ABC's Debut of "Scandal" Scores Best Retention of "Grey's" Audience in Over 3 Years

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

Please Note: Heading into the Easter/Passover holiday weekend, overall Adult 18-49 TV Usage dropped -5% week to week on Thursday night.

Showing an impressive retention of its Grey's lead-in during the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's debut of Scandal more than doubled its freshman drama competition in the hour, leading NBC's Awake by 196% in Total Viewers and by 133% in Adults 18-49. In addition, the new drama won the hour with Women 18-49, beating out CBS' time-period veteran The Mentalist by 11%.

· Building 12% over ABC's February Sweep average in the hour, Scandal drew a 13-week high for ABC in the hour with Total Viewers - since 1/5/12.

· Scandal produced ABC's strongest Total Viewer retention (91%) in the hour coming out of an original Grey's Anatomy in over 3 years (since 2/12/09). In fact, it was ABC's best-ever viewer retention in the hour for a non-crossover episode with Grey's.

Quick Take for Thursday, April 5, 2012 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

From 8-9pm, ABC's "Missing" Beats NBC's Comedies in Viewers and Young Adults

Doubling its Adult 18-49 Lead-in, "Grey's" Finishes in a Near Tie for No. 1 in its Hour

Dominating its Freshman Drama Competition in the 10pm Hour, ABC's Debut of "Scandal" Scores the Best Viewer Retention of "Grey's" in More Than 3 Years

Please Note: Heading into the Easter/Passover holiday weekend, overall Adult 18-49 TV Usage dropped -5% week to week on Thursday night (33.4% vs. 35.1%).

"Missing" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

From 8:00-9:00 p.m., up against Fox's "American Idol" and CBS' first-run comedies ("The Big Bang Theory"/"Rules of Engagement"), ABC's "Missing" (7.2 million and 1.4/5) more than doubled the audience (+140%) of NBC's original comedy block and led by 8% in Adults 18-49 ("Community"/"30 Rock" = 3.0 million and 1.3/4).

· Despite facing depressed holiday viewing levels in the hour, "Missing" retained 100% of its week-ago audience with Adults 18-34, Women 18-34 and key Men (M18-34/M18-49)

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

Doubling its Adult 18-49 lead-in at 9:00 p.m., ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" finished in a virtual tie for the lead in the hour with CBS' "Person of Interest" (2.8/8 vs. 2.9/8 - pacing within 1-tenth of a rating point and tied in audience share), while beating Fox's "Idol"-driven "Touch" by 22% (2.3/7). In addition, "Grey's" stood as Thursday's No. 1 TV show in Women 18-34.

"Scandal" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

Showing impressive retention of its "Grey's" lead-in during the 10 o'clock hour, ABC's debut of "Scandal" more than doubled its freshman drama competition, defeating NBC's "Awake" by 196% in Total Viewers (7.4 million vs. 2.5 million) and by 133% in Adults 18-49 (2.1/6 vs. 0.9/3). In addition, the new drama won the hour with Women 18-49, beating out CBS' time-period veteran "The Mentalist" by 11% (3.0/8 vs. 2.7/7). And among Women 18-34, "Scandal" outdelivered "The Mentalist" by an even wider margin of 36% (1.9/6 vs. 1.4/5).

· Building 12% over ABC's February Sweep average in the hour (7.4 million vs. 6.6 million), "Scandal" marked a 13-week high for ABC in the time period with Total Viewers - since 1/5/12.

· "Scandal" produced ABC's strongest Total Viewer retention (91%) in the hour coming out of an original "Grey's Anatomy" in over 3 years (since 2/12/09). In fact, it was ABC's best-ever viewer retention in the hour for a non-crossover episode with "Grey's."

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 43% currently, from 40% at the same point in 2011. 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), 04/05/12.