ABC's "Private Practice" Draws its Biggest Audience Since March

Some early info on ABC's Thursday, ahead of the regular press release.

Opposite an Idol-led Fox, ABC finished second on Thursday night across all key Women demographics (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

· ABC grew its overall Thursday audience week to week.

Surging over the prior week in the 8 o'clock hour opposite Idol and CBS' original comedies (The Big Bang Theory/Rules of Engagement), ABC's Wipeout defeated NBC's comedies (Community/The Office-R) by wide margins in Total Viewers (+2.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (+31%). The broad-appealing unscripted series made ABC the #2 broadcaster in its slot to Fox among Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11.

· Wipeout saw its numbers jump week to week in Total Viewers (+15%), Adults 18-49 (+21%) and Adults 18-34 (+50%). In fact the show drew its biggest audience and top Adult 18-49 number in 1 month, while hitting its highest Adult 18-34 rating since February - since 4/14/11 and 2/24/11, respectively.

· Despite going up against American Idol in the hour this year, Wipeout was up a sharp 31% in Adults 18-49 over original drama programming on the same night last year (FlashForward on 5/13/10). On average this season, Wipeout is generating sizeable year-over-year improvement for ABC against Idol, growing the hour by 18% in Total Viewers, by 20% in Adults 18-49 and by 460% in Kids 2-11.

ABC's Grey's Anatomy earned second place during the 9 o'clock hour in Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34, while ranking #1 in the slot among Adults 25-54 and across the Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). In addition, the ABC drama stood as Thursday's #1 scripted series with key Women (W18-49/W25-54).

In the 10pm hour, ABC's Private Practice finished second in viewers and young adults, while delivering the #1 position across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). In fact it was the ABC drama's 20th consecutive first-run telecast to register as the #1 scripted TV show in the hour with key Women (W18-34/W18-49).

· Building its audience for the for the 2nd week in a row, ABC's Private Practice marked its most-watched telecast since March - since 3/31/11.