Popularity / Ratings News (Page 3)

All the controversy surrounding Isaiah Washington and T.R. Knight hasn't damaged Grey's Anatomy in its ratings assault, that's for sure.

Five episodes into Season 3, ABC's hit medical series has been defeating CSI in the coveted Thursday, 9 p.m. time slot. Grey's Anatomy is averaging 24 million viewers this season, up 31 percent from last fall.

Meanwhile, CSI, now behind with 22.6 million, is down 21 percent. Grey's Anatomy also leads by 3 million young-adult viewers, the highly coveted demographic by advertisers. It should be noted, however, that CSI remains one of prime time's most popular series in terms of total viewers.

The show's success since moving over to Thursday has exceeded expectations and even surprised the talented cast. Here, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) is seen giving props to newcomer Mark (Eric Dane) for his role in the ratings climb. Just kidding.

The medical examiners on Grey's Anatomy can count up more casualties from CBS' CSI. ABC notched another win over its rival as the ratings for Grey's slightly improved from the previous week, with a 9.6/23 among viewers ages 18-49, versus the 6.9/16 number for CSI.

The gap between the two shows is now almost three full ratings points, each of which are roughly equivalent to a million viewers. Still, CBS will point out that its total viewers' tally isn't so bad. Grey's Anatomy only has a 1.6 million total viewer lead over CSI -- just a 7 percent gap.

The difference between them in the 18-49 demographic ratings is 28 percent. The 18-49 CSI ratings are now its lowest in two years.

But don't give Grey's Anatomy all the credit for derailing the CBS crime drama. Fox's NLCS Game 7 put up a healthy 5.4/15 in the 18-49 group -- the baseball playoffs' best numbers.

All this gave another Thursday win to ABC, its fifth in a row. It averaged a 5.8 rating/15 share, just ahead of CBS' 5.5/14. Fox was third at 4.8/13. Then came NBC with a 4.2/11, the CW at 1.7/4, and Univision at 1.4/3.

Without the big numbers of Grey's Anatomy, ABC wouldn't win the night. The network still has a 10 p.m. headache with its new show Six Degrees, which keeps relatively few of Grey's Anatomy viewers, earning a 3.5/9.

In the latest round of what so far as been a tight Thursday fight, Grey's Anatomy topped CSI in two key measures last week.

Once again, Grey's Anatomy was the night's top show in viewership and adults ages 18-49, with 22.8 million viewers and a 9.3 rating/22 share in the demographic according to estimates released by Nielsen Media Research.

That was ahead of its 9 p.m. rival, CBS' CSI, which garnered 21.6 million, and a 7.5 rating/18 share).

That was good enough for the night's second-most watched show, and the week's third-most viewed, however. CBS also won the night in viewers, despite losing out to ABC in the key demographic by a tenth of a point.

At 8 p.m., the roles were reversed with CBS and Survivor (15.7 million, 5.4/16) taking both viewership and the demo for the hour.

But Ugly Betty (13.8 million, 4.2/12) continued strongly for ABC in its third airing, helping build its case for another night of strength for the network.

The 10 p.m. hour saw NBC's ER (14.4 million, 5.9/16) take both measures, ahead of CBS' Shark (14.1 million, 4.0/11) and ABC's Six Degrees (9.1 million, 3.7/10)

Despite the boost from ER, NBC remained in third place for the night with My Name Is Earl (9.9 million, 3.9/12), The Office (8.8 million, 4.1/11) and an hour of Deal or No Deal (10.1 million, 3.1/7).

The nightly averages where ABC (15.2 million, 5.7/15); CBS (17.1 million, 5.6/15); NBC (11.3 million, 4.3/11); Fox (7.9 million, 2.4/6).

It's a back and forth battle.

Just like Meredith and Addison were vying for the affection of a certain doctor for the first part of Season Two, Grey's Anatomy and CSI have been neck in neck in ratings as the new fall season gets underway.

Of course, we all know who came out on top in the battle for McDreamy's heart; and, based on this week's rankings, we all know who will continue to dominate the airwaves.

Grey's Anatomy beat CSI head-to-head in Thursday night's primetime race, leading ABC to a nightly victory in the coveted adults 18-49 demographic while CBS prevailed in viewers.

"Sometimes a Fantasy" was the night's top show in both total viewership (22.5 million) and adults 18-49 (9.2 rating/13 share), according to estimates by Nielsen Media Research. It was a little more than one million viewers ahead of CSI and well ahead of the CBS stalwart in the key demographic.

What did you think of the episode? Did it deserve such a high number of viewers? Talk it about it with other fans on our Grey's Anatomy Forums!

It would seem to defy logic, and it doesn't happen often, but the two most popular shows on TV last week aired at the same time.

That's right, CSI and Grey's Anatomy, which share the same Thursday night slot, both dominated the Nielsen rankings with more than 23 million viewers last week.

CSI pulled out a narrow victory after being bested by Grey's Anatomy a week earlier. Only one other show, ABC's Desperate Housewives, reached 20 million viewers during the second week of the TV season.

It's not unprecedented for the top two shows to air simultaneously. It happened in April 2004 with CSI and the season finale of The Apprentice. On one occasion this summer, it happened with America's Got Talent and So You Think You Can Dance.

But with the popularity of Grey's Anatomy and CSI, there's a good chance of its happening several times again.

Continue Reading...

ABC took round one of the much-anticipated Thursday ratings battle, as Grey's Anatomy unseated CSI as the night's top show.

For the night, ABC averaged an 11.2 rating and an 18 share, taking the ratings crown on TV's biggest night. CBS was close behind with an 11.0 rating and a 17 share, and actually won in terms of total viewers with 18.08 million to ABC's 17.31 million.

NBC came in third with a 7.4/12, while FOX posted a 2.9/5 showing, and The CW brought up the rear at 1.6/2. On the strength of Grey's, ABC claimed victory among adults 18-49 with a 7.2 rating.Continue Reading...

Regardless of who Meredith chooses when Season 3 begins next week, there's no doubt that millions of fans have already chosen to love Grey's Anatomy... and will follow it to its new night.

Here's a recent advertisement we saw and scanned:

You know a show has become a hit when it starts leaving a mark -- however small -- on contemporary culture.

The characters on Grey's Anatomy are known for their witty banter, and a couple of their catch-phrases have become a part of the American lexicon. Beginning very early in the first season, a "McLabeling" trend.

The first reference was, obviously, to Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd. Smitten with Derek from day one, Dr. Meredith Grey used the term to convey that he was, in her estimation, the quintessential heartthrob.

As the clever phrase caught on with audiences and cast members alike, other characters (and pets, and inanimate objects) began being McLabeled.

Derek's former best friend, Dr. Mark Sloan, was nicknamed "McSteamy" by the interns when he visited Seattle Grace. In addition to his handsomeness, Sloan was also Addison Shepherd's infamous former lover, contributing greatly to his McSteaminess -- and the "McVomit" George was about to choke down if forced to listen to his counterparts gush over Sloan any longer.

When Addison (who is "McHot" herself, according to normally macho intern Alex Karev) and Derek decided to reconcile, Meredith lamented losing her "McLife" and adopted a shaggy "McDog" to help herself cope. When her canine companion fell ill, he was treated by Finn Dandridge, who promptly became known as "McVet."

Additionally, the characters often overuse "seriously" both at the start and the end of sentences, making their questions or statements more emphatic.

Creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes says that Krista Vernoff, one of the show's top writers, used the saying all the time, and it quickly grew contagious, spreading to the cast and permeating its dialogue.

What do the writers have in store for us next season? We can only wait and see, but chances are that these and other amusing trends will surface.

The strong sophomore season by Grey's Anatomy was good enough for fifth place in ratings among all prime time programs in 2005-06, according to a list released by The Hollywood Reporter.

Nearly 20 million people tuned in to watch the antics and drama of the Seattle Grace staff every week, a number eclipsed only by Desperate Housewives (the show's Sunday lead-in before ABC moved Grey's to Thursday), CSI, and both nights of American Idol.

While the Shonda Rhimes brainchild and unique medical drama did well throughout its second season, it really picked up steam after its two-part, post-Super Bowl episode and reached new highs with a three-part, season-ending cliffhanger.

Four CBS programs made the top 10, while both ABC and FOX occupied three spots. NBC was blanked. Here’s the top 10, ranked by average viewers:

1. American Idol (Tuesday), 31.2 million
2. American Idol (Wednesday), 30.2 million
3. CSI, 25 million
4. Desperate Housewives, 22.2 million
5. Grey’s Anatomy, 19.9 million
6. Without A Trace, 18.7 million
7. Dancing with the Stars (Thursday), 18.6 million
8. Survivor: Guatemala, 18.3 million
9. CSI: Miami, 18.1 million
10. House, 17.3 miillion

In other news, Buena Vista Television is trying to hammer out a cable syndication deal involving Grey’s Anatomy. The company is reportedly seeking $2 million per episode in an all-cash, four-year licensing deal with no cap on the number of seasons. The syndication arrangement would start in 2009, with the repurposed episodes airing sooner than that.

Some in the cable TV business think the final episode price will be closer to $700,000 per, while others estimate it could end up at more than $1 million. Desperate Housewives, also owned by Buena Vista, recently went to Lifetime at $500,000 per episode and is slated for a 2008 start. The asking price was initially $1.2 million per episode.

The syndicator is targeting Turner networks, USA, ABC Family and, perhaps, Oxygen, as future homes for Grey's Anatomy.

Staying at home with an infant daughter, Shonda Rhimes discovered pretty quickly that there were basically two things to do:

1. Change diapers
2. Watch television.

So the screenwriter watched, day in and day out. But, Rhimes told Time Magazine, she found the females on TV a boring lot.

"They seemed to exist purely in relation to the men in their lives. Women I knew were competitive and a little snarky and had their share of bad days. There wasn't a show out there about women who seemed like them," she said.

So, with her daughter Harper on her lap, Rhimes hammered out the first episode of Grey's Anatomy, a medical drama centered around five interns (three female, two male) in a fictional Seattle hospital. She stocked her pilot with the complex, ambitious, clever and confused women -- the type of people she knew in real life.

"They were my fantasy men," said Rhimes of Drs. Burke (Isaiah Washington) and Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), two senior surgeons. "They got to say and do things that I wish men would say and do."

Even as she put the finishing touches on the epic season two finale, the 36-year old Grey's Anatomy creator found it surprising that her initial foray into prime-time TV has turned into a monster hit. Grey's ranks among the top five prime-time shows, with nearly 20 million viewers a week.
Continue Reading...