Live + 3 Day Ratings: ABC's Red-Hot "Scandal" Grows to a 4.8 in Live + 3, with Much Bigger Playback Gains Year to Year

Live + 3 Day Ratings for the week of 9/30/13 (Monday-Thursday):

Based on Nielsen's Live + 3 Day playback data for Thursday, the 3rd season premiere of ABC's Scandal shot up +1.2 rating points, going from a 3.6 rating in L+SD to a 4.8 rating in the L+3 numbers. Scandal also picked up nearly 3 million Total Viewers after 3 days of playback, growing to 13.4 million viewers from 10.5 million in the first reported L+SD numbers (+2.9 million viewers).The red-hot ABC drama scored considerably larger TV playback gains than last year's premiere in both Adults 18-49 (+1.2 rating points vs. +0.7 rating points) and Total Viewers (+2.9 million viewers vs. +2.1 million viewers). ABC's Scandal solidified its claim as Thursday's #2 TV show in Adults 18-49 (behind only CBS' The Big Bang Theory).

Week 2 of ABC's Grey's Anatomy posted larger TV playback increases than its week-earlier premiere, picking up another +1.5 rating points after 3 days of TV playback (versus +1.4 rating points the prior week) to deliver a 4.6 rating in Adults 18-49 for its 2nd episode in the L+3 ratings (from a 3.1 in the L+SD numbers). The ABC drama also saw its Total Viewer count surge by 3.3 million Total Viewers, building from 9.6 million viewers in Live + Same Day to 12.9 million in Live + 3 Days.

· In the first 4 days of available TV playback for the week, ABC claims 3 of the 5 biggest TV playback gainers in Adults 18-49 on the broadcast networks: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (+1.6 rating points), Modern Family (+1.5 rating points) and Grey's Anatomy (+1.5 rating points).

· ABC has 4 shows adding on at least 3 million viewers over their first-reported Live + Same Day totals (the most for any network): S.H.I.E.L.D. (+3.4 million), Castle (+3.3 million), Grey's Anatomy (+3.3 million) and Modern Family (+3.1 million).