‘GOOD MORNING, MIAMI’ GRABS AN 88 PERCENT RETENTION OF ITS ‘WILL & GRACE’ LEAD-IN

preview / download NBC DOMINATES ANOTHER THURSDAY IN 18-49 AS “GOOD MORNING, MIAMI” LOGS ITS MOST IMPRESSIVE NUMBERS TO DATE

BURBANK, Calif. — January 16, 2003 — Last night’s episode of NBC’s “Good Morning, Miami” has retained 88 percent of its adult 18-49 lead-in from “Will & Grace,” the highest retention yet for the hot first-year comedy.

The breakthrough performance by “Good Morning, Miami” combined with stellar numbers from the rest of NBC’s powerful Thursday lineup to win the night by a commanding 36 percent margin among adults 18-49.

According to updated in-home viewing statistics from Nielsen Media Research, “Friends” (11.2 rating, 29 share among adults 18-49, 23.7 million viewers overall) opened the night with Thursday’s No. 1 rating among adults 18-49. “Friends” defeated its closest pursuer (CBS’ “Star Search”) head-to-head by 173 percent among adults 18-49 (11.2/29 vs. 4.1/11).

At 8:32 p.m. ET, the critically acclaimed second-year comedy “Scrubs” (8.8/21 among adults 18-49, 18.0 million viewers overall) won the time period in virtually every key category and retained a solid 79 percent of its 18-49 lead-in from “Friends.” “Scrubs” led the half-hour among adults 18-49 by a powerful 66 percent (8.8/21 vs. 5.3/13).

From 9-9:30 p.m. ET, the season’s No. 2 comedy among adults 18-49,“Will & Grace” (8.3/19 among adults 18-49, 16.0 million viewers overall), finished a strong second in 18-49 and beat CBS’ “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” head-to-head among adults 18-34, women 18-34 and women 18-49.

At 9:30 p.m. ET, television’s No. 1 first-year comedy among adults 18-49, “Good Morning, Miami” (7.3/16 among adults 18-49, 14.2 million viewers overall), kept NBC solidly second in most key demographic categories and defeated “CSI” among adults 18-34 and women 18-34. “Good Morning, Miami” retained an excellent 88 percent of its 18-49 lead-in from “Will & Grace,” which tops “Good Morning, Miami’s” previous highest retention of 86 percent on Dec. 12.

From 9:59-11 p.m. ET, television’s No. 1 drama among adults 18-49, “ER” (10.4/26 among adults 18-49, 21.8 million viewers overall), defeated its combined competition in virtually all key demographics. “ER” defeated its closest pursuer, CBS’ “Without a Trace,” by a huge 73 percent margin (10.4/27 vs. 6.0/15).

Updated 18-49 results for Thursday night are: NBC, 9.4/23; CBS, 6.9/16; Fox, 3.3/8; ABC, 2.6/6; UPN, 2.0/5; WB, 1.5/3. In overall total viewers, Jan. 15 updated averages are: CBS, 20.2 million; NBC, 19.4 million viewers; Fox, 7.3 million; ABC, 7.1 million; UPN, 5.3 million; WB, 3.0 million.

In last night’s local-market late-night results, “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” (5.9 rating, 15 share in metered-market households) defeated CBS’ “Late Show With David Letterman” (4.2/10 in metered-market households). “Tonight” has won 83 of 83 nights in the local markets so far this season versus “The Late Show.”

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