TV Ratings: Thursday, January 8, 2009

Now these are the ratings I've been looking forward to seeing. How did the sole survivor of ABC's failed Wednesday night line-up "Private Practice" do in its new timeslot following parent series "Grey's Anatomy"?

Given the fact that "Grey's Anatomy" plummeted to a new season-low (and I would think series-low) of only 13.71 million viewers, the show's audience of 9.03 million meant a decent 65% retention rate (it could have been better, but most of its predecessors in the timeslot have done worse).

This was of course an improvement over its recent Wednesday night figures where the show averaged 7-8 million viewers. Then again, its lead-in on Wednesdays "Pushing Daisies" was almost three times weaker than "Grey's Anatomy."

The ratings last night were obviously affected by BCS Championship game on CBS (many other shows slid to season lows). We'll have a clearer picture of where Thursday night shows stand next week.

8:00
FOX BCS Championship Game 24.17 million
CBS CSI: NY (R) 8.59 million
ABC Ugly Betty 7.51 million
NBC My Name is Earl 5.50 million
CW Smallville (R) 2.30 million

8:30
NBC Kath & Kim 4.15 million

9:00
FOX BCS Championship Game 24.55 million
ABC Grey’s Anatomy 13.71 million
CBS CSI (R) 10.98 million
NBC The Office (R) 4.68 million
CW Supernatural (R) 1.87 million

9:30
NBC 30 Rock 5.24 million

10:00
ABC Private Practice 9.03 million
CBS Eleventh Hour(R) 7.70 million
NBC ER 7.32 million