Quick Take for Thursday, February 12, 2009 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Dominates Thursday in Young Adults, Registering its Highest Ratings on the Night Since Season-Premiere Thursday in September

In a Highly Successful Crossover Event Between the Programs, ABC's "Grey's" and "Private Practice" Stand as Thursday's Top 2 TV Shows in Young Adults

"Ugly Betty" Wins 8pm in Women 18-34, Beating CBS' "Survivor" Premiere by 13%, And is the No. 1 Series in its Slot for the 13th Time in its 14 Originals This Season

ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" Stands As Thursday's No. 1 TV Show in Young Adults, Outdelivering CBS' "C.S.I." by 20% Among Adults 18-49

"Private Practice" Beats the Combined Performances of CBS' "Eleventh Hour" and NBC's "ER" by 9% in Adults 18-49 and by 60% in Adults 18-34

Logging the Best-Ever Retention for Any Show to Follow "Grey's Anatomy," "Private Practice" Posts Series Highs in Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34

In Viewers and Young Adults, "Private Practice" Generates ABC's Best Numbers With Regularly Scheduled Series Programming in the Time Slot in Nearly 2 Years

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

ABC turned in a dominant first-place performance on Thursday evening, winning the night in both Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34 for the 2nd week in a row. ABC outperformed the second-place networks by 15% in Adults 18-49 (4.6/12 vs. 4.0/11 - CBS) and by 53% in Adults 18-34 (4.6/14 vs. 3.0/9 - NBC).

� Across the key Adults demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54), the Net posted its highest ratings on the night for the 2nd week running since season-premiere Thursday in September � since 9/25/08.

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

ABC's "Ugly Betty" earned second place in the 8 o'clock hour among Total Viewers (7.4 million), topping NBC's original comedies (5.9 million) by 1.5 million. "Betty" ranked a definitive No. 1 among its core audience of Women 18-34, leading the second-ranked season premiere of CBS' "Survivor: Tocantins" by 13% (3.4/10 vs. 3.0/9). In fact the show hit its best Women 18-34 number in 10 weeks (12/4/08), and represented the 13th time in its 14 original telecasts this season as the No. 1 series in the time period with young women.

"Grey's Anatomy" (9:00-10:00 p.m.) Growing from its previous original airing for the 3rd consecutive telecast, Thursday's No. 1 TV program in Adults 18-49, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," defeated CBS' "C.S.I." by 20% in Adults 18-49 (5.9/14 vs. 4.9/12). "Grey's" towered over the CBS drama by an even more dominant 103% in Adults 18-34 (5.9/16 vs. 2.9/8). It was "Grey's" 9th time in the last 10 original telecasts to rank as Thursday's No. 1 entertainment show in Adults 18-49 and the 9th time in as many telecasts in Adults 18-34.

� "Grey's" marked its highest Adult 18-49 and Adults 18-34 ratings in 12 weeks � since 11/20/08.

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

The No. 2 TV show of the night to "Grey's" in the young adult sales demographic, "Private Practice" dominated the 10 o'clock hour, beating the combined performance of its original drama competition (CBS' "Eleventh Hour" and NBC's "ER") by 9% in Adults 18-49 (5.8/15 vs. 5.3/14) and by an even more impressive 60% in Adults 18-34 (5.6/16 vs. 3.510).

� "Private Practice" registered series' highs in Adults 18-49 (5.8/15) and Adults 18-34 (5.6/16) for the 2nd week running, while drawing the series' second-largest-ever Total Viewer audience (14.2 million).

� "Private Practice" produced the best-ever retention for any series telecast to ever follow "Grey's Anatomy," retaining 94% in Viewers, 98% in Adults 18-49 and 95% in Adults 18-34.

� In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, "Private Practice" generated ABC's top numbers with regularly scheduled series programming in the time period in close to 2 years � since 2/22/07.

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 30% currently, from 23% 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), 2/12/09.