Thursday’s TV Ratings: Grey’s Anatomy’ Hits Season High in Return

The TV ratings for Thursday night have come in, and they show Grey’s Anatomy hit a season high upon its winter return.

While it was not the top show of the evening, the medical drama still pulled in over 8 million viewers, which was enough to make the winter premiere a season best so far.

CBS was the big winner of the evening, with The Big Bang Theory raking in over 14 million viewers and Young Sheldon snagging over 13 million sets of eyeballs, according to Variety.

However, Grey’s Anatomy’s ratings success will prove beneficial for its star, Ellen Pompeo. It was recently reported that Pompeo extended her contract with the show for two more seasons. The new deal will see the series hit at least season 16, and also secures Pompeo as an Executive Producer on Grey’s as well as its upcoming untitled spin-off.

Additionally, its reported that the actress could soon become the highest paid female TV star, as it’s rumored her new salary would reach more the $550,000 per episode.

“The show’s hugely successful for Disney, for ABC, so everybody’s incentivized to keep it going,” Pompeo said about her decision to stay on Grey’s Anatomy. She also gives credit to Krista Vernoff, who came back to the series as its new showrunner for season 14, as part of why she came back as well.

“I was really excited of having a whole completely new fresh voice to write the show,” Pompeo explained. “The writing is a lot smarter, and I love what she’s doing. Everybody does actually, the actors are so happy, they’re so energized.”

ABC recently revealed new details for their mid-season schedule lineup and, in a surprising twist, the Grey’s Anatomy spin-off will be bumping back the wildly popular Scandal.

The Shonda Rhimes-created series, which stars Jason George and Jaina Lee Ortiz, will premiere at 9 p.m. ET on March 22 with a two-hour debut episode, and will then bump Scandal, which usually airs at that time, to 10 p.m. ET.

While not much is known about the new Grey’s spin-off, it is said to revolve around the lives and careers of firefighters in a similar fashion to the way Grey’s Anatomy revolves around the lives and careers of doctors.

In addition to George and Ortiz, the series will also star Grey Damon, Jay Hayden, Okieriete Onaodowan, Danielle Savre, Barrett Doss and Miguel Sandoval, who will be playing the captain of the firehouse.