ABC's GREY'S ANATOMY Dominates Scripted Time-Slot Competition

ABC took second place on Thursday in Adults 18-49 to FOX with the 2-hour season premiere of American Idol, outdelivering NBC's original lineup on the night by 47%.

Nearly tripling its Adult 18-49 lead-in (+190%) against the second hour of Idol at 9pm, ABC's Grey's Anatomy dominated its scripted time-period competition, leading runner-up NBC by 71% with its comedies (The Office/1600 Penn). Despite facing Idol, Grey's delivered better than 90% audience retention week to week in Total Viewers (94%), Adults 18-49 (91%), Adults 18-34 (96%) and Women 18-34 (97%).

Exhibiting its best lead-in retention out of an original Grey's (91%/90%), ABC's Scandal won the 10 o'clock hour by strong margins in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. Scandal was the #1 series in Thursday's 10pm hour for its 5th consecutive first-run telecast in Adults 18-49. Building for the 2nd straight week with Adults 18-34 (+5%) and Women 18-34 (+9%), Scandal earned new series highs in both demographics. In addition, over the course of its last 4 original airings, Scandal has delivered the series' Top 4 highest-rated telecasts ever in Adults 18-49. The ABC sophomore drama continued to improve The Hour by strong double digits over an original Private Practice on the year-ago night (on 01/19/12) in viewers (+32%) and young adults (+24%).

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