'Betty,' 'Grey,' 'CSI,' 'Survivor' hit new lows

[Brian Damage]

NEW YORK -- ABC and CBS split Thursday's primetime, with "Ugly Betty" falling to first-run lows and "Grey's Anatomy" and "CSI" dropping to its lowest marks for a Thursday. "Survivor: Fiji" tied a season low in the demo.

"Grey's Anatomy" (19.1 million, 7.5/20), which won by a wide margin in the demo while gaining only a narrow victory in the hour against "CSI" (18.6 million, 5.4/14), according to preliminary estimates released Friday by Nielsen Media Research. But "Grey's Anatomy" turned in its lowest numbers in households, viewers, adults 18-49 and other measures since it moved to a Thursday.

It was the first time on a Thursday that the ABC drama didn't hit 20 million viewers. "CSI" was down 24% against its season average and was the lowest it had ever done in viewership as a Thursday original. It was also a low for a Thursday in adults 18-49 since Feb. 1, 2001.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...547ef93b53f4b2
"Survivor: Fiji" (13.6 million, 4.3/14) won 8 p.m. against ABC's "Ugly Betty" (9.4 million, 2.9/9), which was beaten in the adults 18-49 demo by Fox's "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader" (9 million, 3.0/10). "Ugly Betty" fell to its lowest numbers for an original show in households, viewers, adults 18-49 and other measures. "Survivor" matched its season low in adults 18-49 and it was the second-lowest adults 18-49 number for the show on a Thursday.

NBC's performance between 8:40 p.m. and 10 p.m. was difficult to determine due to irregular running times with "The Office" and "Scrubs."
Advertisement


A special preview of the drama "Traveler" (8.8 million, 3.6/10) failed to generate much enthusiasm on ABC, coming in third place at 10 p.m. against the season finale of "Without a Trace" (14.4 million, 3.9/11) and "ER" (9.2 million, 3.8/11). "Traveler" was 14% below the average set by "October Road," the previous occupant in the time period. It did however win the hour in adults 18-34, women 18-49 and women 18-34.

ABC (12.4 million, 4.7/14) won the night in adults 18-49 while CBS (15.5 million, 4.5/13) won in viewership, ahead of Fox (8.8 million, 3.0/9), NBC (7.4 million, 3.4/10) and The CW (3.1 million, 1.3/4).