ABC had 3 of the week's Top 5 biggest broadcast gainers in TV playback among Adults 18-49, with CBS and FOX having just one apiece (and NBC with zero), while also claiming 4 of the Top 10: MODERN FAMILY (+2.0 rating points) - #2, HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER (+1.9) - #4, SCANDAL (+1.7) - #5 and GREY'S ANATOMY (+1.5) - #7.
Head to head in Thursday's 9pm hour, ABC's SCANDAL topped the L+7 gains of NBC's THE BLACKLIST (+1.7 rating points vs. +1.6 rating points), while also increasing its lead over the NBC drama to nearly one full rating point (4.9 rating vs. 4.0 rating) in the L+7 numbers. In the first-reported L+SD ratings, SCANDAL led THE BLACKLIST by 8-tenths of a rating point.
In Wednesday's 8:30pm half-hour, the debut of ABC's FRESH OFF THE BOAT grew to a 3.4 Adult 18-49 rating (up +0.9 rating points) and pulled in 10.0 million Total Viewers (up +2.1 million viewers) after 7 days of playback. The new ABC comedy moved ahead of CBS' Mom (which had the benefit of a Big Bang lead-in) to finish as the week's #3 highest-rated sitcom among Adults 18-49, behind only Big Bang and Modern Family. Meanwhile, its The Middle lead-in at 8pm matched a season-high L+7 rating, with a 2.9 in Adults 18-49 (a gain of +0.7 rating points from its 2.2 L+SD rating).
Season-to-Date TV Playback (9/22/14-2/8/15):
Based on L+7 ratings through 20 weeks of the 2014-15 season, ABC grows to a 2.2 rating among Adults 18-49 in the non-sports numbers, ABC is even year to year (2.2 for 9/23/13-2/9/14), while CBS (-4%), NBC (-17%) and FOX (-14%) are each declining.
Based on TV playback data for the 2014-15 season, ABC's HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER (+2.1 rating points) and MODERN FAMILY (+2.1) share the #2 spot among broadcast gainers in Adults 18-49.
ABC's HTGAWM is the season's biggest gainer for any freshman series among Adults 18-49 (+2.1 rating points), topping the L+7 gains of runner-ups Fox's EMPIRE (+1.8) and Gotham (+1.7). In fact, the L+7 lift for HTGAWM is outdelivering the lift of last season's top freshman gainer through the same point last season, NBC's THE BLACKLIST (+2.0).
Among Adults 18-49 in the L+7 ratings, ABC has the Top 3 dramas on Thursday with HTGAWM (5.1), SCANDAL (4.8) and GREY'S ANATOMY (4.0), the #1 show on Friday with SHARK TANK (2.6) and the #1 broadcast series on Sunday with Once Upon A Time (3.7).
Several ABC's returning series are seeing bigger percentage gains among Adults 18-49 from L+SD to L+7 this year than last: THE BACHELOR (+32% vs. +24%), Castle (+69% vs. +65%), LAST MAN STANDING (+46% vs. +36%), MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. (+76% vs. +59%), The Middle (+35% vs. +23%), MODERN FAMILY (+62% vs. +54%), NASHVILLE (+71% vs. +69%), Revenge (+91% vs. +63%), SCANDAL (+50% vs. +48%) and SHARK TANK (+37% vs. +30%).
