So-So Start for ABC’s ‘Scandal’

Shonda Rhimes drama premieres to a 2.0 rating

ABC’s heavily promoted new political drama, Scandal, bowed Thursday night to unspectacular numbers, delivering 7.33 million viewers and a 2.0 in the 18-49 demo.

The Shonda Rhimes project stands as ABC’s lowest-rated drama launch of the 2011-12 season, trailing recent series premieres Missing (10.6 million viewers/2.1 rating), GCB (7.56 million viewers/2.2 rating) and The River (7.59 million viewers/2.4 rating).

While 10 p.m. has become a veritable dead zone, it’s worth noting that demo deliveries were down 5 percent across the board Thursday night, which marked the eve of two tremendously solemn religious holidays (Good Friday and Passover).

Scandal retained 89 percent of its Grey’s Anatomy lead-in and easily crushed NBC’s Awake, which fell to a series low 2.56

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