ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal returned for their first original telecasts in 3 weeks with dominant Adult 18-49 victories in the 9pm and 10pm hours, standing as Thursday’s Top 2 dramas. Among Adults 18-49 this week, ABC has now delivered the top-rated 10 o’clock dramas on Monday (Castle), Tuesday (Body of Proof) and Thursday (Scandal), as Scandal is on track to finish as the week’s #1 regularly scheduled 10 o’clock drama for its 10th straight original broadcast (on each week since its January return). In fact, Scandal outdelivered American Idol on the night in Adults 18-49 and returned up to match a series high.
More than doubling its Adult 18-49 lead-in (+145%) at 9pm, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy shot up to rank as the #1 series in its hour for its 4th straight original, beating CBS’ Person of Interest by 13%, Fox’s Idol-led Glee by 50% and NBC’s comedies by 80% (The Office/Parks and Recreation). Grey’s came back within 1-tenth of a rating point of its last first-run broadcast on 4/4/13.
Building on its Grey’s lead-in and up 8% over its last original airing, ABC’s Scandal took full control of its 10 o’clock drama competition in Adults 18-49, beating CBS’ Elementary by a best-ever 40% and nearly tripling NBC’s Hannibal (+180%) In fact in Adults 18-49, Scandal has finished as the #1 TV series in its time slot on each of its last 13 original telecasts. Continuing to trend well ahead of its freshman season, Scandal was up sharply from its same night year-ago performance in viewers (+13%) and young adults (+40%). The ABC drama equaled series highs in Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34. Scandal was once again Thursday’s #1 most social series during primetime, leading #2 American Idol by 79% in number of tweets.
