Growing its Numbers for the 2nd Week in a Row, ABC’s “Private Practice”
Scores Best-Since-Premiere Results in Viewers and Across All Key Adult Demos
“Grey’s Anatomy” (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Launching off of its lead-in (+192%) at 9:00 p.m., ABC self-starter “Grey’s Anatomy” stood as Thursday’s No. 1 drama in Adults 18-49 for the 7th straight week this season, beating out Fox’s “The X Factor”-fueled season premiere of “Bones.” Winning the 9 o’clock hour over stiff Sweep competition, “Grey’s” (3.5/9) outdelivered Fox’s opener of “Bones” by 6% (3.3/8), CBS’ “Person of Interest” by 30% (2.7/7) and NBC’s original comedies (“The Office”/”Whitney”) by 35% (2.6/7). In addition, the ABC veteran drama won its time slot among Adults 18-34 and across all key Women measures (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).
* “Grey’s” was up week to week with Women 18-34 (+7%), equaling its 2nd-highest rating this season to stand as the No. 1 TV show of the night.
“Private Practice” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
Continuing to grow, ABC’s “Private Practice” ran a close second to CBS’ “The Mentalist” in the 10 o’clock hour among Adults 18-49, while more than doubling the young adult audience of NBC’s “Prime Suspect” (2.6/7 vs. 1.2/3). Beating out “The Mentalist” by wide margins with Adults 18-34 (+18%) and Women 18-34 (+60%), “Private Practice” finished as the No. 1 drama in the hour for the 5th consecutive week on both Nielsen measures.
* Building its numbers for the 2nd straight week in viewers (+6% – 6.8 million vs. 6.4 million) and young adults (+8% – 2.6/7 vs. 2.4/6), “Private Practice” scored best-since-season-premiere numbers across a number of key measures: Total Viewers, as well as across all key Adult and Women demographics.
A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 43% currently, from 38% at the same point in 2010. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.
Source: The Nielsen Company (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 11/03/11.