Quick Take for Thursday, February 19, 2009 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

For the 3rd Week in a Row, ABC Wins Thursday Night Among Adults 18-49

Year to Year, ABC's Thursday Gains 2.7 Million Viewers and 27% in Adults 18-49

Posting its 2nd Consecutive Week of Total Viewer Increases, "Ugly Betty" Draws its Biggest Audience Since Early December

Thursday's No. 1 TV Show in Adults 18-49, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" Defeats CBS' "C.S.I." by a Best-of-Season 32% Among Adults 18-49

"Grey's Anatomy" Generates its Most-Watched Telecast in 3 Months

"Private Practice" Tops the 10pm Hour in Both Viewers and Adults 18-49 for the 3rd Straight Week, Leading its Closest Competition by 63% in the Key Sales Demo

"Private Practice" Improves the Time Period for ABC Over the Same Night Last Year by 4.2 Million Viewers and by 76% in Adults 18-49

"Private Practice" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

Winning the 10 o'clock hour for the 3rd consecutive week in both Total Viewers (11.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (4.4/12), "Private Practice" soared to the top of the slot in the key young adult sales demo, beating its nearest competition by 63% (2.7/7 - CBS' "Eleventh Hour" and NBC's "ER" tied). In fact "Private Practice" marked its 4th time in its past 5 telecasts to win the hour in Adults 18-49 and has registered as the No. 1 entertainment telecast with Adults 18-34 on all 7 of its airings in the slot.

* Versus the Net's performance in the hour on the same night last year (2/21/08) with an original "Eli Stone," "Private Practice" improved the time period for ABC by 4.2 million viewers (11.4 million vs. 7.2 million) and by 76% in Adults 18-49 (4.4/12 vs. 2.5/7).

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 30% currently, from 23% at the same point in 2008. 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), 2/19/09.