RATINGS RECAP: 10/2/14

ABC
8:00 Grey's Anatomy
Viewers: 9.4 million, 18-49 demo: 2.7
9:00 Scandal
Viewers: 10.7 million, 18-49 demo: 3.4
10:00 How to Get Away with Murder
Viewers: 12.2 million, 18-49 demo: 3.3

CBS
8:00 Thursday Night Kickoff
Viewers: 8.8 million, 18-49 demo: 2.5
8:30 Thursday Night Football
Viewers: 16.5 million, 18-49 demo: 5.9

NBC
8:00 The Biggest Loser
Viewers: 4.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3
9:00 Bad Judge
Viewers: 5.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3
9:30 A to Z
Viewers: 4.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2
10:00 Parenthood
Viewers: 4.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3

FOX
8:00 Bones
Viewers: 6.4 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
9:00 Gracepoint
Viewers: 4.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2

Thursday night had three series premieres but a 1.3 demo was the best of the three so it was a pretty dreadful night on that front. As expected, NBC had little traction with its new comedy block. First though, The Biggest Loser was up a tenth in viewers and even in the demo. Then the new comedies Bad Judge and A to Z were largely ignored with 1.3 and 1.2 demos, respectively. NBC already has plans for The Blacklist in February at this time, so these will probably linger on through the fall. At 10pm, Parenthood was even in viewers and down a tenth in the demo. On FOX, Bones was up a tenth in viewers and down a tenth in the demo. Then the event series Gracepoint bombed in its first time out, giving FOX another miss. It's a "10 episode event series" so FOX will probably just stick with it.

The second week of ABC's Shonda Rhimes "TGIT" lineup was very strong, though the inevitable drops happened. At 8pm, Grey's Anatomy was down seven tenths in viewers and four tenths in the demo. This is an incredibly strong timeslot upgrade for ABC as Grey's appears to have solved ABC's long Thurs 8pm curse. At 9pm, Scandal was down 1.5 million viewers and half a demo point. Not a surprising drop after it's huge premiere last week. At 10pm, week two of How to Get Away with Murder dropped an understandable 2.1 million viewers and six tenths in the demo. Last week was so big for Scandal and Murder that these drops are not shocking. Where Murder settles is what's important to watch. Another blowout football game on Thursday night resulted in similar numbers to last week.

WINNER OF THE NIGHT: Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
LOSER OF THE NIGHT: Gracepoint (FOX)