‘Star Wars’ A Ratings Force For Spike
Led By ‘Sith,’ Lucas Films Top TNT’s Weekend Presentation Of ‘Rings’ Trilogy
By Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 4/8/2008 4:37:00 AM MT
One force to rule them all.
When it came to head-to-head competition this past weekend, Spike TV’s presentation of the first three installments of the Star Wars saga toppled The Lord of the Rings trilogy on TNT.
SpikeTV’s basic-cable premiere of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Sunday night was the highest-rated movie in the network’s his
tory, averaging a 3.0 household rating and some 4.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research data. That made the movie ad-supported cable’s top performer among films for the year among men 18 to 49 (1.49 million of those watchers) and persons 18 to 49 (2.39 million), according to Spike officials.
All told, the first three Star Wars features averaged 3.46 million viewers, as Episode 1: The Phantom Menace and Episode II: Attack of the Clones garnered a 2.0 household rating and 2.8 million viewers and a 2.4 and 3.3 million watchers, respectively, on April 4 and April 5, respectively.
For its part, TNT rang up an average of just under 2.7 million viewers for Peter Jackson's interpretation of the Rings trilogy over the weekend, as Fellowship of the Ring fit 1.9 million viewers, The Two Towers captured 1.98 million and Return of the King reigned over 4 million on April 4 through 6, according to Nielsen data.
It should be pointed out that Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones were making their debuts on Spike, which supported its presentation of the Star Wars franchise with a multimillion dollar, multiplatform promotional campaign, as well as interstitials from Lucas Films, while the movies adapted from J.R.R. Tolkein classic trilogy have appeared on TNT a number of times.
All told, Spike TV said it finished first in cable among total viewers, men18 to 34 (485,000), men 18 to 49 (1.13 million) and persons 18 to 49 (1.79 million) in primetime April 4-6 with the Star Wars telecasts. The network only trailed CBS's coverage of NCAA Division 1 men's basketball Final Four in all of television during the weekend in drawing males18 to 49 and18 to 34.
This upcoming weekend, Spike will present the original Star Wars theatricals, Episode IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, marking the first time the six features have been housed on a basic-cable network. Previously, HBO had lined up the films in the pay window.
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