ABC's "Scandal" Surges to a New Series High as TV's Top 10pm Drama Telecast in 7 Months

ABC finished #2 on Thursday in Adults 18-49 for the 2nd week in a row, as Scandal and Grey's ranked as the night's Top 2 dramas for the 3rd week running in Adults 18-49. ABC was up year to year on Thursday for the 2nd week in a row in Adults 18-49 (+9%).

· Building on its Grey's lead-in, Scandal hit a new series high in Adults 18-49, spiking 23% week to week and surpassing its previous high by 14%.

· Scandal is on track to rank as TV's #1 drama for the 2nd time in 3 weeks and delivered the highest rating for any regular 10 o'clock drama telecast on any net in 7 months - since 10/15/12.

· Continuing to post big year-to-year gains, Scandal shot up 68% in Adults 18-49 from its telecast on the same night last year.

· Scandal outdelivered Idol-Thursday in Adults 18-49 for the first-time ever.

...more to come

Quick Take for Thursday, May 9, 2013 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

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ABC's "Scandal" Achieves a New Series High in Adults 18-49 and Delivers the Highest Rating for Any Regular 10pm Drama Telecast on Any Network in 7 Months

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

ABC finished No. 2 on Thursday in Adults 18-49 (2.4/7-tie) for the 2nd week in a row, as "Scandal" and "Grey's" ranked as the night's Top 2 dramas for the 3rd week running. Posting a new series high, "Scandal" is on track to finish as TV's No. 1 drama for the 2nd time in 3 weeks and delivered the highest rating for any regular 10 o'clock drama telecast on any net in 7 months - since 10/15/12. In addition, "Scandal" outdelivered "American Idol" for the first time ever in Adults 18-49, and "Grey's" topped "Idol" for the 2nd consecutive week.

· ABC was up year to year on Thursday for the 2nd week in a row in Adults 18-49 (+9%). In addition the Net built to its top-rated Thursday in 7 weeks - since 3/21/13.

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

At 8:00 p.m., ABC's "Wipeout" season premiere improved its slot by 9% week to week in Adults 18-49 (1.2/4 vs. 1.1/4). The ABC unscripted series was up from last season's finale in Total Viewers (+10% - 4.3 million vs. 3.9 million on 9/20/12) and held even in Adults 18-49.

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

Gaining sharply on its Adult 18-49 lead-in (+142%) at 9:00 p.m., ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" (2.9/8) was the No. 1 series in its hour for its 6th consecutive first-run airing, beating CBS' season finale of "Person of Interest" by 21% (2.4/7), NBC's "The Office" by 26% (2.3/6) and Fox's "Idol"-driven finale of "Glee" by 38% (2.1/6).

· Despite facing season finale competition, "Grey's" held even with its week-ago Adult 18-49 Fast Affiliate Rating.

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

Building on its "Grey's" lead-in by a best-yet 10%, ABC's "Scandal" hit a new series high in Adults 18-49 (3.2/9), spiking 23% week to week and surpassing its previous high by 14% (2.8/8). The ABC sophomore drama won the 10 o'clock hour by wide margins in Adults 18-49, outdelivering CBS' "Elementary" by a best-ever 78% (1.8/5) and nearly tripled the delivery of NBC's "Hannibal" (+191% - 1.1/3), finishing as No. 1 TV series in its slot on each of its last 15 first-run broadcasts.

· Continuing to post big year-to-year gains, "Scandal" shot up 68% in Adults 18-49 from its telecast on the same night last year (1.9/6 on 5/10/12).

· In addition to delivering TV's best Adult 18-49 number for any regular 10 o'clock drama telecast in 7 months, "Scandal" earned the top rating for any ABC 10:00 p.m. drama since September 2011 (since 9/21/11).

"Scandal" Social Activity: The ABC sophomore drama once again stood as Thursday's No. 1 most social series during primetime, with a 40% advantage over No. 2 "American Idol" in number of tweets (312,000 vs. 223,000). ABC's most social show this season with 3.7 million total tweets, "Scandal's" social activity was up 8% over last week to its 2nd-highest-ever levels for any episode of the show.

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 48% currently, from 44% 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 Program Ratings, 05/09/13. Socialguide 05/09/13, Total Tweets for each episode +/- 3hrs during telecast.