ABC's SCANDAL Wins Hours & Grows 24% to Date

Thursday (03/12/15) - ABC Total Viewer and Adult 18-49 Projections
"Grey's Anatomy:" Live + 3 = 11.5 million/3.0 rating and Live + 7 = 12.4 million/3.3 rating
"Scandal:" Live + 3 = 12.0 million/3.8 rating and Live + 7 = 12.6 million/4.0 rating
"American Crime:" Live + 3 = 9.4 million/2.2 rating and Live + 7 = 10.1 million/2.4 rating

Live + Same Day Results:

ABC Thursday Prime (8:00-11:00 p.m. - 7.2 million and 2.0/7 in AD18-49):
ABC earned second on Thursday in Adults 18-49 (2.0/7) to CBS, beating FOX with a 2-hour "American Idol" by 18% (1.7/6) and NBC by 100% (1.0/3). Please Note: On the first Thursday of daylight saving time, overall Adult 18-49 TV usage was down a sharp -7% week to week.

ABC's "Scandal" ranked as Thursday's No. 2 TV show in Adults 18-49 (tie), behind only CBS' top-rated "The Big Bang Theory." In addition, "Scandal" and "Grey's" were the night's Top 2 dramas in Adults 18-49.

"Grey's Anatomy" (8:00-9:00 p.m. - 7.4 million and 2.1/7 in AD18-49):
At 8:00 p.m. against CBS' "The Big Bang Theory" and "The Odd Couple," ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" beat Fox's "American Idol" for the 2nd week in a row among Adults 18-49 (2.1/7 vs. 1.7/6), increasing its winning advantage to a season-best 24% (up from a 9% advantage the prior week).

"Scandal" (9:00-10:00 p.m. - 8.3 million and 2.6/8 in AD18-49):
At 9:00 p.m., ABC's "Scandal" won its hour among Adults 18-49 (2.6/8), beating CBS' comedies (+13% - 2.3/7), NBC's "The Blacklist" (+53% - 1.7/5) and the second hour of Fox's "American Idol" (+53% - 1.7/5). "Scandal" also topped NBC's "The Blacklist" in the hour by 1.0 million viewers (8.3 million vs. 7.3 million).

On average season to date, "Scandal" is up by 24% in Total Viewers (13.5 million vs. 10.9 million) and by 24% in Adults 18-49 (4.7/14 vs. 3.8/11).

"American Crime" (10:00-11:00 p.m. - 5.8 million and 1.4/5 in AD18-49):
At 10:00 p.m., ABC freshman "American Crime" more than doubled the slot premiere of NBC freshman "The Slap" in Adults 18-49 (+133% - 1.4/5 vs. 0.6/2). The new ABC drama also won the hour in Adults 18-34 and across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

Based on Live + 3 Day data, ABC's week ago debut of "American Crime" grew to nearly 11.0 million Total Viewers (10.9 million), adding another +2.5 million viewers to its L+SD tally (8.4 million). The new ABC drama built to a 2.7 rating among Adults 18-49, picking up +0.7 rating points (from a 2.0 in L+SD).

A note about DVR penetration: DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample is currently at 49% in U.S. TV Homes. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which are increasingly not reflected in the overnight Live + Same Day numbers. As a result, the Live + 7 Day ratings are the most accurate measure to gauge the size of the TV audience.

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