or


[03/22/13 - 08:53 AM]
"Scandal" Returns with Biggest Audience Ever
ABC spins the numbers for Thursday, March 21.

[via press release from ABC]

Wife Swap Opens Strong/Grey's is Thursday's #1 Show/Scandal Returns with Biggest Audience Ever

With the season opener of Wife Swap, Grey's and the return of Scandal (first original since 2/21), ABC ranked #1 on Thursday in Adults 18-49 (tying Fox with American Idol and Glee). Among Adults 18-49, ABC tied its top-rated Thursday with series programming in nearly 6 months - since 10/4/12.

Up sharply over its last season premiere (on 4/2/10) in Total Viewers (+43%) and Adults 18-49 (+42%), ABC's Wife Swap opener topped all of the telecasts in its previous season to earn its best numbers since April 2009 - since 4/17/09. Wife Swap delivered ABC's highest rating in the time period with series programming in 5 months - since 10/18/12. From start to finish the ABC unscripted show gained 8% in viewers and 20% in young adults, despite facing Idol in the hour.

Shooting up from its lead-in at 9pm (+71%), ABC's Grey's Anatomy emerged as Thursday's #1 TV show in Adults 18-49, topping Idol on the night for the first time ever. Grey's won the 9 o'clock hour in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. Gaining week to week in viewers (+11%) and young adults (+12%), Grey's delivered its most-watched telecast in 10 weeks - since 1/10/13.

On its return, ABC's Scandal won the 10 o'clock hour in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. In fact Scandal has been the #1 show in the hour in Adults 18-49 on 7 of its last 8 original telecasts. Scandal ranked as the #1 broadcast program in prime time with 191k tweets, topping American Idol by 68% (113k). Delivering its best-ever retention of Grey's in Total Viewers (95%), Scandal marked the series most-watched telecast ever.

Quick Take for Thursday, March 21, 2013 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC is No. 1 on Thursday in Adults 18-49 with its Best Number Since October

Up from its Last Premiere and Topping All of its Previous Season's Telecasts, "Wife Swap" Opens with ABC's Best Series Adult 18-49 Rating in the Hour in 5 Months

Beating "Idol" for the First Time Ever on the Night, "Grey's Anatomy" is Up 12% in Adults 18-49 to Rank as Thursday's No. 1 TV Show with its Top Audience in 10 Weeks

On its First Original in 1 Month, "Scandal" Returns with its Biggest Audience Ever

ABC's "Scandal" is Thursday's Most-Social Broadcast Series, Beating "Idol" by 68%

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

With the season opener of "Wife Swap," "Grey's" and the return of "Scandal" (first original since 2/21), ABC ranked No. 1 on Thursday in Adults 18-49 (2.4/7 - tying Fox with "American Idol" and "Glee").

· Among Adults 18-49, ABC tied its top-rated Thursday with series programming since October 4, 2012.

"Wife Swap" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Up sharply over its last season premiere (on 4/2/10) in Total Viewers (+43% - 5.0 million vs. 3.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (+42% - 1.7/5 vs. 1.2/5), ABC's "Wife Swap" opener topped all of the telecasts in its previous season to earn its best numbers since April 2009 - since 4/17/09. From start to finish the ABC unscripted show gained 8% in viewers and 20% in young adults, despite facing "Idol" in the hour.

· "Wife Swap" delivered ABC's highest Adult 18-49 rating in the time period with series programming in 5 months - since 10/18/12.

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

Shooting up from its lead-in at 9:00 p.m. (+71%), ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" emerged as Thursday's No. 1 TV show in Adults 18-49, topping "Idol" on the night for the first time ever (2.9/8 vs. 2.8/9). "Grey's" won the 9 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (9.1 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.9/8).

· Gaining week to week in viewers (+11%) and young adults (+12%), "Grey's" delivered its most-watched telecast in 10 weeks - since 1/10/13.

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

On its return, ABC's "Scandal" won the 10 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (8.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.7/8). In fact "Scandal" has been the No. 1 show in the hour in Adults 18-49 on 7 of its last 8 original telecasts. In addition, "Scandal" nearly tied "Idol" on the night in Adults 18-49 and beat the Fox show with Adults 18-34.

· "Scandal" ranked as the No. 1 broadcast program in primetime with 191k tweets, topping "American Idol" by 68% (113k).

· Delivering its best-ever retention of "Grey's" in Total Viewers (95%), "Scandal" marked the series most-watched telecast ever (8.6 million).

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 47% currently, from 43% at the same point in 2012.

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, 03/21/13.





  [march 2013]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
     


· AMERICAN IDOL (ABC)
· GLEE (FOX)
· GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC)
· SCANDAL (ABC)
· WIFE SWAP (PARAMOUNT)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[07/29/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of July 21: "Happy Gilmore 2" Finds Its Happy Place at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Mystery thriller "Untamed" spent another week at No. 1 on the English TV List.

[07/29/25 - 11:46 AM]
ABC Airs Another of Its Most-Watched WNBA Games Ever: Indiana Fever vs Chicago Sky Averaged 1.5 Million Viewers, Up 17% from Last Year's ABC Average
Said audience peaked with 1.7 million viewers.

[07/28/25 - 12:03 PM]
"The Summer I Turned Pretty" Season 3 Draws 25 Million Viewers in Its First 7 Days and Reaches #1 in Over 120 Countries
The show of summer is "Summer."

[07/25/25 - 02:51 PM]
ABC Summer Game Shows "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and "Match Game" Return for New Seasons with Multi-Year Highs
"Millionaire" returned for a new season as the No. 1 telecast of the night among Total Viewers (4.24 million), earning its most-watched telecast in over four years.

[07/25/25 - 08:59 AM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Grows for the Second Week in a Row in Total Viewers and Households
On Tuesday (7/8/25), featuring Jensen Ackles, "Live with Kelly and Mark" turned in its most-watched telecast (2.285 million) in nearly two months.

[07/22/25 - 03:03 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Adults 18-49, Leading CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" in the Demo for the 6th Consecutive Week
"Nightline" posted week-to-week increases in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, hitting a 4-week high in the key Adult news demo.

[07/22/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of July 14: "Untamed" Hunts and "KPop Demon Hunters" Slay in This Week's Top 10
True crime lovers also made their voices heard - documentary series "Amy Bradley Is Missing" appeared at No. 2 on the English TV list, with 12.2 million views.

[07/22/25 - 10:30 AM]
2025 NBA Las Vegas Summer League Viewership Up Double Digits
Said telecasts averaged an audience of 255,000 viewers, up 27% from last year.

[07/22/25 - 08:04 AM]
ESPN, ABC and Disney+ Score Historic Viewership for 2025 WNBA All-Star Events
The Skills Challenge & 3-Point Contest and the WNBA All-Star Game averaged 1.3 million viewers and 2.2 million viewers, respectively.

[07/21/25 - 10:09 AM]
ESPN's Outstanding Nielsen Viewership for First Six Months of 2025: At the Halfway Mark, ESPN has Achieved Multiple Successes Across the Board
ESPN on its own is up 4% year-over-year across the entire day (24 hours of programming) and up 9% when isolating the primetime hours (8-11 p.m. ET).

[07/17/25 - 01:31 PM]
Netflix: What We Watched the First Half of 2025
This report, which captures ~99% of all viewing in the first half of 2025, shows that people watched a lot of Netflix - over 95B hours - spanning a wide range of genres and languages.

[07/17/25 - 09:57 AM]
"Dexter: Resurrection" Debuts to a Killer 3.1 Million Cross-Platform Viewers
Said premiere was up 44% versus "Dexter: Original Sin" and 79% versus "Dexter: New Blood."

[07/16/25 - 04:01 PM]
ESPN Airs Another of Its Most-Watched WNBA Games Ever: Indiana Fever vs Connecticut Sun Averaged 1.7 Million Viewers, Up 48% from Last Year's ESPN Average
Said telecast peaked with 2 million viewers.

[07/15/25 - 02:06 PM]
Viewership for 2025 T-Mobile Home Run Derby Exclusively on ESPN Platforms Up Five Percent From Last Year
An average audience of 5,729,000 viewers watched the event, compared to 5,451,000 viewers in 2024.

[07/15/25 - 01:04 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" for 2nd Consecutive Week
"Nightline" posted Total Viewer gains both week to week and year to year.