"American Idol" hit an all-time low Thursday night while CBS and ABC tied for first in ratings and "Grey's Anatomy" took the night's best ratings in the key demographic.
The singing competition, which began at 8 p.m., scored a 2.7 rating/9 share in the advertiser-preferred 18-49 demographic, marking the show's lowest rating in history. However, "Idol" still raked in 11 million total viewers which gave Fox first place in total viewers.
Both ABC and CBS averaged a 2.3/7 in the demo and took second place in total viewers with 7 million. Despite the first-place tie, the ratings for ABC's "Wife Swap" dropped 18 percent from last week's season premiere to 4.3 million viewers for a 1.4/5 rating. Grey's Anatomy also slid 7 percent from last week to 8.8 million viewers and a 2.8 key demo rating. Scandal dropped to 8 million and a 2.6 18-49 rating.
CBS' NCAA March Madness, or the NCAA Basketball Playoffs, drew 6.9 million viewers and a 2.3 18-49 rating.
Fox took third place in ratings and first in total viewers with a 2.0/6 and 7.5 million. After "Idol," the network aired the first part of the "Raising Hope" season finale at 9, which drew a 1.4/4 and took 4.6 million total viewers and the second half of the finale drew a 1.2/3 with 3.5 million total viewers.