Primetime Ratings: ABC Wins Night as Obama/Boehner Speeches Alter Lineups

'Hell's Kichen' keeps all of its premiere audience

By Tim Baysinger -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/26/2011 12:02:18 PM

On a night when President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner had speeches that interrupted the normal primetime lineup, ABC was able to eek out a win with an overall 2.2 rating/6 rating in the 18-49 demo, according to Nielsen overnight numbers. The Bachelorette, which ran from 8-10:30 p.m. (the two speeches occupied the 9-9:30 p.m. slot), was even with last week's 2.3. Extreme Makover: Weight Loss Edition, which didn't air until 10:30 p.m. drew a 1.8 during the 10:30-11 p.m. half-hour. The network's coverage of the speeches drew a 2.4.

Fox came in second with a 2.1/6. Hell's Kitchen, the only unaffected program of the night, kept its premiere audience with another 2.5. The network's coverage of the speeches drew a 1.9.

CBS (1.1), NBC (1.0) ran no new programming, but their coverage of the speeches drew a 1.2 and 1.3, respectively.

The CW finished the night with a 0.2/1.