The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman's two-hour season finale on ABC last Monday night was the most-watched telecast of the reality dating series in three years, winning its time period in both total viewers and the Adults 18-49 demographic.
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The season finale of The Bachelor's tenth edition -- which saw U.S. Navy Lieutenant Andy Baldwin award his final rose and propose marriage to 26-year-old San Francisco social worker Tessa Horst -- was watched by an average of 12.7 total viewers and achieved a 2.8/12 ratings/share, making it the No. 1 show in its 9PM to 11PM time period. It was also the most-watched episode of The Bachelor franchise since the May 19, 2004 fifth-season finale that saw recently retired professional football player Jesse Palmer select Jessica Bowlin.
The night following Officer and a Gentleman's season finale, ABC also aired a The Bachelor: After the Final Rose special -- a move that marked the first time since the Spring 2005 broadcast of The Bachelorette's third season that a The Bachelor or The Bachelorette edition concluded with the broadcast of an After the Final Rose special.
While Officer and a Gentleman's After the Final Rose special aired against American Idol's sixth-season final performance show on Fox, it was still able to post a 2.7/8-tie rating share among Adults 18-49 as well as a 2.1/7 rating/share among Adults 18-34, giving ABC its highest ratings in the Tuesday 8PM to 9PM time period since last December.
With Officer and a Gentleman's After the Final Rose special serving as a lead-in for Dancing with the Stars' special two-hour fourth-season finale, ABC was actually able to outdraw Fox and finish first among average viewers during the final Tuesday night of the May sweeps ratings period. Fox aired the one-hour debut of On the Lot after Idol's final sixth-season performance episode, and although Idol performed well, the two shows combined for an average of 16.8 million total viewers -- a mark that fell well short of the 18 million total viewers that ABC's After the Final Rose special and Dancing with the Stars finale averaged on the night.
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In doing so, ABC became the first network ever to average more viewers than Fox during a Tuesday night Idol broadcast since the megahit show first became part of Fox's regular season schedule in 2003.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio