Update: Thursday’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” which featured the death of Patrick Dempsey’s Derek Shepherd, posted the series’ best marks since the September 2014 season premiere.
According to final broadcast data, the episode drew a 2.8 adults 18-49 rating with 9.55 million viewers. ABC’s top program for the night, it was Thursday’s overall #2 show in both adults 18-49 and viewership.
Only CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” (3.6, 14.63 million) fared better.
ABC led out of “Grey’s” with “Scandal” (2.3, 7.79 million) and “American Crime” (0.9, 4.05 million).
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Update: Per fast national data, Thursday’s shocker of a “Grey’s Anatomy” episode enjoyed a 33% week-over-week uptick in adults 18-49. It was the highest-rated episode since the September 2014 season premiere.
The episode, which included the death of Patrick Dempsey’s Derek Shepherd, drew a preliminary 2.8 adults 18-49 rating with 9.43 million viewers. Both numbers were up sharply from the 2.1 rating and 7.60 million viewership averages drawn by last week’s telecast.
While buzz suggested this week’s episode was a game-changer, McDreamy’s death still came as a surprise to many viewers. Since many did not know exactly how big this episode would be prior to Thursday’s telecast, the boost was certainly not as big as it could have been.
With the word now officially out, one would assume next week’s follow-up will also deliver an elevated performance.
ABC also aired “Scandal” (2.3, 7.77 million viewers) and “American Crime” (0.9, 4.14 million).
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While much of the viewing public did not know Patrick Dempsey’s Derek Shepherd was going to die in Thursday’s edition of “Grey’s Anatomy,” many were aware of hype suggesting it was a pivotal episode.
Others, meanwhile, came across a prematurely distributed Entertainment Weekly interview that confirmed Dempsey’s imminent departure from the show.
The totality of that buzz led Thursday’s “Grey’s Anatomy” to a season high performance in the overnight household ratings.
Per metered market data, Thursday’s “Grey’s” drew a 7.6 overnight household rating.
Up dramatically from the 6.0 drawn by last week’s episode, this Thursday’s “Grey’s” was the night’s top-rated ABC program and top drama on all of television.
Whether an increase of the same magnitude manifests in the adults 18-49 and total viewership numbers remains to be seen, but it seems obvious “Grey’s” will be up in those areas as well.
Fast national data, which offers a preliminary look at adults 18-49 and total viewership data, will be released by 11:15 AM ET.
— ABC led out of “Grey’s” with “Scandal” (6.3 overnight household rating) and “American Crime” (3.3 overnight household rating). The former was up slightly from last week’s 6.1, while the latter was down slightly from the previous episode’s 3.4.