ABC won Thursday in Adults 18-34 by a margin of +22% over its nearest competition (2.8/9 vs. 2.3/7 – CBS and NBC tied), qualifying as the highest-rated non-sports net on the evening for the 7th week in a row. The Net also finished No. 1 overall with key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49) for the 7th week running this season.
• Growing its viewer (8.8 million) and young adult numbers (3.1/9) for the 2nd week in a row, ABC marked its strongest performance on the night since season-premiere Thursday 6 weeks ago (on 9/23/10).
“Grey’s Anatomy” (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Launching over its lead-in (+166% in Viewers/+258% in Adults 18-49), ABC self-starter “Grey’s Anatomy” soared to the top of Thursday’s 9 o’clock hour in Adults 18-49, standing as the No. 1 series in the slot for the 7th week in a row. Taking full control of its time period, “Grey’s” (4.3/11) topped second-place CBS’ “CSI” by 30% (3.3/9), third-place NBC’s comedies (“The Office”/”Outsourced”) by +34% (3.2/9) and fourth-place Fox’s “Fringe” by +139% (1.8/5).
• Jumping week to week by nearly 1 million viewers (11.7 million vs. 10.8 million) and by 10% in Adults 18-49 (4.3/11 vs. 3.9/10), “Grey’s Anatomy” posted its best results in 3 weeks – since 10/14/10
“Private Practice” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Showing impressive lead-in retention in the 10 o’clock hour (91%), ABC’s “Private Practice” (3.9/11) posted a dominant first-place finish in Adults 18-49, beating out CBS’ “The Mentalist” by a best-ever +34% (2.9/8) and NBC’s “The Apprentice” by +179% (1.4/4). The ABC medical drama also dominated the hour with Adults 18-34, registering as the No. 1 scripted show in the slot for the 7th straight week. The episode gained critical appraise for its handling of a character’s sexual assault.
• In Total Viewers (87%) and Adults 18-49 (91%), “Private Practice” exhibited its best-ever non-crossover retention of an original “Grey’s” lead-in. In addition, “Private Practice” retained 100% of its Women 18-49 lead-in and actually built with Women 25-54.
(source: ABC)
