TV ratings: ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ ‘Scandal’ rise with fall finales

“Scandal” viewers learned the truth about Olivia Pope’s mother Thursday night, and it looks like there were plenty of them. “Scandal” and “Grey’s Anatomy” had their midseason finales on ABC, and both series saw lifts in their total audiences and among key 18-to-49-year-old viewers, according to early numbers from Nielsen.

“Grey’s” drew 8.5 million viewers, up 20% compared with last week, and scored a rating of 2.7 in the advertiser-desired young adults demographic, improved from last week’s series low. Kerry Washington’s Beltway drama followed with a 3.2 rating, up 7% week-to-week, and 9.3 million watching on average. The spinoff “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland” is still not feeling much magic, drawing a 0.9 rating.

Numbers for CBS’ 8-9 p.m. hour are probably not very precise because of the NFL game that ran in San Diego and Denver, but “Big Bang Theory” is likely the top telecast of the night by far, with an audience of around 18.5 million and a rating of 5.3. The Will Arnett comedy “Millers” drew a 2.9 based on the likely inflated preliminary numbers, though it’s probably up week-to-week and winning its time slot.

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“Crazy Ones” and “Elementary” were flat and “Two and a Half Men” was down 9%. CBS won the night in both measures.

NBC’s revived “Sing-Off,” hosted by Nick Lachey, drew a 1.4 rating, down 22% from Wednesday. Still, “Sing-Off” for the second night in a row beat its musical competition, Simon Cowell’s “The X Factor” on Fox, which got a 1.2 in 18-49.

The freshman NBC comedy “Sean Saves the World” returned after some weeks off with a 1.0 in the key demo, up 11% from its last original episode, while “The Michael J. Fox Show” matched its last original episode last month with a demo rating of 0.9 and rose to just more than 3 million viewers. “Parenthood” closed out the night with a 1.2, flat with three weeks ago.

“X Factor’s” rating fell 14% though it held steady in the broader total viewership measure, coming before a “Glee” encore. Fox averaged 3.68 million viewers overall and pulled a rating of 1.0 in 18-49, coming in below Univision among young adults.

On the CW, the midseason closer of “Vampire Diaries” was flat with last week in 18-49, but gained among young women and overall viewers. “Reign” had its most-watched episode since its premiere, with 1.86 million viewers.

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