ABC's SCANDAL Earns Series Ratings High

The ABC drama series SCANDAL earned a series rating high last night. During the 10 o'clock hour, the freshman series took second to CBS' veteran "The Mentalist" in Total Viewers and key Adults (AD18-49/AD25-54). Also in the hour, ABC's "Scandal" crushed its freshman drama competition, outdelivering NBC's "Awake" by best-yet margins in Total Viewers (+224% - 6.8 million vs. 2.1 million), Adults 25-54 (+238% - 2.7/7 vs. 0.8/2) and Adults 18-49 (+200% - 2.1/6 vs. 0.7/2). In addition, "Scandal" paced well ahead of "The Mentalist" with Adults 18-34 (+27% - 1.4/5 vs. 1.1/4) and ranked No. 1 in its slot for the 5th straight week with key Women (W18-49/W25-54).

In other ratings news: 

During the 8 o'clock hour, opposite Fox's "American Idol" and CBS' original comedies ("The Big Bang Theory"/"Rules of Engagement"), ABC's "Missing" (6.3 million) drew 97% more viewers than NBC's original comedy block ("Community"/"30 Rock" = 3.2 million). The new ABC drama also beat out the established NBC comedies with Adults 25-54 (+7%) and Women 18-49 (+7%).

* "Missing" improved its hour year to year by 31% in Total Viewers over original programming on the same night last year ("Wipeout" on 5/5/11 = 4.8 million).

Nearly tripling its lead-in at 9:00 p.m. in Adults 18-49 (+191%), ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" finished as the highest-rated series in its hour for the 4th week in a row to once again register as Thursday's No. 1 drama. Winning the 9 o'clock hour by wide margins, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" (3.2/9) defeated CBS' "Person of Interest" by 28% (2.5/7), Fox's "Idol"-inflated "Touch" by 52% (2.1/6) and NBC's comedy block by 60% ("The Office"/"Parks and Recreation" = 2.0/6). Additionally, "Grey's" qualified as Thursday's top-rated TV series with Women 18-49 and Women 18-34 (5th straight week).

* "Grey's Anatomy" retained 100% of its week-ago "Fast Affiliate" Adult 18-49 rating and grew with Women 18-34 (+5%) to equal its best number in nearly 3 months - since 2/9/12.