"Grey's Anatomy" drew the night's top ratings Thursday night, combining with the season premiere of "Wipe Swap" to give ABC a tie for first with Fox. Meanwhile, NBC's troubled freshman comedy "1600 Penn" slid to a new low, according to preliminary numbers.
Fox tied ABC for first in ratings with a 2.7 rating/7 share and took first place outright in total viewers with 8.8 million total viewers. The "American Idol" results show at 8 p.m. dipped 7 percent in total viewers from last week, drawing a 2.8/9, but ticked up slightly in total viewers for 11.7 million, making it the night's most-watched program. "Glee" the following hour drew even with last week for a 2.0/5 and had 5.9 million total viewers.
ABC took second place in total viewers with 7.6 million. The season premiere of "Wife Swap" at 8 posted a 1.7/5 — up 42 percent from its last season premiere in April 2010, but down 29 percent from this February's premiere of "Celebrity Wife Swap" — and had five million total viewers. "Grey's Anatomy" the following hour grew 12 percent over last week to take the night's best ratings with a 2.9/8 and had 9.1 million total viewers. Returning after a month, "Scandal" was even with its last original with a 2.7/8 and took 8.6 million total viewers.
Univision came in third in ratings and fourth in total viewers with a 1.7/5 and 3.9 million.
CBS took fourth place in ratings and third in total viewers with a 1.6/5 and 4.7 million. The network ran the NCAA Basketball Playoffs — down 6 percent from last year's preliminary numbers, though the nature of live sports render the network's numbers for the night approximate.
NBC came in fifth in ratings and total viewers with a 1.0/3 and 3.1 million. "Community" at 8 drew even with last week, tying a series low of 1.1/4 and had 3 million total viewers. Running in the "Parks and Recreation" timeslot at 8:30, "1600 Penn" drew a 0.9/3 — down 44 percent from last week's "Parks and Recreation" — and had 2.5 million total viewers. Following a repeat of "The Office," another "1600 Penn" episode at 9:30 took a 0.8/2 — down 20 percent from last week, and a new series low — and had 2.3 million total viewers. A "Law & Order: SVU" repeat closed out the night.
