Quick Take for Thursday, March 4, 2010 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

Surging from its Lead-in by 6.8 Million Viewers and by 233% in Adults 18-49, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" Posts Solid Gains Over its Most Recent Original Airing

"Private Practice" is Once Again the Top Scripted Show in its Slot with Adults 18-34, Beating "Mentalist," while Winning the Hour Over "Marriage Ref" in Key Women

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

Surging from its lead-in by 6.8 million viewers (11.8 million vs. 5.0 million) and by 233% in Adults 18-49 (4.0/11 vs. 1.2/3) against NBC's highly-promoted 1-hour episode of "The Office" (the birth of Pam and Jim's baby), ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" earned second place in the 9 o'clock hour on both measures. Despite each network's decided Adult 18-49 lead-in advantage coming into the hour from "Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains" and "American Idol," respectively, "Grey's" (4.0/11) topped CBS' "CSI" by 8% (3.7/10) and Fox's "Kitchen Nightmares" by 21% (3.3/9). The ABC drama ranked No. 1 in its time period across all key Women: W18-34 (5.6/15), W18-49 (5.9/15) and W25-54 (6.4/15).

� "Grey's" was up solidly from its most recent original telecast 2 weeks ago, gaining 1.5 million viewers and 8% in Adults 18-49 (10.3 million and 3.7/10 on 2/18/10).

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

Opposite NBC's time-slot premiere of "Marriage Ref," which was heavily promoted throughout the Olympics and debuted on Sunday coming out of the Closing Ceremonies, ABC's "Private Practice" topped its drama competition in the hour by 33% in Adults 18-34 (2.4/8 vs. 1.8/6 � CBS' "The Mentalist"). In fact it was the 15th consecutive original telecast this season for "Private Practice" to register as the No. 1 scripted show in its slot in Adults 18-34. "Private Practice" won the hour over "Marriage Ref" among key Women, beating the NBC unscripted show by 21% in Women 18-34 (4.0/12 vs. 3.3/10) and by 13% in Women 18-49 (4.3/11 vs. 3.8/10).

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 36% currently, from 30% at the same point in 2009. 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: The Nielsen Company (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 3/4/10.