The season premiere of ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” was the top-ranked primetime telecast on broadcast TV for Thursday, September 25, 2008. The show drew an average of almost 18.5 million viewers.
CBS’s “Survivor: Gabon” season premiere claimed second place, with almost 13.1 million average viewers, while the season premiere of ABC’s other Thursday night premiere, “Ugly Betty,” rounded out the top three, with just over 9.8 million average viewers.
NBC’s three Thursday night season premieres, “Office,” “E.R.,” and “My Name Is Earl,” also made the top ten.
| RANK | NAME | NETWORK | VIEWERS (P2+) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM | ABC | 18,469,000 |
| 2 | SURVIVOR: GABON | CBS | 13,058,000 |
| 3 | UGLY BETTY | ABC | 9,810,000 |
| 4 | OFFICE | NBC | 9,338,000 |
| 5 | CSI 10PM-SPECIAL(S)-09/25/2008 | CBS | 9,280,000 |
| 6 | E.R. | NBC | 8,028,000 |
| 7 | MY NAME IS EARL | NBC | 6,401,000 |
| 8 | FUEGO EN LA SANGRE THU | UNI | 4,989,000 |
| 9 | KITCHEN NIGHTMARES | FOX | 4,463,000 |
| 10 | KITCHEN NIGHTMRS-9/25 8P(S)-09/25/2008 | FOX | 4,185,000 |
| Source: The Nielsen Company (September 25, 2008) | |||
Overall, ABC won the night with an average audience of almost 15.6 million viewers, while CBS took second place with almost 11.9 million average viewers. NBC and FOX claimed third and fourth places — with roughly 7.9 million and 4.3 million average viewers, respectively. Univision and the CW followed in fifth and sixth places with average audiences of almost 4.2 million and 3.7 million viewers, respectively.
