 Grey 's Anatomy has received high viewership and ratings since its debut . The first four seasons of the program each ranked in the top ten among all viewers , reaching its peak Nielsen ratings in the second season , attracting an average of 19 @.@ 44 million viewers per episode , and ranking at fifth place overall . Following the show 's time @-@ slot being relocated , overall rankings steadily declined , dropping below the top ten in its fifth season . Grey 's Anatomy made its greatest fall from its sixth to seventh season , slipping from seventeenth place to thirty @-@ first . The series is on a steady decline in terms of overall viewership and rankings , yet Grey 's Anatomy still holds value in charts when numbers are pulled from the digital video recorder ( DVR ) . It was the most recorded show between 2007 and 2011 , based on cumulative totals , and has been for several years in a row . 
