ABC took second place on the opening night of the May Sweep among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, while dominating Thursday with Women 18-34. In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, ABC marked its 2nd straight week of gains on the night with its strongest Thursday in 5 weeks – since 3/25/10.
On its first original telecast since the beginning of April, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy jumped 153% over its lead-in to win the 9pm hour by strong margins among Adults 18-49. During the 9 o’clock hour, ABC’s Grey’s defeated second-place NBC by 15% (The Office/30 Rock), third-place CBS by 27% (CSI) and fourth-place Fox by 90% (Fringe). Grey’s marked its 18th time in 19 original broadcasts this season to qualify as Thursday’s #1 scripted series with Adults 18-49. Grey’s posted its highest Adult 18-49 rating nearly 2 months – since 3/11/10.
ABC’s Private Practice ran a strong second to CBS’ The Mentalist in 10 o’clock hour among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 (tied for #1 in audience share), beating out NBC’s Marriage Ref by a best-ever 3.4 million viewers and by 50%, respectively. The ABC sophomore drama dominated the hour over its CBS drama competition with Adults 18-34, beating The Mentalist by 56%. In fact it was the 19th consecutive original telecast this season for Private Practice to register as the #1 scripted show in its slot among Adults 18-34, as well as key Women (W18-34/W18-49). Private Practice delivered its top Adult 18-49 rating since early February – since 2/11/10.
(source: ABC)
