Ratings Chart Attack!

ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy”/“Private Practice” crossover event gave the network a strong win Thursday night, while the premiere of CBS’ “Survivor: Tocantins” got off to a solid start.

Last night’s “Grey’s” (5.9/14, 15.1 million) was up 2% from last week and earned its highest ratings since November. “Practice” (5.8/15, 14.2 million) was up 9% from last week and retained 98% of its “Grey’s” lead-in, posting a new series high. At 8 p.m. a new “Ugly Betty” was flat from last week to match its series low with a 2.3/6 (7.4 million). The network finished with an average 4.6/12 (12.2 million) for the night.

Viewers remained loyal to CBS’ “Survivor,” as the 18th season opened with a 4.4/13 (13.8 million). Last night’s opener was down only 2% from the premiere of “Survivor: Gabon” last September, and down 10% from last spring’s premiere of “Survivor: Micronesia.” Although the show won its hour, it was the franchise’s lowest premiere to date. New episodes of “CSI” (4.9/12, 17.8 million) and “Eleventh Hour” (2.7/7, 11 million) were down 9% and 13%, respectively, from their previous original telecasts. CBS finished the night second with an average 4.0/11 (14.2 million).

NBC’s lineup of new episodes gave the network third place for the night with an average 3.1/8 (7.1 million). All of last night’s comedies posted some gains from last week. “My Name Is Earl” (2.6/8, 6.3 million) was up 4% and “Kath & Kim” (2.4/6, 5.5 million) had a 14% bump to match its previous series high from October. At 9 p.m. the conclusion of a two-part “The Office” was up 7% from last week to post a 4.6/11 (8.9 million), while “30 Rock” (3.8/9, 7.6 million) increased the most with a 23% jump from last week. At 10 p.m. a new episode of “ER” (2.6, 7, 7.2 million) was flat from last week but 21% under its previous season-to-date average.

Fox finished fourth with its presentation of the “2009 NAACP Image Awards,” which scored a 1.4/4 (4.2 million), which was flat from last year’s telecast.

Repeats of “Smallville” (0.9/3, 2.4 million) and “Supernatural” (0.8/2, 2 million) gave The CW a 0.9/2 (2.2 million) for the night and an average 0.7/2 among women 18-34.