Stars" was the clear winner among the June broadcast premieres, with women 18+ (13.2) rating much higher than men 18+ (5.2).

* Los Angeles - Among women in all seven markets, "Beauty and the Geek" had its highest rating in Los Angeles, with a 3.2.

* Chicago - "Beauty and the Geek" had its highest rating with adults 18- 34, in Chicago, with a 3.6., and was the second most popular broadcast reality show among all adults. Ratings for "I Want to be a Hilton" were more than three times higher for women than for men.

* Boston - Within the 18-34 demographic, "Dancing with the Stars" had its highest rating among all markets in Boston, with a 5.8. "Hells Kitchen" had a rating seven times higher (3.0 vs. 0.5) among 18-34 year-olds than among viewers over age 55.

* San Francisco - "Rock Star" did as well among viewers over age 55 in the San Francisco market as it did among 18-34 year-olds. After "Dancing with the Stars," "Hell's Kitchen" was the second most popular show among 18-49 year-olds, with a 4.5 rating.

* Washington, DC - Variations among demographics for most shows were less pronounced in Washington than in other markets. "Dancing with the Stars," for example, had by far the smallest difference in ratings between persons 18-34 and persons 55+ than in the other six markets. With a 4.3 rating, "Hell's Kitchen" was nearly as popular among 18-34 year-olds as "Dancing With the Stars" (with a 4.6 rating).

About Nielsen Media Research

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Tables 1-7 Broadcast TV Ratings by Event by Market (Ratings Period 5/30 to 7/13)

Boston Ratings

P18+ P18-34 P18-49 P55+ W18+ M18+ AFFIL/PROG BEAUTY & THE GEEK 1.8 3.3 2.6 0.7 2.1 1.5 (WB) DANCING WITH THE 9.6 5.8 7.9 11.7 13.4 5.3 STARS (ABC) HELL'S KITCHEN 2.1 3.5 3.0 0.5 2.2 2.0 (FOX) I WANT TO BE A 1.5 2.0 1.6 1.5 2.1 0.9 HILTON (NBC) ROCK STAR: INXS 1.7 1.1 1.9 1.0 1.9 1.6 (CBS)

Chicago Ratings

P18+ P18-34 P18-49 P55+ W18+ M18+ AFFIL/PROG BEAUTY & THE GEEK 2.7 3.6 2.8 2.1 3.0 2.4 (WB) DANCING WITH THE 8.3 4.7 5.3 14.3 11.6 4.8 STARS (ABC) HELL'S KITCHEN 2.3 2.9 2.7 1.6 2.9 1.7 (FOX) I WANT TO BE A 1.5 1.2 1.3 1.9 2.2 0.7 HILTON (NBC) ROCK STAR: INXS 2.2 1.4 2.3 1.3 2.4 1.9 (CBS)

Los Angeles Ratings

P18+ P18-34 P18-49 P55+ W18+ M18+ AFFIL/PROG BEAUTY & THE GEEK 2.6 3.1 2.5 2.1 3.2 2.0 (WB) DANCING WITH THE 8.4 4.4 5.6 14.5 11.4 5.2 STARS (ABC) HELL'S KITCHEN 2.9 3.3 3.2 1.5 3.4 2.3 (FOX) I WANT TO BE A 2.2 1.5 1.6 3.3 3.2 1.2 HILTON (NBC) ROCK STAR: INXS 1.9 1.1 1.9 1.4 2.0 1.7 (CBS)

New York Ratings

P18+ P18-34 P18-49 P55+ W18+ M18+ AFFIL/PROG BEAUTY & THE GEEK 1.8 3.1 2.5 0.6 1.8 1.8 (WB) DANCING WITH THE 9.4 5.3 6.7 14.7 13.2 5.2 STARS (ABC) HELL'S KITCHEN 2.8 3.3 3.2 1.8 3.2 2.3 (FOX) I WANT TO BE A 2.3 1.7 2.5 2.0 3.1 1.4 HILTON (NBC) ROCK STAR: INXS 1.7 1.2 1.8 1.3 1.7 1.6 (CBS)

Philadelphia Ratings

P18+ P18-34 P18-49 P55+ W18+ M18+ AFFIL/PROG BEAUTY & THE GEEK (WB) 1.8 2.8 2.1 0.9 2.1 1.4 DANCING WITH THE STARS (ABC) 10.2 5.5 6.9 16.9 14.2 5.7 HELL'S KITCHEN 3.5 6.1 4.5 2.1 4.1 2.8 (FOX) I WANT TO BE A 2.5 2.3 2.4 2.7 3.7 1.2 HILTON (NBC) ROCK STAR: INXS 2.4 3.2 3.0 0.9 2.7 2.1 (CBS)

San Francisco Ratings

P18+ P18-34 P18-49 P55+ W18+ M18+ AFFIL/PROG BEAUTY & THE GEEK 1.0 1.4 1.3 0.5 0.9 1.0 (WB) DANCING WITH THE 7.4 2.6 4.5 13.7 10.2 4.6 STARS (ABC) HELL'S KITCHEN 2.9 3.5 3.5 2.1 2.9 2.9 (FOX) I WANT TO BE A 2.2 2.1 2.0 2.5 3.1 1.3 HILTON (NBC) ROCK STAR: INXS 1.7 1.5 1.6 1.6 2.0 1.3 (CBS)

Washington DC Ratings

P18+ P18-34 P18-49 P55+ W18+ M18+ AFFIL/PROG BEAUTY & THE GEEK (WB) 1.4 2.3 1.6 1.0 1.6 1.0 DANCING WITH THE STARS (ABC) 6.4 4.6 5.0 8.9 8.6 4.0 HELL'S KITCHEN 3.2 4.3 3.3 2.0 3.6 2.7 (FOX) I WANT TO BE A 1.7 1.3 1.8 1.6 2.2 1.2 HILTON (NBC) ROCK STAR: INXS 1.5 1.3 1.6 1.4 1.5 1.5 (CBS)

Source: Nielsen Media Research

CONTACT: Matt Tatham of Nielsen Media Research, +1-646-654-8362

Web site: http://www.nielsenmedia.com/ http://www.vnu.com/

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