ABC's HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER Ranks as No. 1 Entertainment Series in Time Slot

Opposite CBS' Thursday Night Football (New England Patriots- Houston Texans), ABC finished as the non-sports leader on season premiere Thursday in Adults 18-49 (1.7/6), outdelivering runner-up NBC by 31% ("Superstore"/"The Good Place"/"Chicago Med"/"The Blacklist" = 1.3/5) and nearly doubling FOX with its drama premieres (+89% over "Rosewood"/"Pitch" = 0.9/3). With its Thursday dramas consistently delivering big increases in TV Playback, ABC will considerably close the Adult 18-49 gap with CBS' NFL coverage on the night in Live + 3 Day and Live + 7 Day ratings.

ABC's returning dramas, "Grey's Anatomy" and "How to Get Away with Murder" (tie) stood as the Top 2 entertainment programs on Thursday in Adults 18-49. In addition, ABC's "Notorious" debuted as the No. 1 new drama on Thursday in viewers and young adults. "Grey's" and "Murder" were also the most social TV series on Thursday, with 976.5K and 289.0K total interactions combined on Facebook and Twitter, respectively.

"Grey's Anatomy" (8:00-9:00 p.m. - 8.6 million and 2.4/9 in AD18-49): At 8:00 p.m., the 13th season premiere of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" dominated its entertainment competition in the hour with Total Viewers (8.6 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.4/9). "Grey's" grew over its May finale (8.2 million and 2.3/9 on 5/19/16) in viewers (+5%) and young adults (+4%) to deliver its best results since October and February - since 10/22/15 and 2/11/16, respectively.

"Notorious" (9:00-10:00 p.m. - 5.4 million and 1.2/4 in AD18-49): At 9:00 p.m., ABC's series debut of "Notorious" beat out Fox's series premiere of "Pitch" in the hour by 1.1 million viewers (5.4 million vs. 4.3 million) and 9% in Adults 18-49 (1.2/4 vs. 1.1/4). "Notorious" held exactly even with ABC's most recent drama debut on the night in Adults 18-49, matching "The Catch" premiere in March (1.2/4 on 3/24/16).

"How to Get Away with Murder" (10:00-11:00 p.m. - 5.2 million and 1.4/5 in AD18-49): Building 17% on its lead-in at 10:00 p.m., ABC's "How to Get Away with Murder" opened as the No. 1 entertainment show, beating NBC's premiere of "The Blacklist" by 8% in Adults 18-49 (1.4/5 vs. 1.3/4). "HTGAWM" held even with its May finale in Adults 18-49 and jumped 20% in Adults 18-34 (1.4/5 and 1.2/2 on 3/17/16, respectively).

Projections Rationale: Lifts vs. L+SD are based on 2015-16 season averages for originals (excluding the premiere).
Returning shows: Profile based on same show (either premiere or averages for originals).
New Series: Based on similar series.

A note about DVR penetration: DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample is currently at 49% 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 Nielsen measure to gauge the size of the TV audience.

Source: The Nielsen Company, Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings for 9/22/16. Nielsen Socialguide: 9/22/16, Facebook and Twitter total interactions based on a 24/7 and linear telecast basis (+/-3 hours of telecast).

To post a comment, you must register and login.