In a first, 'Office'
beats 'Grey's Anatomy'
Averages a 4.7 in 18-49s for one-hour episode
By Toni Fitzgerald
Mar 5, 2010
There's a new No. 1 show in the highly competitive Thursday 9 p.m. hour.
For the first time, NBC's "The Office" beat an original episode of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," with a one-hour baby delivery episode delivering "Office's" best rating since Oct. 8.
"Office" averaged a 4.7 adults 18-49 rating at 9 p.m., according to Nielsen overnights, 0.7 ahead of ABC's "Grey's," which finished second in the slot.
"Office" was up 27 percent versus its most recent original airing earlier this month.
"Office" got heavy promotion during the recent Winter Olympics, against which "Grey's" dipped to a series low two weeks ago. The long-running ABC drama rebounded a bit from a 3.7 in its most recent outing.
Every Big Four show in the 9 p.m. hour averaged at least a 3.3, a real rarity these days.
The big lead-in from "Office" helped new show "The Marriage Ref" win its timeslot at 10 p.m., continuing a string of solid numbers for NBC this week in the hour, now that "The Jay Leno Show" is gone.
"Ref" averaged a 3.4, besting second-place "The Mentalist" on CBS by 0.2.
"Ref," a program produced by Jerry Seinfeld in which celebrities comment on marriage woes of everyday Jane and Joes, did slip 31 percent from Sunday's special preview, which was to be expected; that aired right after the Olympic closing ceremony and averaged a 4.8.
Meanwhile, Fox led the night among 18-49s with a 4.9 average overnight rating and a 13 share. CBS was second at 3.6/10, NBC third at 3.5/10, ABC fourth at 2.6/7, Univision fifth at 1.5/4 and CW sixth at 0.7/2.
As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Thirty-six percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.
At 8 p.m. Fox was first with a 6.5 for “American Idol,” with CBS second with a 3.8 for “Survivor.” NBC was third with a 2.3 for “Community” (2.3) and “Parks and Recreation” (2.3), Univision fourth with a 1.8 for “Hasta que el Dinero Nos Separe,” ABC fifth with a 1.2 for a repeat of “Grey’s” and CW sixth with a 0.7 for “The Vampire Diaries.”
NBC took the lead at 9 p.m. with a 4.7 for “Office,” while ABC moved to second with a 4.0 for a new “Grey’s.” CBS was third with a 3.7 for “CSI,” Fox fourth with a 3.3 for “Kitchen Nightmares,” Univision fifth with a 1.4 for “Corazon Salvaje” and CW sixth with a 0.6 for “Supernatural.”
At 10 p.m. NBC led again with a 3.4 for “Ref,” followed by CBS with a 3.2 for “Mentalist.” ABC was third with a season-low 2.7 for “Private Practice” and Univision fourth with a 1.3 for “Mujeres Asesinas.”
CBS was first for the night among households with an 8.7 average overnight rating and a 14 share. Fox was second at 8.0/13, ABC third at 5.5/9, NBC fourth at 4.3/7, Univision fifth at 1.9/3 and CW sixth at 1.1/2.
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