RATINGS RECAP: 9/25/14

ABC
8:00 Grey's Anatomy
Viewers: 10.1 million, 18-49 demo: 3.1
9:00 Scandal
Viewers: 12.2 million, 18-49 demo: 3.9
10:00 How to Get Away with Murder
Viewers: 14.3 million, 18-49 demo: 3.9

CBS
8:00 Thursday Night Kickoff
Viewers: 7.2 million, 18-49 demo: 2.2
8:30 Thursday Night Football
Viewers: 16.3 million, 18-49 demo: 6.0

NBC
8:00 The Biggest Loser
Viewers: 4.5 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3
10:00 Parenthood
Viewers: 4.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4

FOX
8:00 Bones
Viewers: 6.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.6
9:00 Sleepy Hollow (Repeat)
Viewers: 2.3 million, 18-49 demo: 0.6

TGIT indeed... ABC's very hyped Shondaland lineup delivered fantastic results in its first time out from start to finish. It really couldn't have gone better for ABC. At 8pm, Grey's Anatomy in its new timeslot may have finally broken ABC's decades-long Thursday night 8pm curse. The season premiere delivered the best ratings for ABC in the timeslot for a regularly scheduled show since FlashForward way back on October 22, 2009 and that show evaporated quickly thereafter. Grey's should be more stable - even if/when it drops some, it seems like it could still be around last year's 9pm levels. At 9pm, the season premiere of Scandal delivered series highs for the hit show. The 9pm move looks like a smart one right now as the show showed no signs of a slump and the many live tweeters didn't mind doing it an hour earlier. Then at 10pm, the newest Shondaland entry, How to Get Away with Murder delivered dazzling numbers, Not only did it tie Scandal in the demo, it actually built on it in viewers. Scandal and Murder are the top two scripted dramas in premiere week by almost a full demo point and Murder delivered a better demo than any new show last year or this year except for Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ABC is also now the owner of the top demo debut so far for both comedies (Black-ish) and dramas (Murder) this season (of course, no other comedies have premiered yet but I have a feeling it's gonna stay this way).

While ABC had much to celebrate, CBS actually won the night thanks to a strong Thursday night football game. Even in another one-sided game, it pulled in strong numbers perhaps thanks to the two teams coming from the big metro areas of New York and Washington DC. On NBC, The Biggest Loser was down a tenth in viewers and even in the demo. The season premiere of the final season of Parenthood was slightly above what it was getting most of last season. Against a huge series premiere on ABC and football, things could have been worse. FOX had the season premiere of Bones and it delivered very modest numbers. A 1.6 demo doesn't look great, but it makes it the third strongest program on FOX this week after the Monday pair of Gotham and Sleepy Hollow. That's just how bad things are for FOX this early in the season.

WINNER OF THE NIGHT: How to Get Away with Murder (ABC)
LOSER OF THE NIGHT: The Biggest Loser (NBC)