Schedules Plus, ABC Monday

Schedules Plus is another innovative application of the historical ratings statistic A18-49+. I hope this will be the ultimate resource for comparing the evolution of shows, networks and timeslots over time, complete with ratings numbers that make a fair adjustment for the collective decline. Right now this only includes programs aired in the fall. Much more about the process that went into this at the bottom.

ABC Monday could very well have become a major disaster area after the network lost its usual fall fixture Monday Night Football following the 2005-06 season. But the emergence of a new reality franchise called Dancing with the Stars not only kept them above water on Monday; it occasionally helped them do even better than the MNF-fueled lineups!

ABC Monday

	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00	10:30	Avg
2001-02	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?		Monday Night Football				129
	62		163		163
2002-03	The Drew Carey Show	Whose Line Is It Anyway?	Monday Night Football				128
	51	54	166		166
	52
2003-04	Primetime Mon		Monday Night Football				132
	62		166		166
2004-05	Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Special		Monday Night Football				131
	71		161		161
2005-06	Wife Swap		Monday Night Football				132
	83		156		156
2006-07	Wife Swap		The Bachelor Fall		What About Brian		81
	89		87		66
2007-08	Dancing with the Stars Fall			Samantha Who?	The Bachelor Fall		133
	160		160	110	105
			135
2008-09	Dancing with the Stars Fall			Samantha Who?	Boston Legal		111
	145		145	87	71
			116
2009-10	Dancing with the Stars Fall				Castle		118
	130		130		92
2010-11	Dancing with the Stars Fall				Castle		148
	170		170		105
2011-12	Dancing with the Stars Fall				Castle		125
	139		139		98
2012-13	Dancing with the Stars Fall				Castle		104
	107		107		97
2013-14	Dancing with the Stars Fall				Castle		110
	113		113		103
2014-15	Dancing with the Stars Fall				Castle		112
	122		122		93
Avg	108		138		117		121

2014-15 Update: The improbable Dancing with the Stars comeback rolled on in the fall but slowed down in the spring season, which was just barely up in Plus. Much of DWTS' positive movement was given back at 10/9c, as Castle got some CBS procedural competition and was down to its lowest Plus since season two. The long-running combo is together for one more year in 2015-16.

Notable midseason replacements:

• The first season of The Bachelor (115) aired late in the 2001-02 season.
• The network mostly aired movies on Monday after MNF ended in 2003-04, but like most movie nights, it eventually went away in favor of entertainment programming: namely the respectable new unscripted properties Wife Swap and Supernanny.
• The Bachelor went into midseason mode beginning in 2008-09, occupying the two hours that DWTS vacates from January to March. Around this time, the franchise's ratings were greatly reinvigorated; it's actually outrated the fall DWTS number listed above both in 2009-10 (146), 2012-13 (131) and 2013-14 (136).
• Castle's highly successful run in the Monday 10/9c hour began as a midseason replacement in 2008-09, easily its weakest season on a Plus basis (81).

See here for more explanations/disclaimers about Schedules Plus.