ABC's Thursday Is Up Year to Year Against the World Series/"Grey's" Grows Week to Week

Despite facing the World Series Game 2 on the night, ABC was up over the year-ago Thursday for the 4th week in a row in Adults 18-49 (+10% - 2.3/7 vs. 2.1/6 on 10/25/12). In fact, it was the only network up year to year on the night.

In Adults 18-49, ABC's Scandal is tracking as the week's #1 broadcast drama overall for the 2nd week in a row (tied w/Blacklist and NCIS, which did not face the World Series) and was Thursday's #2 TV series for the 3rd week running (behind only The Big Bang Theory).

Dominating its non-sports competition in the 9 o'clock hour, ABC's Grey's Anatomy was up week to week by 4% in Adults 18-49 (2.8/8 vs. 2.7/8) to match a 3-week high.

Building on its Grey's lead-in for the 4th consecutive week in Adults 18-49 (+7%) at 10pm, ABC's Scandal (3.0/8) beat CBS' Elementary by 67% (1.8/5) and once again more than doubled NBC's Parenthood (+131% - 1.8/5) in the hour.

Scandal was up by wide margins over its telecast on the same night last year against the World Series, surging by 42% in Total Viewers (8.6 million vs. 6.1 million) and by 50% in Adults 18-49 (3.0/8 vs. 2.0/5).

Quick Take for Thursday, October 24, 2013 (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings)

Against the World Series, ABC is the Only Network Up Year to Year on Thursday

"Once Upon a Time in Wonderland" Retains 100% of its Delivery Week to Week In Adults 18-34, Women 18-34 and Adults 25-54, while Spiking 33% in Kids 2-11

"Grey's Anatomy" Grows Week to Week in Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34

"Scandal" Tracks as the Week's No. 1 Broadcast Drama for the 2nd Straight Week

ABC Thursday Prime (8:00-11:00 p.m. - 7.2 million and 2.3/7 in AD18-49):

Despite facing the World Series Game 2 on the night, ABC was up over the year-ago Thursday for the 4th week in a row in Adults 18-49 (+10% - 2.3/7 vs. 2.1/6 on 10/25/12). In fact, it was the only network up year to year on the night.

· In Adults 18-49, ABC's "Scandal" is tracking as the week's No. 1 broadcast drama for the 2nd week in a row (tied w/NBC's "Blacklist" and CBS' "NCIS," which did not face the World Series) and was Thursday's No. 2 TV series for the 3rd week running (behind only CBS' "The Big Bang Theory").

"Once Upon a Time in Wonderland" (8:00-9:00 p.m. - 4.3 million and 1.1/4 in AD18-49):

During the 8 o'clock hour, ABC's "Once Upon a Time in Wonderland" paced within 1-tenth of an Adult 18-49 rating point week to week and delivered 100% retention of the prior week's telecast with Adults 18-34, Women 18-34 and Adults 25-54. The show spiked 33% week to week with Kids 2-11.

"Grey's Anatomy" (9:00-10:00 p.m. - 8.5 million and 2.8/8 in AD18-49):

During the 9 o'clock hour, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" (2.8/8) dominated its non-sports competition in Adults 18-49, leading CBS' comedies by 22% ("The Crazy Ones"/"Two and a Half Men" = 2.3/6) and continued to more than double NBC's comedies (+133% over "Sean Saves the World"/"The Michael J Fox Show" = 1.2/3).

· "Grey's Anatomy" was up week to week in Adults 18-49 (+4%) and Adults 18-34 (+9%) to deliver 3-week highs.

"Scandal" (10:00-11:00 p.m. - 8.6 million and 3.0/8 in AD18-49):

Building on its "Grey's" lead-in for the 4th consecutive week in Adults 18-49 (+7%) at 10:00 p.m., ABC's "Scandal" (3.0/8) beat CBS' "Elementary" by 67% (1.8/5) and once again more than doubled NBC's "Parenthood" (+131% - 1.8/5) in the hour.

· "Scandal" was up by wide margins over its year-ago telecast against the World Series, surging by 42% in Total Viewers (8.6 million vs. 6.1 million) and by 50% in Adults 18-49 (3.0/8 vs. 2.0/5).

Social Stats: "Scandal" was Thursday's No. 1 most social TV series with 203,968 tweets.

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 48% currently, from 46% at the same point in 2012. 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: The Nielsen Company, Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings, 10/24/13. Socialguide 10/24/13, Total Tweets for each episode +/- 3hrs during telecast.