Quick Take for Thursday, January 22, 2009 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Wins Thursday in Adults 18-49, Beating its Competitors by Wide Margins

The Net Marks its Strongest Thursday Since Early December in Viewers and Young Adults, While Scoring a Best-Since Premiere Number with Women 18-34

One Week After Grissom's Exit from "C.S.I.," ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" Re-Emerges As Thursday's No. 1 TV Show in Adults 18-49, Outdelivering the CBS Drama by 14%

"Ugly Betty" Takes Second in its Hour in Adults 18-49, and Outdraws Its NBC Comedy Competition from 8-9pm by 1.8 Million Viewers

Dominating the 9pm Hour, "Grey's Anatomy" Posts its Highest Young Adult Numbers in 9 Weeks and Achieves its Top Women 18-34 Number Since September

Continuing to Exhibit Improved Audience Retention for ABC, "Private Practice" Wins the 10pm Hour in Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34 and Across the Women Demos

"Private Practice" Achieves Season Highs in Viewers and Young Adults, While Hitting its Best Results in Key Women in Well Over 1 Year, Since November 2007

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

ABC posted a dominant victory on Thursday night in Adults 18-49 (3.9/10), beating second-place CBS by 18% (3.3/9), third-place NBC by 26% (3.1/8) and fourth-place Fox 44% (2.7/7). ABC also registered as Thursday's dominant No. 1 network in Adults 18-34 (3.8/11) and across each of the key Women demographics: W18-34 (6.2/16), W18-49 (5.9/15) and W25-54 (5.9/14).

* ABC attracted its biggest audience (10.5 million) and strongest young adult (AD18-34/AD18-49) numbers on the night in 7 weeks, while posting a best-since-premiere Thursday with Women 18-34 - since 12/4/08 and 9/25/08, respectively.

"Ugly Betty" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

ABC's "Ugly Betty" earned second place in the 8 o'clock hour among Adults 18-49 (2.4/7-tie). In addition, "Betty" outdrew its comedy competition in the hour, NBC's "My Name is Earl"/"Kath & Kim" combo, by 1.8 million viewers (7.5 million vs. 5.7 million).

"Grey's Anatomy" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

Growing week to week and re-emerging as Thursday's No. 1 TV program in Adults 18-49, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" moved well ahead of CBS' "C.S.I," one week after the high-profile exit of Grissom from the show. Head to head, "Grey's" defeated "C.S.I." by 14% in Adults 18-49 (5.6/14 vs. 4.9/12) and by an even more substantial 78% in Adults 18-34 (5.7/15 vs. 3.2/8). It was "Grey's" 6th time in the last 7 original telecasts to rank as Thursday's top entertainment show in Adults 18-49 and the 7th time in as many telecasts in Adults 18-34.

* Growing week to week by 1.2 million viewers (14.3 million vs. 13.1 million) and by 6% in Adults 18-49 (5.6/14 vs. 5.3/12 - its 2nd consecutive week of gains), "Grey's Anatomy" drew its biggest audience since early December and hit its highest young adult (AD18-34/AD18-49) numbers since mid-November - since 12/4/08 and 11/20/08, respectively. The ABC medical drama achieved its 2nd-highest rating this season in Women 18-34 (9.2/22), the show's best number since its season opener in September (9/25/08).

"Private Practice" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

Continuing to exhibit improved lead-in retention for ABC in Thursday's 10 o'clock hour, "Private Practice" won its time slot among Adults 18-49, beating second-place NBC's "ER" by 16% (3.6/10 vs. 3.1/8). In fact it was the 3rd straight week that "Private Practice" defeated the veteran NBC drama in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. In addition, the ABC sophomore drama logged its 3rd week in a row as the No. 1 entertainment program in its slot among Adults 18-34 (3.7/11) and Women 18-34 (6.1/16).

* "Private Practice" hit season highs in Total Viewers (9.6 million), Adults 18-49 (3.6/10) and Adults 18-34 (3.7/11). In addition, Private Practice posted its top ratings with Women 18-49 (5.6/14) and Women 18-34 (6.1/16) since November '07, going back well over 1 year - since 11/14/07.

* Compared to ABC's average with regular original programming in the hour this season coming out of originals of "Grey's Anatomy," "Private Practice" is delivering considerably stronger retention of its lead-in among both Total Viewers (66% vs. 57%) and Adults 18-49 (63% vs. 47%).

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 29% currently, from 22% at the same point in 2008. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.

Source: Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings), 1/22/09.