ABC is Thursday's #1 Non-Sports Net, Increasing its Lead over NBC to 78% and More than Doubling Fox's Premiere Line-Up

Thursday (10/1/15) - ABC Total Viewer and Adult 18-49 Projections, including Multiplatform + 35 Days

Grey's Anatomy: L3 = 12.8 million/3.4 rating, L7 = 13.8 million/3.6 rating and MP+35 = 4.6 rating

Scandal: L3 = 13.4 million/4.2 rating, L7 = 14.1 million/4.4 rating and MP+35 = 5.8 rating

HTGAWM: L3 = 12.0 million/3.7 rating, L7 = 12.8 million/3.9 rating and MP+35 = 4.0 rating

Live + Same Day Results:

ABC Thursday Prime (8-11pm - 8.4 million and 2.5/8 in AD18-49): Opposite an even stronger Thursday Night Football game on CBS (Baltimore-Pittsburgh), ABC (8.4 million and 2.5/8) was Thursday's definitive #1 non-sports net for the 2nd week in a row, beating runner-up NBC with The Blacklist opener (5.7 million and 1.4/5) by 47% in Total Viewers and by 79% in Adults 18-49 (up from a 71% advantage last week), while more than doubling Fox's season premiere line-up of Bones and Sleepy Hollow (4.8 million and 1.2/4) in Adults 18-49 (+108%). ABC once again won Thursday over CBS' NFL coverage across key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54) and will significantly narrow the Adult 18-49 gap with CBS on the night in Live + 7 Day ratings. With each of its TGIT dramas holding strong week to week against heightened competition, the Net retained 86% of its big week-ago season premiere rating on the night in Adults 18-49 (2.5/8 vs. 2.9/10).

· For the 2nd week running, ABC's TGIT lineup delivered the Top 3 entertainment shows of the night in Adults 18-49 with Grey's Anatomy (2.3/8), Scandal (2.8/9) and How to Get Away with Murder (2.3/7). Please Note: All three ABC Thursday dramas registered Live +3 Day lifts between 1.3-1.5 rating points last week.

· Scandal is once again tracking as the week's 2nd-highest-rated drama in Adults 18-49, closing the gap week to week with Fox's Empire (-2.7 vs. -3.4). In addition at 9pm, Scandal beat the opener of The Blacklist by an even larger margin of 56% this year in Adults18-49 (2.8/9 vs. 1.8/5), up from a 33% advantage during their first head-to-head matchup in February. Scandal also beat The Blacklist premiere by 1.5 million viewers this year (9.1 million vs. 7.6 million), after trailing last February's premiere.

Quick Take for Thursday, October 1, 2015 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Increases its Thursday Adult 18-49 Winning Advantage to 79% Over NBC And More than Doubles Fox's Thursday Season Premieres of its Drama Line-Up

ABC's TGIT Drama Line-Up Delivers Thursday's Top 3 Entertainment Telecasts

"Grey's" Towers Over NBC's "Heroes Reborn" and Fox's "Bones" Premiere

"Scandal" Beats the Thursday Premiere of "The Blacklist" by Increasing Margins

"Murder" More than Doubles NBC's "The Player" at 10pm for the 2nd Week Running

Thursday (10/01/15) - ABC Viewer and Adult 18-49 Projections, including Multiplatform + 35 Days

"Grey's Anatomy": L3 = 12.8 million/3.4 rating, L7 = 13.8 million/3.6 rating and MP+35 = 4.6 rating

"Scandal": L3 = 13.4 million/4.2 rating, L7 = 14.1 million/4.4 rating and MP+35 = 5.8 rating

"HTGAWM": L3 = 12.0 million/3.7 rating, L7 = 12.8 million/3.9 rating and MP+35 = 4.0 rating

Live + Same Day Results:

ABC Thursday Prime (8:00-11:00 p.m. - 8.4 million and 2.5/8 in AD18-49):

Opposite an even stronger Thursday Night Football game on CBS (Baltimore-Pittsburgh), ABC (8.4 million and 2.5/8) was Thursday's definitive No. 1 non-sports net for the 2nd week in a row, beating runner-up NBC with "The Blacklist" opener (5.7 million and 1.4/5) by 47% in Total Viewers and by 79% in Adults 18-49 (up from a 71% advantage last week), while more than doubling Fox's season premiere line-up of "Bones" and "Sleepy Hollow" (4.8 million and 1.2/4) in Adults 18-49 (+108%). ABC once again won Thursday over CBS' NFL coverage across key Women (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54) and will significantly narrow the Adult 18-49 gap with CBS on the night in Live + 7 Day ratings.

· With each of its TGIT dramas holding strong week to week against heightened competition, the Net retained 86% of its big week-ago season premiere rating on the night in Adults 18-49 (2.5/8 vs. 2.9/10).

· For the 2nd week running, ABC's TGIT lineup delivered the Top 3 entertainment shows of the night in Adults 18-49 with "Grey's Anatomy" (2.3/8), "Scandal" (2.8/9) and "How to Get Away with Murder" (2.3/7). Please Note: ABC's Thursday dramas registered Live +3 Day lifts of 1.3-1.5 rating points last week.

· "Scandal" is once again tracking as the week's 2nd-highest-rated drama in Adults 18-49, closing the gap week to week with Fox's "Empire" (-2.7 vs. -3.4).

· ABC's TGIT also generated the most-social entertainment telecasts of the evening: "Grey's" (107,768 tweets), "Scandal" (199,062 tweets), and "HTGAWM" (132,273 tweets).

"Grey's Anatomy" (8:00-9:00 p.m. - 8.5 million and 2.3/8 in AD18-49):

At 8:00 p.m., ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" continued to dominate NBC's "Heroes Reborn" in Total Viewers (+70% - 8.5 million vs. 5.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (+44% - 2.3/8 vs. 1.6/5), while also crushing Fox's "Bones" premiere in the hour (6.1 million and 1.3/5) in Total Viewers (+39%) and Adults 18-49 (+77%).

"Scandal" (9:00-10:00 p.m. - 9.1 million and 2.8/9 in AD18-49):

Building on its lead-in at 9:00 p.m., ABC's "Scandal" beat the Thursday opener of "The Blacklist" by an even larger margin of 56% this season in Adults 18-49 (2.8/9 vs. 1.8/5), up from a 33% advantage during their first head-to-head matchup in February. "Scandal" also outdrew "The Blacklist" premiere by 1.5 million viewers (9.1 million vs. 7.6 million), after trailing last February's premiere. Also in the hour, the ABC drama held strong triple-digit advantages over Fox's "Sleepy Hollow" premiere (3.6 million and 1.0/3) in Total Viewers (+153%) and Adults 18-49 (+180%). "Scandal" gained audience on the half-hour, while both "The Blacklist" and "Sleepy Hollow" declined.

"How to Get Away with Murder" (10:00-11:00 p.m. - 7.5 million and 2.3/7 in AD18-49):

At 10:00 p.m., ABC's "How to Get Away with Murder" more than doubled its NBC drama competition, beating week 2 of "The Player" by an increasing margin of 156% in Adults 18-49 (2.3/7 vs. 0.9/3), versus a 117% advantage in their week-ago premieres. "Murder" also beat "The Player" by 67% in Total Viewers (7.5 million vs. 4.5 million).

A note about DVR penetration: DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample is currently at 48% in U.S. TV Homes. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which are increasingly not reflected in the overnight Live + Same Day numbers. As a result, the Live + 7 Day ratings are the most accurate measure to gauge the size of the TV audience.

Projections Rationale:

Lifts vs. L+SD are based on the 2014-15 season for premiere telecast or an average for originals (excluding the premiere).

Returning shows: Profile based on same show (either premiere or averages for originals).

New Series: Based on similar series.

Source: The Nielsen Company, Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings, 10/01/15.