TV Ratings: ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Surges for Shocking Departure

April 24, 2015 8:32am PT by Kate Stanhope

The ABC drama hit a seven-month high after news of Patrick Dempsey's exit leaked online hours earlier.

Grey's Anatomy surged to a 2.8 rating among adults 18-49 Thursday for star Patrick Dempsey's farewell episode.

The series rose seven-tenths -- a seven-month high -- thanks to the shocking departure of Dempsey, whose exit accidentally leaked online hours before his final hour aired. 

Combined with Scandal (2.3 adults), which was even, and American Crime (0.9 adults), which was down two-tenths, Grey's helped ABC tie CBS as the top broadcast net of the night in the demo. 

The Big Bang Theory was still the night's top broadcast show but fell two-tenths (3.5 adults). The Odd Couple (2.0 adults), Mom (1.9 adults) and Elementary (1.3 adults) were steady.

Both The Blacklist (1.4 adults) and Dateline (0.9) dipped two-tenths. Bones (1.0 adults) and Backstrom (0.8 adults) were flat for Fox. 

The Vampire Diaries (0.6 adults) and Reign (0.3 adults) were also steady for the CW.