Schedules Plus, ABC Thursday

Over the rest of December, I will be rolling out the first edition of Schedules Plus, another innovative application of the historical ratings statistic A18-49+. I hope this will be the ultimate resource for comparing the evolution of shows, networks and timeslots over time, complete with ratings numbers that make a fair adjustment for the collective decline. This is not the full realization of the vision here, but I wanted to release a somewhat condensed version because the "complete" version may well be so daunting that it never gets done. The major point is that right now this only includes programs aired in the fall. Much more about the process that went into this at the bottom.

ABC Thursday

	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00	10:30	Avg
2001-02	Whose Line Is It Anyway?		Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?		Primetime Thu		62
	58		51		77
2002-03	Monk (R)		Push, Nevada		Primetime Thu		48
	44		33		67
2003-04	Threat Matrix		Extreme Makeover		Primetime Thu		61
	43		72		68
2004-05	Extreme Makeover		Life As We Know It		Primetime Thu		46
	48		34		55
2005-06	Alias		Night Stalker		Primetime Thu		55
	56		48		61
2006-07	Ugly Betty		Grey's Anatomy		Six Degrees		152
	105		247		103
2007-08	Ugly Betty		Grey's Anatomy		Big Shots		132
	92		216		88
2008-09	Ugly Betty		Grey's Anatomy		Life On Mars		120
	78		190		91
2009-10	Flashforward		Grey's Anatomy		Private Practice		122
	78		171		116
2010-11	My Generation		Grey's Anatomy		Private Practice		106
	53		161		105
2011-12	Charlie's Angels		Grey's Anatomy		Private Practice		104
	58		151		102
2012-13	Last Resort		Grey's Anatomy		Scandal		110
	65		147		119
2013-14	Once Upon a Time in Wonderland		Grey's Anatomy		Scandal		119
	52		143		162
2014-15	Grey's Anatomy		Scandal		How To Get Away with Murder		163
	142		171		176
Avg	69		131		99		100

2014-15 Update: ABC made its two-hour Shonda Rhimes drama block into a three-hour Shonda Rhimes drama block, and it became one of the biggest nights on television. Grey's Anatomy was somehow just barely down in Plus in the move to 8/7c, which allowed them to effectively replace the awful 8/7c occupants with another Scandal-sized player in 10/9c's How to Get Away with Murder. Things came undone somewhat in the spring, when Murder replacement American Crime (69) tanked and Scandal infamously shed 1.2 points in just five episodes. But ABC is hoping it'll all come back together when Murder returns to the saddle this fall.

Notable midseason replacements:

• ABC brought in Dancing with the Stars (124) in the winter of 2006, generally airing it from 8:00 to 9:30.
• In the writer's strike season of 2007-08, Lost (162) filled in for awhile at 9/8c before moving to 10/9c after Grey's returned.
• Private Practice aired the second half of its 2008-09 season at 10/9c, averaging a 127. The short first season of Scandal averaged an 85 at the end of the 2011-12 season.

See here for more explanations/disclaimers about Schedules Plus.