or


[05/16/08 - 12:32 PM]
Quick Take for Thursday, May 15, 2008 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)
ABC spins the numbers for Thursday, May 15.

[via press release from ABC]

Quick Take for Thursday, May 15, 2008 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

ABC Tops its 4th Straight Thursday of the '08 May Sweep in Adults 18-49, Winning the Key Evening on All 8 May Sweep Thursdays Over the Past 2 Years

"Grey's Anatomy" Logs its 39th Original Telecast as Thursday's No. 1 TV Show In Adults 18-49, Ranking No. 1 on Every Original Airing Since Debuting in 2006

Growing its Overall Audience for the 2nd Straight Week and Up 13% in Adults 18-49, ABC's "Ugly Betty" Wins the 8 O'clock Hour in Total Viewers and All Key Women

"Grey's" Beats the Season Finale of "C.S.I." in the 9pm Hour by 26% in Adults 18-49

"Lost" is Up Week to Week in Viewers and Young Adults and Dominates its New 10pm Slot Among Adults 18-49 Over Season Finales of Dramas on CBS and NBC

Thursday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

Against season finale competition on each of the other nets, ABC won its 4th consecutive Thursday of the 2008 May Sweep in Adults 18-49, ranking No. 1 on all 8 Thursdays during the sweep month over the past 2 years. The Net led the night by 29% over its nearest competition (4.5/12 vs. 3.5/9 � NBC), its biggest margin of victory on the night during the sweep in the key young adult sales demo. The Net also led the night in Adults 18-34 (4.1/12), Adults 25-54 (5.2/13) and in each of the key women demos: W18-34 (5.8/16), W18-49 (6.2/16) and W25-54 (7.0/16).

Editors Please Note: ABC's Thursday season finales will occur over the next two weeks, with "Ugly Betty" (8:00-9:00 p.m.) and "Grey's Anatomy" (9:00-11:00 p.m.) on 5/22/08 and "Lost" (9:00-11:00 p.m.) on 5/29/08.

"Ugly Betty" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Growing its overall audience for the 2nd week in a row, ABC's "Ugly Betty" was the most-watched TV show during the 8 o'clock hour, outdrawing season finale programming on both NBC ("My Name is Earl") and Fox ("Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?"). On the penultimate episode of its sophomore season, "Betty" also ranked No. 1 in its slot across the key women demographics: W18-34 (4.0/12), W18-49 (4.0/12) and W25-54 (4.8/13).

� Opposite season finale competition, "Betty" increased its overall audience for the 2nd straight week (8.5 million vs. 8.0 million) and jumped by 13% week to week in Adults 18-49 (2.7/8 vs. 2.4/7). It was the show's highest Adult 18-49 rating since January � since 1/24/08.

"Grey's Anatomy" (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

For the 4th consecutive week since its return to original episodes, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" won its 9 o'clock time and ranked as Thursday's No. 1 TV program across each of the key adult demographics: Adults 18-34 (5.6/16) Adults 18-49 (5.9/15) and Adults 25-54 (6.7/15). Head to head in the time period, "Grey's" beat the season finale of CBS' "C.S.I." by 26% in Adults 18-49 (5.9/15 vs. 4.7/12). Standing as Thursday's No. 1 TV show on every single original airing since premiering on the evening in 2006, "Grey's Anatomy" tallied its 39th straight original telecast as the night's top show in the key Adult 18-49 sales demo.

"Lost" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

No. 1 in its new time period for 4 weeks in a row, ABC's "Lost" overshadowed its 10 o'clock competition among Adults 18-49 (5.0/13), defeating second-place CBS' season finale of "Without a Trace" by 39% (3.6/10) and third-place NBC's "ER" finale by 52% (3.3/9). In fact "Lost" ranked No. 1 in its time period among Adults 18-49 for its 12th consecutive original airing this season. "Lost" ranked No. 1 in Thursday's 10:00 p.m. hour for the 4th straight week in all key adults, men and women.

� "Lost" was up from the prior week among Total Viewers (11.4 million vs. 10.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (5.0/13 vs. 4.7/13), increasing its overall audience for the 2nd week in a row.

� Continuing to demonstrate strong retention of its "Grey's" lead-in with key adults, "Lost" built on its lead-in for the 4th time in as many weeks across all key men demos (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54). "Lost" was Thursday's No. 1 TV show with Men 18-49 (4.2/12) for the 4th straight week.

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating trends based on the Live + Same Day data stream may be somewhat distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped from over 15% at the same point in 2006-07, up to more than 24% currently. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.

Source: Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings), 5/15/08.





  [may 2008]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
    


· ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A FIFTH GRADER? (NICKELODEON)
· CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (CBS)
· ER (NBC)
· GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC)
· LOST (ABC)
· MY NAME IS EARL (NBC)
· UGLY BETTY (ABC)
· WITHOUT A TRACE (CBS)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[05/21/26 - 07:01 AM]
NBC Sports' 2026 SuperMotocross Coverage Delivers Viewership Gains and Milestones
The seven races featured on NBC and Peacock averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 468,000 viewers on NBC and Peacock, up 8% vs. 2025.

[05/20/26 - 03:05 PM]
NBC and Peacock Deliver the Most-Watched Western Conference Finals Game 1 Ever for Monday's Spurs-Thunder Double Overtime Thriller
Coverage peaked with 12.0 million viewers from 11:30-11:43 p.m. ET for the second overtime and game's conclusion.

[05/20/26 - 03:04 PM]
ESPN Aired Its Most Viewed 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round of the Current Rights Deal
Collectively all 11 Second Round games, with nine airing on ESPN and two on ABC, delivered 2.2 million viewers, up 76% year-over-year.

[05/20/26 - 07:36 AM]
After Record-Setting 2025 Season, "Sunday Night Football" Finishes Fall-Spring TV Season as Primetime's No. 1 Show for Unprecedented 15th Consecutive Year
The series averaged 23.5 million viewers in 2025, marking the show's best-ever viewership - up nearly 1 million viewers from the prior record for the series set a decade ago (22.6 million in 2015 season) and an increase of 9% over the '24 season (21.6 million).

[05/19/26 - 02:52 PM]
Subway Series Delivers Second Most-Watched FOX Saturday Baseball Telecast of the Season
2,500,000 viewers tuned-in to the two-game slate highlighted by the Mets' 6-3 victory over the Yankees in most of the country.

[05/19/26 - 02:01 PM]
Netflix Viewership Peaks with Nearly 17 Million Global Viewers for MVP MMA's Rousey vs. Carano, Averaging 12.4 Million Viewers Across the Triple Main Event
In the US, the triple-main card averaged 9.3 million viewers, peaking at 11.6 million viewers during Rousey vs. Carano.

[05/19/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of May 11 - "The Roast of Kevin Hart" Heats Up to No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
True crime audiences also streamed the second season of "Worst Ex Ever," which rose to the No. 2 spot on the English TV list with 8.1 million views.

[05/19/26 - 07:07 AM]
TNT Sports Posts Its Most-Watched NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round Ever
Thursday's Game 5 of the Montreal/Buffalo series averaged 1.9 million viewers, making it the most-watched, Second Round, Game 5 on cable ever featuring a Canadian team.

[05/18/26 - 04:03 PM]
"The Rookie" Season 8 Finale Surges to Over 9 Million Total Viewers
Setting new records with its exceptional momentum this season, "The Rookie" finale earned an all-time streaming high for the series based on views over seven days on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.

[05/15/26 - 02:03 PM]
ABC News Is #1 in Total Viewers on Sunday Morning, in Late-Night and on Friday Night
"20/20" saw week-to-week increases in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, hitting 4-week highs in both measures.

[05/14/26 - 10:07 AM]
"Rooster" Capped Off a Standout First Season, Becoming HBO's Most-Watched Comedy Debut in Over 15 Years
The series is averaging 6.5 million U.S. viewers per episode, with the finale reaching 2.2 million viewers in its first three days.

[05/14/26 - 10:01 AM]
Home Run! ESPN Scores Most-Consumed College Softball Regular Season on Record
The 2026 campaign featured four of ESPN's eight most-watched regular season games of all-time and delivered a record-high 10 games with more than 500,000 viewers.

[05/13/26 - 10:30 AM]
Viewership for 2026 NBA Draft Lottery Presentation on ABC Up 23 Percent Year Over Year
ESPN's presentation of the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery on Sunday, May 10, on ABC averaged 2.3 million viewers.

[05/13/26 - 07:56 AM]
ESPN Networks Delivered Second Most-Watched WNBA Regular-Season Game Ever with Dallas Wings vs Indiana Fever on May 9
ESPN today announced that the Dallas Wings vs. Indiana Fever matchup on May 9 at 1 p.m. ET on ABC averaged 2.5 million viewers, making it the second most-watched WNBA regular-season game across ESPN networks ever.

[05/12/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of May 4 - The Critters of "Swapped" Soar to No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
The pursuit of justice is action-packed in "Man on Fire," which set the English TV list ablaze at No. 1 with 12.6 million views.