Grey’s Anatomy Beats American Idol As #1 Thursday TV Show

With Wife Swap, Grey’s and Scandal, ABC ranked #1 on Thursday in Adults 18-49 for the 2nd week in a row (tied with CBS’ NCAA Basketball Tournament coverage), beating Fox with American Idol and the 1-hour season finale of Raising Hope by 15%. ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy outdelivered Idol to stand as Thursday’s #1 TV show for the 2nd straight week in Adults 18-49. In addition, ABC’s Scandal paced within 1-tenth of a rating point of Idol on the night, its closest finish ever. Please Note: Heading into the Easter Holiday weekend, overall Adult 18-49 TV usage declined a notable -5% week to week.

During the 8 o’clock hour, ABC’s Wife Swap ranked as the #2 regular program to Idol among Adults 18-49 and despite facing basketball coverage retained 100% of its week-ago premiere Men 18-34 number.

Doubling its Adult 18-49 lead-in at 9pm (+100%), ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy dominated its hour, beating Fox’s Idol-led 1-hour finale of Raising Hope by 115%.

Up against strong competition from high-rated basketball coverage during the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Scandal was up week to week with Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34 to equal its highest ratings ever. In fact, Scandal held 100% of its Adult 18-34 lead-in from Grey’s and built for the first time ever with Women 18-34.

Press Release