Stats Spotlight - Thursday Night - Grey's Anatomy / Person of Interest / Last Resort / Elementary and more

(Check out my website, www.seriesmonitor.com)

Yesterday was Thursday, and that's good news because there's lots of statistics for me to talk about

Of particular interest, was the competition between ABC and CBS, with both networks airing premieres throughout the evening.

On ABC, Last Resort aired its series premiere episode at 8pm, which led in the nineth season of Shonda Rhimes' Grey's Anatomy, at 9pm. At 10pm, another Shonda Rhimes drama, Scandal, began its second season

CBS brought four premieres to the table, with two heavyweight half hour comedies, The Big Bang Theory, and Two and a Half Men, taking things through from 8 - 9pm, with their sixth and tenth season premieres respectively. Then it was Person of Interest's turn for its second season premiere, providing the lead-in for the series premiere of Elementary, at 10pm

ABC's Last Resort has been one of the most anticipated series premieres this season. The episode was made available online prior to premiere night, but it certainly didn't have the same pulling power as NBC's Revolution (Mondays 10|9c) on its premiere night, instead only managing a 2.2 18/49 rating, and 9.31 million viewers

CBS had the 8pm timeslot well and truly covered, with The Big Bang Theory, which pulled in a massive 5.0 rating, it's highest rated premiere ever, and 16.66 million viewers, also a premiere high. Two and a Half Men didn't do quite as well, but it was still by far the second most watched show in its timeslot, with a 3.5 18/49 rating and 12.54 million viewers. FOX also chipped in, with The X Factor, pulling in a 3.2 rating and 9.39 million viewers

Grey's Anatomy won the timeslot at 9pm, , with a 4.4 rating, and 11.73 million viewers, both numbers up on last seasons premiere. Person of Interest, with what was a sensational premiere, I might add, came second on ratings, but first in audience with a 2.9 rating, and 14.28 million viewers. The series premiere last season rated higher (3.1) but this seasons premiere had about 1 million more viewers than last seasons series premiere. Over on FOX, Glee aired its third episode of season 4, which earned a modest 2.4 rating, and 5.79 million viewers, quite significantly down on last week. Also worth a mention was NBC's The Office, with a 2.1 rating, and 4.13 million viewers, from 9 - 9:30pm. Following The Office, Parks & Recreation earned a 1.6 rating, and 3.27 million viewers from 9:30 - 10pm

To finish off the evening, ABC's Scandal made its second season debut, with a fast paced, action packed premiere. A lot has happened since the first season finale, which asked far more questions than it answered. Despite a solid Grey's Anatomy lead-in, Scandal only managed a 2.1 rating, and 6.74 million viewers. That's a higher rating, but lower audience, on last seasons series premiere. The premiere of CBS's Elementary did far better - a full ratings point, and double the audience of Scandal, better, with a 3.1 rating, and 13.41 million viewers.

Next Thursday will be interesting, now that the premieres are out of the way. If the traditional trend of a series premiere being far more viewed and higher rated than the next episode continues, expect Last Resort and Elementary to drop somewhat. But that lost audience will have to go somewhere, most likely to the CBS comedies in Last Resort's case, and possibly to ABC's Scandal, or to bed, in Elementary's case.

The 9pm timeslot will be most interesting, with Grey's Anatomy, Person of Interest, and Glee, up against each other for a second week. All three shows have high ratings ratios for their audience numbers, and all three also happen to be completely different genres, meaning any skeptical viewers might be more inclined to stick with the show they are skeptical about, instead of switching to a completely different show.

So what do you think?? How did your favorite show(s) do?? Share your thoughts in the comments below

I'll leave you with the Grey's Anatomy All Time Ratings and All Time Audience graphs, from my website, www.seriesmonitor.com. You can see the steady decline of both ratings and audience numbers over the 8 previous seasons, along with the show's lead-ins. It will be interesting to see if the ratings and audience numbers continue to drop, or remain steady, throughout the season

Ratings numbers are available right through from Season 5, to date. The decline has been steady, but with a lot of rises and falls

Audience numbers are available for the duration of the series. Notice the climb over the first 2 seasons, then a steady decline through the latter seasons

Thanks for reading!! Don't forget to check out my website, www.seriesmonitor.com, for comprehensive statistics on most of the shows I've mentioned in this article

Jimmy