“Ugly Betty” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
Growing week to week, ABC’s “Ugly Betty” took second place in its hour among Total Viewers (8.5 million) to CBS’ “Survivor: Gabon,” topping NBC’s comedies which included the debut of “Kath & Kim” by 1.2 million viewers (”My Name is Earl”/”Kath & Kim” = 7.3 million).    Leading its nearest competition in the hour by 16% in Women 18-34 (3.6/11 vs. 3.1/10 – CBS), “Betty” ranked No. 1 in its time period for the 3rd week in a row among young women.
 
* “Ugly Betty” was up week to week in both Total Viewers (8.5 million vs. 8.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.6/7 vs. 2.5/7).
 
“Grey’s Anatomy” (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Opposite the season premiere of CBS’ “C.S.I. in the 9 o’clock hour,” ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” took second in the hour to stand as Thursday’s No. 2 TV show in both Total Viewers (14.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (5.5/13).  “Grey’s” beat the “C.S.I.” premiere by 20% among Adults 18-34 (5.3/14 vs. 4.4/12).  The ABC medical drama led the hour by 47% (7.8/19 vs. 5.3/13 – CBS and NBC tied) and registered as Thursday’s No. 1 TV show with Women 18-34.
  
“Life on Mars” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
TV’s highest-rated drama debut of the season, ABC’s series debut of “Life on Mars” topped CBS’ series premiere of “Eleventh Hour” by solid margins in the 10 o’clock hour across all key Adult demos:  AD18-34 +23% (2.7/8 vs. 2.2/7), AD18-49 +15% (3.8/10 vs. 3.3/9) and AD25-54 +14% (4.8/12 vs. 4.2/10).  In addition, “Life on Mars” ranked No. 1 in the hour in AD25-54, M25-54 and W25-54, and was the top-rated broadcast show in the slot with Teens 12-17 (1.4/6).   

* “Life on Mars” stands as TV’s No. 1 drama debut of the season in Adults 18-49, and the highest-rated Fall drama opener in 1 year – since 10/3/07.

* “Life on Mars” improved the time period for ABC over the same night last year (w/”Big Shots”) by 3.1 million viewers (11.6 million vs. 8.5 million), by 6% in Adults 18-49 (3.8/10 vs. 3.6/10) and by 17% in Adults 25-54 (4.8/12 vs. 4.1/11).
* “Life on Mars” retained a strong 93% of its lead-in among Men 18-49 (2.8/8 vs. 3.0/8) and built on Grey’s Anatomy by 6% in Men 25-54 (3.7/10 vs. 3.5/8).

 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 28% currently, from 20% at the same point in 2007. 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), 10/9/08.