or


[09/22/06 - 12:00 AM]
Quick Take for Thursday, September 21, 2006 (Fast Affiliate Ratings)

[via press release from ABC]

Quick Take for Thursday, September 21, 2006 (Fast Affiliate Ratings)

Leading the Night by a Wide Margin in Adults 18-49, ABC Delivers its Strongest Season Opening Thursday in at Least 15 Years

In its Third Season Premiere, ABC�s �Grey�s Anatomy� Emerges as Thursday�s No. 1 TV Show, Outpacing CBS� �CSI� by 3 Million Viewers and 45% in Adults 18-49

�Grey�s Anatomy� Soars by 6.1 Million Viewers and 31% in Adults 18-49 from its Year-Ago Opener, with ABC�s Best Numbers in the Time Period Since May 2000

Beating Out CBS� Debut of �Shark� by 38% in Adults 18-49, the Series Debut of ABC�s �Six Degrees� Logs the Net�s Top Number in the Time Slot in 3-1/2 Years

�Six Degrees� Qualifies as ABC�s Strongest Thursday Night Scripted Series Debut Since 1994 in Total Viewers and Since 1991 in Adults 18-49

Thursday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC won the first Thursday of the 2006-07 TV Season by 20% in Adults 18-49 over second-place CBS (7.2/19 vs. 6.0/16). It was the Net's first victory in the key young adult sales demographic on a season opening Thursday since at least 1991 � the start of Nielsen�s electronic database.

� ABC was up by 9.1 million viewers and by 227% in Adults 18-49 from the same night a year ago (8.2 million & 2.2/6 on 9/22/05). In fact ABC delivered its strongest opening Thursday numbers in at least 15 years - since at least 1991.

� In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, ABC marked its best performance on any Thursday night with entertainment programming since May 4, 2000.

�Grey�s Anatomy: Complications of the Heart� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Carrying momentum over from the strong numbers put up by the �Grey's� season finale repeat the previous evening (Wednesday, 9/20/06 from 9:00-11:00 p.m.), the �Grey's Anatomy: Complications of the Heart� clip show put ABC into a solid second-place during the opening hour on Thursday in Total Viewers (13.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.8/13). The �Grey�s� clip show ranked No. 1 in the hour among Women 18-34, beating CBS� �Survivor� by 19% (6.3/18 vs. 5.3/15).

� Warming up the time period for ABC, as the Network prepares for the debut of �Ugly Betty� in the hour in a week (on 9/28/06), the special generated ABC's best viewer and young adult numbers in that hour in 6 months � since 3/16/06.

�Grey�s Anatomy� (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

Thursday�s No. 1 TV program, ABC's season premiere of �Grey's Anatomy� dominated its new time period, beating CBS' �C.S.I.� by 3.1 million viewers (25.1 million vs. 22.0 million) and by 45% in Adults 18-49 (10.9/26 vs. 7.5/18). �Grey's� advantage over �C.S.I.� in Adults 18-34 stood at an enormous 91% (10.5/28 vs. 5.5/15). �Grey's Anatomy� became the first non-finale of any series to beat an original �C.S.I.� in 2-1/2 years among Adults 18-49 - since 4/1/04. Furthermore, it�s the first scripted non-finale series ever to draw a larger audience than �C.S.I.� in original Thursday head-to-head competition.

� In its third premiere, �Grey's Anatomy� offered ABC its best numbers in the time period with series programming since May 2000 - since 5/25/00 in Total Viewers and 5/4/00 in Adults 18-49.

� Versus its season premiere last year which came out of �Desperate Housewives,� �Grey's� was up by 6.1 million viewers and 31% in Adults 18-49 (19.0 million & 8.3/20 on 9/25/05). It was the third-highest-rated telecast ever for the series, behind only Parts 1 & 2 of its post-Super Bowl episode.

�Six Degrees� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

Up against CBS' well promoted series debut of �Shark� and NBC's season opener for time period veteran �ER,� the series debut of �Six Degrees� delivered ABC's best non-sports performance in the hour in 3-1/2 years in both Total Viewers (13.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (5.8/15) - since 2/6/03. ABC's debut telecast of �Six Degrees� beat CBS' debut of �Shark� by a strong 38% in Adults 18-49 (5.8/15 vs. 4.2/11).

� Versus the same night last year, ABC's numbers catapulted in the hour by 5.7 million viewers and by 123% in Adults 18-49 (7.6 million viewers and 2.6/7 in AD18-49).

� �Six Degrees� represents ABC's strongest Thursday night scripted series debut in Total Viewers since 1994 and top-rated among Adults 18-49 since 1991.

� The retention of �Six Degrees� coming out of �Grey's� in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 (53% in Total Viewers/53% in Adults 18-49) was nearly identical to the retention that CBS saw in the same time period with the series debut of �Without a Trace� (53% in Total Viewers/50% in Adults 18-49 on 9/26/02). �Without a Trace� went on to become a key program for CBS, now entering it fifth season and currently being used by CBS to build up Sunday night.

Source: Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate Ratings, Live+SD), 9/21/06





  [september 2006]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
     


· CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (CBS)
· DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
· ER (NBC)
· GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC)
· SHARK (CBS)
· SIX DEGREES (ABC)
· SURVIVOR (CBS)
· UGLY BETTY (ABC)
· WITHOUT A TRACE (CBS)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[11/10/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of November 2 - "A Dog's Perfect Christmas" Unwraps the No. 1 Spot in This Week's Top 10
"Taken: Natalee Holloway" premiered in the No. 1 spot of the English TV list, gathering 12.9 million views.

[11/09/26 - 10:58 AM]
76ers-Pistons November 4 Matchup Delivered 2M Viewers on ESPN, Up 47 Percent from Last Year
The audience peaked with 2.6M viewers during the 9:45 p.m. ET quarter hour.

[11/06/26 - 11:40 AM]
Romantic Epic "The Remarried Empress" Becomes The Most Viewed Local Original Premiere of All Time on Disney+ Globally
It currently ranks as the number one Korean title premiere in over 50 global markets including the US, the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Mexico, Chile, ANZ and Canada.

[11/06/26 - 10:56 AM]
ABC News Wins Across Sunday Morning, Friday Night and Late-Night
"20/20: Justice for Faith" ranked as Friday's No. 1 newsmagazine in Adults 25-54 (437,000) and Adults 18-49 (341,000) on October 30.

[11/05/26 - 09:30 AM]
"Yaga" Is the #1 Exclusive Series Launch in the History of AMC+
The series also charted as the #1 social drama across all U.S. TV and streaming on its premiere day.

[11/04/26 - 03:37 PM]
Bears-Seahawks Draws 16.4M Viewers, Becomes Most-Watched ESPN-Only "Monday Night Football" Game Since 2019
Bears-Seahawks is also "Monday Night Football's" third most-watched Week 8 game of the ESPN era (2006-present).

[11/04/26 - 12:31 PM]
"Saturday Night Live" Hits Season High with Host Inde Navarrette and Musical Guest Gracie Abrams
It was also the top Peacock performance of the season and best since March 14, 2026, with host and musical guest Harry Styles.

[11/04/26 - 11:01 AM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of October 26
"The Terminal List," "Carrie," "Reacher," "Neagley," and "Helluva Boss" led all original series worldwide.

[11/03/26 - 03:01 PM]
USA Sports Delivers Most-Watched WNBA Playoff Game Ever; 3.3 Million Viewers Watch Valkyries Win Title in First-Ever Game 7
Viewership was up 128% vs. the 2025 WNBA Finals deciding game (LV-PHX Game 4).

[11/03/26 - 02:42 PM]
"College GameDay" Continues Historic Run Over Halloween at IU, ABC Takes Top Spot and Delivers Three of Top Five Most-Watched Games
ESPN topped all networks in Week 9, with ABC delivering three of the week's five most-watched games and winning the noon and afternoon windows.

[11/03/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of October 26 - "Lupin" Part 4 Captures the No. 1 Spot in This Week's Top 10
"The One About Matthew Perry" debuted in the No. 1 spot on the English TV list, gathering 9.5 million views.

[11/03/26 - 11:01 AM]
CBS Up +12% from Its Week #2 Last Year - Network Places 14 of the Top 20 Series; Top Two Comedies; Top Three New Series
CBS episodes topped the Nielsen live plus 7-days of multiplatform viewership for the week of October 12-18.

[10/31/26 - 10:48 AM]
USA Sports Delivers 1.5 Million Viewers for Valkyries-Dream Game 6 Thursday Matinee
USA Sports' Game 6 coverage delivered the fifth most-watched WNBA Finals game on cable on record.

[10/30/26 - 08:57 AM]
ABC News Wins Across Friday Night, Sunday Morning and Late-Night
"20/20: Help Dale Find Dee" ranked as Friday's No. 1 newsmagazine in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49.

[10/29/26 - 03:25 PM]
Champions at Last: 14.2 Million Viewers Projected for FOX Sports' Coverage of Milwaukee Brewers World Series Clinch
13,476,000 viewers tuned in for World Series Game 4 presented by Capital One across FOX and FOX Deportes.