Quick Take for Thursday, April 30, 2009 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

Growing Week to Week in Viewers and Young Adults, ABC Wins Its 2nd Straight Thursday of the May Sweep Among Adults 18-49

Improving the Hour for ABC on its Return, ABC's "Ugly Betty" Tops its NBC Comedy Competition from 8-9pm and Ranks No. 1 in the Slot in Women 18-34

Thursday's No. 1 TV Show in Adults 18-49 for the 2nd Straight Week, "Grey's Anatomy" Widens its Advantage, Beating CBS' "CSI" by a Best-of-Season 39%

Once Again Dominating the 10pm Hour in Adults 18-49, the Season Finale of "Private Practice" Generates the Series' Strongest Performance in 5 Weeks

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

Growing week to week, ABC won its 2nd straight Thursday of the 2009 May Sweep among Adults 18-49 (3.5/10) and Adults 18-34 (3.2/10), beating its nearest competitors by 9% (CBS = 3.2/9) and 28% (NBC = 2.5/8), respectively.

� Posting its 2nd consecutive week of gains, ABC turned in its top Thursday since March among Total Viewers (10.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.5/10) � since 3/26/09.

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

Improving the hour for ABC on its return to the time period, ABC's "Ugly Betty" outdrew its NBC comedy competition in the 8 o'clock hour ("My Name is Earl"/"Parks and Recreation") by 1.5 million viewers (6.8 million vs. 5.3 million). "Betty" finished No. 1 in the slot with Women 18-34 (2.6/8).

� On its return, "Ugly Betty" generated ABC's biggest audience (6.8 million) in the time period in 6 weeks and its top Adult 18-49 number (2.0/6) in 5 weeks � since 3/19/09 and 3/26/09, respectively.

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

Thursday's No. 1 TV show in Adults 18-49 (5.0/13) for the 2nd week in a row, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" took full control of the 9 o'clock hour, beating its competition by even bigger margins week to week. The ABC medical drama widened its winning advantage over CBS' "CSI" to a best-of-season 39% (3.6/9), beat NBC's original comedies ("The Office"/"30 Rock") by a margin of 52% (3.3/9) and topped Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" by 79% (2.8/7). In fact it was "Grey's" 15th time in its past 16 original telecasts to stand as Thursday's No. 1 regular entertainment show in Adults 18-49, including a streak of 9 straight original airings.

� Building week to week, "Grey's" drew its biggest audience (13.9 million) since March � since 3/26/09.

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

Dominating the 10 o'clock hour for the 2nd week in a row in Adults 18-49, the season finale of ABC's "Private Practice" (3.5/10) outpaced runner-up CBS' "Criminal Minds" replay by 46% (2.4/7) and NBC's fading third-place "Southland" by 67% (2.1/6). On its sophomore season closer, "Private Practice" finished as the No. 1 entertainment TV show in the hour in Adults 18-49 for the 7th time in its last 8 originals, while registering as the top entertainment broadcast with Adults 18-34 on all 12 original airings in its Thursday time period this season.

� Increasing over the prior week in Total Viewers (+8% - 9.8 million vs. 9.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (+6% - 3.5/10 vs. 3.3/9), "Private Practice" marked its best results in 5 weeks � since 3/26/09.

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 31% currently, from 24% 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), 4/30/09.