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DEMOGRAPHIC DETAIL: For each broadcast program (or hour segment) Thursday, the chart below displays preliminary key advertiser demographics (adult 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 ratings), audience skews (women 18-49, men 18-49 and adults 50+ shares) and total viewership (thousands of people over the age of 2).
Ratings analysis and comparisons follow the chart.
ABC: The enormous 3.8 start for HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER was the crowning touch to a night that went exactly as ABC and Shonda Rhimes had hoped it would. Airing in the less-watched 8PM hour, GREY’S ANATONY at 3.0 was down 0.6 from last season’s 2-hour premiere, but on pair with the 3.1 the show had in Week 2. SCANDAL, conversely, was moved to the more heavily watched 9PM hour, and it actually grew 0.2 from last year’s premiere to 3.8. The first half-hour of MURDER was 0.2 higher than the last half-hour of SCANDAL (although that may shift in final numbers), and the show slipped less than 10% in its second half. On the demo side, the 3 shows were as big a set of blockbusters with women as THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL was with men.
CBS: With two big-market teams (NY and Washington) playing, THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL had a 4.5, up 1.2 from last week’s early number.
NBC: THE BIGGEST LOSER held last week’s series low 1.3. PARENTHOOD’s final season premiere was at 1.4, down 0.2 from last season’s premiere.
FOX: The season premiere of BONES was down 0.7 from last year’s premiere (which was on a Monday). FOX chose to follow it with a rerun of this week’s SLEEPY HOLLOW premiere, which registered 0.7.
CW: Reruns at 0.2/0.2.
SHARK TANK returns tonight, where it will do battle with the newly-moved THE AMAZING RACE. UTOPIA will have to face off against both of them, which may not be pretty.
COMPARISONS TO SIMILAR NIGHTS: Preliminary adult 18-49 ratings for Thursday, the same night last year and same night last week.
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