Quick Take for Thursday, April 28, 2011 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Turns in its Strongest Thursday in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 in 4 Weeks

ABC's Special "20/20 - The Royal Wedding: A Modern Fairytale" Draws Net's Largest Audience in the 8 O'clock Time Period in 5 Weeks

ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" Takes Second at 9pm in Adults 18-49, Beating Fox's "Idol"-fueled "Bones" by 25% and CBS's Original "C.S.I." by 52%

ABC's "Private Practice" Top's NBC's Original Comedies at 10pm in Viewers and Young Adults and Ranks as the No. 1 Scripted Show in the Hour in Key Women

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

On the first night of the May 2011 Sweep, ABC drew its largest audience (8.0 million) and best Adults 18-49 performance (2.3/6) on the night in 4 weeks - since 3/31/11. ABC earned second place to an "Idol"-driven Fox on Thursday across all key Women demos: W18-34/W18-49/W25-54.

"20/20 - The Royal Wedding: A Modern Fairytale" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

"A Special Edition of 20/20 - The Royal Wedding: A Modern Fairytale," hosted by Elizabeth Vargas and Chris Cuomo, attracted 6.9 million viewers and a 1.3 rating, 4 share in Adults 18-49, delivering the Net's largest audience in the hour in 5 weeks - since 3/24/11. The ABC newsmagazine more than doubled the performance of NBC's comedies in the hour ("Community"/"The Office") in Total Viewers (6.9 million vs. 3.4 million).

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

ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" finished second in Thursday's 9 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (10.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.5/9), topping Fox's "Idol"-fueled "Bones" by 25% (2.8/7) and CBS' original "C.S.I." by 52% (2.3/6) in the key young adult sales demo. Additionally, "Grey's" won its time period and qualified as the No. 1 scripted series on the night across each of the key Women demos: W18-34/W18-49/W25-54.

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

ABC's "Private Practice" took second in the 10 o'clock hour versus its broadcast competition, topping NBC's original comedies ("Parks and Recreation"/"30 Rock") in both Total Viewers (6.7 million vs. 4.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.2/6 vs. 2.1/5). In addition, for its 18th straight first run telecast, the ABC drama registered as the No. 1 scripted TV show in the 10 o'clock hour with key Women (W18-34/W18-49).

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 40% currently, from 36% at the same point in 2010. 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), 4/28/11.