ABC's GREY'S ANATOMY Leads Thursday Night in Ratings

Opposite the high-rated GOP debate from 9:00-11:00 p.m. on FOX News, ABC ran in a close race on Thursday in Live + Same Day Adults 18-49 for the broadcast lead with FOX and its 2-hour "American Idol" (1.7/6 vs. 1.9/6). Including initial TV playback, ABC has won the last 3 Thursdays in the Live + 3 Day ratings and is projected once again to take the entertainment lead with the release of that Nielsen data on Tuesday. The Net's Live + Same Day delivery was steady with the prior Thursday in Total Viewers (6.0 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.7/6 vs. 1.8/6).

Editors please note: Following last night's sampling, ABC's "The Family" moves to its regular Sunday 9:00 p.m. time slot in three nights (on 3/6/16), between with the mid-season premieres of "Once Upon a Time" at 8:00 p.m. and "Quantico" at 10:00 p.m.

• ABC delivered Thursday's Top 3 dramas for the 4th week running in Adults 18-49 with "Grey's" (2.2/8), a special Thursday premiere of "The Family" (1.5/5) and "How to Get Away with Murder" (1.4/5). In addition, "Grey's" was the No. 1 series on Thursday in Adults 18-49 over Fox's 2-hour "American Idol" (2.2/7 vs. 1.9/6).

"Grey's Anatomy" (8:00-9:00 p.m. - 7.7 million and 2.2/8 in AD18-49):

At 8:00 p.m., ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" grew week to week in Total Viewers (+7% - 7.7 million vs. 7.2 million) and Adults 18-49 (+5% - 2.2/8 vs. 2.1/7).

"The Family" (9:00-10:00 p.m. - 5.7 million and 1.5/5 in AD18-49):

At 9:00 p.m., ABC's special premiere of "The Family" held even from its first half-hour to its second half-hour, coming within 2-tenths of "Scandal"'s week-ago Adult 18-49 delivery (1.5/5 vs. 1.7/6) and within 200,000 Total Viewers (5.7 million vs. 5.9 million).

"How to Get Away with Murder" (10:00-11:00 p.m. - 4.6 million and 1.4/5 in AD18-49):

The No. 1 series on Thursday at 10:00 p.m. for the 4th-straight week in Adults 18-49, ABC's "How to Get Away with Murder" (1.4/5) outdelivered NBC's "Shades of Blue" by 40% (1.0/4) and CBS' "Elementary" by 27% (1.1/4).

• In the most recent round of Live + 7 Day data released on Monday, "HTGAWM" scored its first-ever triple-digit increase and its biggest-ever playback lift, soaring +100% over its L+SD Adult 18-49 rating. Growing to a 3.6 rating after 7 days of TV playback, the ABC drama's mid-season premiere shot up to rank among the week's Top 5 highest-rated broadcast shows in Adults 18-49, ranking No. 5 versus No. 15 in the initial L+SD numbers.

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 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 Nielsen measure to gauge the size of the TV audience.

Source: The Nielsen Company, Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings for 03/03/16.