ABC has announced that the second-to-last telecast of "Mole II: The Next Betrayal" attracted the series' largest audience (8.2 million) and second-highest Adults 18-49 rating (3.5/10). The July 30th episode of the ABC reality series placed a solid second to Fox's "American Idol" on both measures, easily beating NBC's comedies ("Frasier"/"Scrubs" - 7.1 million & 2.9/9) and CBS "The Guardian" (7.0 million & 1.6/5).
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As with all of its prior episodes, "Mole II" produced sizeable growth from its lead-in and built its audience from beginning to end. The July 30th penultimate installment of "Mole II" saw its audience increase by nearly 1 million viewers (8.2 million vs. 7.3 million) and by 17% among Adults 18-49 (3.5/10 vs. 3.0/10) from its lead-in. Competing head-to-head with Fox's "American Idol", "Mole II" still posted its best build yet from its first half-hour to its second half-hour. The show climbed 10% in Total Viewers (7.8 million to 8.6 million) and 12% among Adults 18-49 (3.3/10 to 3.7/10) from start to finish.
On average "Mole II" has increased ABC's delivery in the hour by 6% among Adults 18-34 (3.3/10 vs. 3.1/10) and by 33% among Teens 12-17 (2.4/9 vs. 1.8/7), versus the Network's performance in the hour last summer. The whodunit series has also produced sizeable gains among young men in the hour. As compared to last summer, ABC is up 27% among Men 18-34 (2.8/10 vs. 2.2/8) and 4% among Men 18-49 (2.7/8 vs. 2.6/8).
The episode's 8.2 million viewers placed the show 25th in the 7/29/02-08/04/02 weekly rankings, just below CBS' 24th ranked "60 Minutes II" and just before NBC's 26th ranked "West Wing" repeat. "The Mole II" was ABC's top ranked non-news magazine program of the rank, trailing only ABC's "Primetime Thursday" (14th) and "20/20 Friday" (21st.)