Fast National ratings for Thursday, September 25, 2014.
ABC's Shonda Rhimes Thursday got off to a terrific start in its first week, edging out CBS' Thursday Night Football overall and putting up strong key demo numbers as well.
The biggest success for ABC was the tremendous launch for “How To Get Away With Murder,” which comfortably outdrew its “Scandal” lead-in and tied with the Kerry Washington smash in the key demo. But even “Grey's Anatomy” seemed rejuvenated in its new time period.
CBS' coverage of the Thursday Night Football game between the Giants and Washington still led the night among young viewers, of course, and although ABC had a slim overall win, football tends to tick up in Finals, so there's a good chance CBS will come out on top overall as well when Live+Same Day analysis takes place.
Meanwhile, “Parenthood” and “Bones” did standard numbers in their latest premieres, while getting upstaged by ABC and CBS.
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 4.2 rating for Thursday primetime, beating out ABC's 3.5 rating in the key demographic. NBC was a distant third with a 1.3 key demo rating, followed by FOX's 1.1 key demo rating. The CW averaged a 0.2 key demo rating for the night.
Overall, though, ABC averaged an estimated 11.9 million viewers and a 7.9 rating/13 share, edging out the 7.5/13 and 11.86 million viewers for CBS. Again, there was a big drop to NBC's 4.4 million viewers and 2.9/5, which edged out the 2.7/4 and 4.34 million viewers for FOX. The CW averaged a 0.4/1 and 604,000 viewers for the night.
8 p.m. – NFL pregame and the start of Thursday Night Football put CBS in the lead for the 8 p.m. hour with 10.37 million viewers and a 3.4 rating among adults 18-49. ABC's “Grey's Anatomy” was second with 9.78 million viewers and a 3.0 key demo rating. FOX's “Bones” finished third with 6.22 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo rating, topping the 4.31 million viewers and 1.3 key demo rating for NBC's “The Biggest Loser.” A “Vampire Diaries” repeat averaged 641,000 viewers and a 0.2 key demo rating for The CW.
9 p.m. – CBS stayed first in the 9 p.m. hour with 13.73 million viewers and a 4.7 rating among adults 18-49 for Thursday Night Football. ABC's “Scandal” had a big return with 11.92 million viewers and a 3.8 key demo rating in its 9 p.m. debut. NBC's “The Biggest Loser” averaged 4.62 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating, ahead of the 2.47 million viewers and 0.7 key demo rating for FOX's “Sleepy Hollow” encore. The CW's “The Originals” averaged 568,000 viewers and a 0.2 key demo rating.
10 p.m. – “How To Get Away With Murder” stormed into first in the 10 p.m. hour with 14.01 million viewers for ABC, finishing second with a 3.8 rating among adults 18-49. CBS' football slipped to second with 11.47 million viewers and won the hour with a 4.5 key demo rating. The final season of NBC's “Parenthood” was predictably overwhelmed by the time period competition and averaged 4.26 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating.
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change, particularly in the case of live events.