‘Grey’s Anatomy’ on ABC Tops Thursday

THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2017

Household Rating/Share
ABC: 4.4/ 8, NBC: 3.3/ 6, CBS: 3.0/ 5, Fox: 2.1/ 3, CW: 0.4/ 1

-Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening:
NBC: +32, CBS: + 7, ABC: -14, CW: -43, Fox: -64

-Ratings Breakdown:
The overnight ratings are back following the multi-day delay by Nielsen after a power outage at its data center in Florida last weekend. We begin with night one of the 2017 NCAA Basketball Tournament, which averaged a third-place 3.0 rating/5 share in the household overnights on CBS from 8-11 p.m. ET. Results for any live sporting evening, of course, are always approximate, and this does not include coverage of the games on TBS, TNT and truTV. Coverage on CBS on the year-ago evening scored a 2.8/ 5 in the household overnights.

ABC took the night with ease, with veteran “Grey’s Anatomy” the top-rated series with a 6.0/10 at 8 p.m. But season two of “The Catch” is no catch, so to speak, in these household overnights with a 2.9/ 5 (#2) at 10 p.m. Comparably, that slipped from lead-in “Scandal” (#2: 4.4/ 7 from 9-10 p.m.) by 34 percent. And it was 29 percent below year-ago time period occupant “How To Get Away With Murder” (4.1/ 7 on 3/17/16).

Also lagging at 10 p.m. was NBC’s recently introduced “The Blacklist: Redemption” at a 2.8/ 5 (#3), which declined by 40 percent from the 4.7/ 8 for lead-in “Chicago Med” and was 24 percent below year-ago occupant “Shades of Blue” (3.7/ 6 on 3/17/16).

Earlier in the evening on NBC was sitcom “Superstore” at a 2.8/ 5 in the 8 p.m. half-hour (#3t), which was its highest overnight rating since Jan. 12, followed by an encore telecast of the pilot episode of “Trial & Error” at a 2.0/ 3 (#4) at 8:30 p.m.
In week two news on Fox was reality/competition “Kicking & Screaming” at a subpar 1.4/ 2 in the household overnights at 9 p.m., which was equal to its week-ago launch. Lead-in “MasterChef Junior” scored a 2.8/ 5 from 8-9 p.m.

The CW capped off the evening with repeats of the final two episodes of “The Vampire Diaries” at an average 0.4/ 1 from 8-10 p.m.

What follows is the breakdown by half-hour for Thursday, March 16:

8:00 p.m.
ABC – “Grey’s Anatomy”: 6.0/10 (#1)
CBS – 2017 NCAA Basketball Tournament: 3.1/ 6 (#2)
NBC – “Superstore”: 2.8/ 5 (#3t)
Fox – “MasterChef Junior”: 2.8/ 5 (#3t)
CW – “The Vampire Dairies”: (R): 0.5/ 1 (#5)

8:30 p.m.
ABC – “Grey’s Anatomy”: 5.9/10 (#1)
CBS – 2017 NCAA Basketball Tournament: 3.1/ 5 (#2)
NBC – “Trial & Error” (R): 2.0/ 3 (#4)
Fox – “MasterChef Junior”: 2.8/ 5 (#4)
CW – “The Vampire Dairies”: (R): 0.4/ 1 (#5)

9:00 p.m.
ABC – “Scandal”: 4.5/ 7 (#2)
CBS – 2017 NCAA Basketball Tournament: 2.6/ 5 (#3)
NBC – “Chicago Med”: 4.6/ 8 (#1)
Fox – “Kicking & Screaming”: 1.4/ 2 (#4)
CW – “The Vampire Dairies”: (R): 0.3/ 1 (#5)

9:30 p.m.
ABC – “Scandal”: 4.4/ 7 (#2)
CBS – 2017 NCAA Basketball Tournament: 3.2/ 6 (#3)
NBC – “Chicago Med”: 4.9/ 8 (#1)
Fox – “Kicking & Screaming”: 1.3/ 2 (#4)
CW – “The Vampire Dairies”: (R): 0.3/ 1 (#5)

10:00 p.m.
ABC – “The Catch”: 3.1/ 5 (#2)
CBS – 2017 NCAA Basketball Tournament: 3.3/ 6 (#1)
NBC – “The Blacklist: Redemption”: 3.1/ 5 (#2)

10:30 p.m.
ABC – “The Catch”: 2.8/ 5 (#1t)
CBS – 2017 NCAA Basketball Tournament: 2.8/ 5 (#1t)
NBC – “The Blacklist: Redemption”: 2.7/ 5 (#3)

Source: Nielsen Media Research