“48 HOURS” POSTS ITS BEST AUDIENCE DELIVERY SINCE MAY 5, 2012

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48 HOURS: “Gone” was Saturday’s #1 program with viewers, adults 25-54 and adults 18-49 (tie with NBC and ESPN), and posted the broadcast’s best audience delivery since May 5, 2012, according to Nielsen live plus same day ratings for Feb. 7.

At 10:00 PM, 48 HOURS was watched by 6.64 million viewers and delivered a 1.6/05 in adults 25-54 and a 1.1/04 with adults 18-49. Compared to the previous week, 48 HOURS added +1.05 million viewers and was up +38% in adults 18-49 (from 0.8/03) and 23% in adults 25-54 (from 1.3/04), the demographic that matters most to those who advertise in news. 48 HOURS posted its best delivery in adults 25-54 and 18-49 ratings since Nov. 2, 2013. 

Saturday’s broadcast featured Tracy Smith and 48 HOURS’ report on the death of Michelle Warner in 2012 and the strange path her killer took to admitting he had a hand in her demise.

Warner suddenly vanished from the Houston home she shared with Mark Castellano, her ex-boyfriend and the father of her young son. Claiming to be desperate to find Warner, Castellano agreed to be interviewed by Dr. Phil McGraw for his top-rated daytime show, where he maintained he had no idea where she had gone and that he had nothing to do with her disappearance. McGraw didn’t believe Castellano’s story at all, and pressured him about the events of Warner’s disappearance. After Castellano’s interview with McGraw he finally admitted to police he killed Michelle and deposited her body in a field 500 miles away. Castellano called McGraw’s team to tell them about his confession to police, which was featured in “The Dr. Phil Show” broadcast about Michelle’s disappearance.

48 HOURS: “Gone” is produced by Chuck Stevenson, Lucy Scott and Cindy Cesare. Asena Basak is the field producer. George Baluzy, Ken Blum, Marlon Disla, Alan Miller, Mike Mongulla and Gary Winter are the editors. Anthony Batson is the senior broadcast producer. Susan Zirinsky is the senior executive producer.

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Press Contact:  Richard Huff      212-975-3328    huffr@cbsnews.com