Ratings: ABC’s ‘20/20′ Spikes With Interview of Columbine Shooter’s Mother
ABC News has delivered another winning sweeps performance for the Alphabet, as Diane Sawyer’s exclusive “20/20” interview with the mother of one of the Columbine shooters dominated its time period in key demos and teamed with “Shark Tank” to lift the network to victory on the night.
In Nielsen’s preliminary nationals, “20/20” averaged a 1.7 rating/6 share in adults 18-49, a 2.3/7 in adults 25-54 and 7.2 million viewers overall in the 10 p.m. hour. It surged 42% week to week in 18-49 to beat both CBS’ “Blue Bloods” original (1.4/5) and nearly double the delivery of competing news program “Dateline” on NBC (0.9/3).
The 18-49 rating matched the delivery of a November sweep edition of “20/20” on Leah Remini and her time in the Church of Scientology as the newsmagazine’s highest of the season. And of course, the highest ratings in years for “20/20” came with last year’s two-hour May sweep installment “Bruce Jenner: The Interview” (5.2/18 in 18-49, 17.10 million viewers overall), in which Sawyer sat down with the former Olympian athlete who spoke of his transition to a female.
Friday’s “20/20” featured Sawyer’s interview with Sue Klebold, speaking on television for the first time about the April 1999 shootings at Columbine High School that killed 14 students (including the two killers) and one teacher and injured more than 20 others.
Leading into “20/20” for ABC, “Shark Tank” (1.7/6 in 18-49, 6.7 million viewers overall) seemed to benefit from pre-“20/20” tune-in. The alternative series matched its season high and tied with “20/20” as Friday’s top progra,
At CBS, the season premiere of “The Amazing Race” (1.2/5 in 18-49, 6.1 million viewers overall) won its 8 p.m. time period and was up a tick from its year-ago opener (1.1). The network was also a solid second to ABC in demos (and first in total viewers) with dramas “Hawaii Five-0” (1.3/5 in 18-49, 8.8 million viewers overall) and “Blue Bloods” (1.4/5 in 18-49, 10.9 million viewers overall). “Blue Bloods” matched its second highest demo rating of the season and was Friday’s most-watched program overall.
Fox’s “Sleepy Hollow” (0.7/3 in 18-49, 3.2 million viewers overall) was down 0.2 in its second week on Friday, and that brought down lead-out “Second Chance” (0.5/1 in 18-49, 2.1 million viewers overall) down a tenth with it.
NBC’s “Caught on Camera with Nick Cannon” was down a tick (0.8/3 in 18-49, 4.2 million viewers overall) was down a tick, and “Grimm” was steady (0.9/3 in 18-49, 4.1 million). CW’s “The Vampire Diaries” (0.4/2 in 18-49, 1.1 million viewers overall) held steady, but “The Originals” was down a tenth (0.3/1 in 18-49, 0.8 million viewers overall).
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