ABC Wins Thursday Night with Season Highs

Returning to its regular Thursday lineup for the first time in 8 weeks (since 11/10/11), ABC turned in a strong first-place finish on Thursday night among Adults 18-49, leading runner-up CBS by 43%. ABC also registered as the most-watched network overall on the evening.

· Compared to the last time regularly scheduled programming aired on the evening in early-November, ABC's numbers jumped by 19% in viewers and by 22% in young adults.

· Hitting a 15-week high in viewers and young adults, the Net tallied best-since-premiere Thursday numbers - since 9/22/11.

From 8-9pm, the season premiere of Winter Wipeout earned second in its slot among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, while ranking #1 with Adults 18-34, Men 18-34 and Women 18-34. Also from 8-9pm, it was the top-rated broadcast show with Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11. The ABC unscripted series jumped by nearly 1.0 million viewers and by 20% in Adults 18-49 from its first half-hour to its second half-hour, winning the 9:30pm slot on both counts.

· Scoring a season-high for ABC in the hour among Adults 18-49, Winter Wipeout produced the Net's highest rating in the slot in nearly 1 year, as well as the series' strongest overall performance since last January - since 1/13/11.

· Winter Wipeout was up sharply over its preview special in the hour last month with viewers (+27%) and young adults (+47%).

Hitting season-highs and growing over its year-ago telecast, ABC self starter Grey's Anatomy registered as Thursday's No. 1 TV show in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. In addition, it was Thursday's #1 drama with young adults for its 9th consecutive first-run airing this season.

· In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, Grey's Anatomy marked the series' highest numbers in more than 9 months - since 3/31/11. In fact the show was up over its year-ago telecast with Adults 18-49 (+7%), marking its 2nd-strongest number since October of 2010 - since 10/14/10.

Achieving a season-high, ABC's Private Practice ranked #1 against its network rivals in the 10 o'clock hour among Adults 18-49 . In addition, Private Practice stood as the #1 drama in Thursday's 10 o'clock hour for the 9th straight original telecast this season with Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34.

· Up over its most recent original (on 11/17/11) by 8% in Total Viewers and by 8% in Adults 18-49, ABC's Private Practice drew its biggest audience since March and equaled its top young adult number since November of 2010 - since 3/24/11 and 11/18/10, respectively.

· Like its lead-in, Private Practice was up over its performance on the same night last year among Adults 18-49.

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