ABC has announced that the next to last episode of it's second edition of "The Bachelor" (entitled "The Bachelor: The Women Tell All") drew an average audience of 16.8 million viewers, allowing ABC to beat NBC's "West Wing" in the hour among Total Viewers for the second consecutive week.

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This qualifies as the first time in 3 years that ABC has drawn a larger audience in the hour than NBC with an original "West Wing" for 2 or more weeks in a row - since 11/17-11/24/99. ABC led the hour by 51% in Adults 18-49 (7.7/19 vs. 5.1/12 - NBC), giving the Network its largest winning advantage in the hour in more than 2-1/2 years - since 5/17/00.

With "The Bachelor: The Women Tell All," ABC claimed the No. 1 program on Wednesday night among Adults 18-49 for the second week in a row. The ABC reality show notched its seventh consecutive week as the No. 1 Wednesday program in Adults 18-34 (7.9/21).

Versus the same special last season (4/25/02), "The Bachelor: The Women Tell All" posted enormous increases, growing by 6 million viewers (16.8 million vs. 10.8 million) and by 108% among Adults 18-49 (7.7/19 vs. 3.7/9). Yje episode attracted ABC's largest series audience in the hour since January with the "American Music Awards" (1/9/02). The special produced ABC's highest ratings in the hour in over 2-1/2 years among Women 18-34 (11.7/29) and Women 18-49 (11.0/25) - since 5/24/00.