'Jersey Shore's Record Nielsen Situation

MTV Series' Second-Season Premiere Draws 5.3 Million Watchers; Generates 5.1 12-34 Rating

Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 7/30/2010 3:52:20 PM

The move south agreed with fans of MTV's Jersey Shore.
The series' sophomore-season premiere averaged 5.3 million viewers, a 280% jump from the show's premiere audience of 1.4 million, according to Nielsen live + same-day data.
The episode scored a 10.4% advance over the 4.8 million who watched the reality show's first-season finale on Jan. 21. It also marked a 96% improvement over its first-season average.
MTV said the July 29 telecast, which depicted the Italian-American housemates making their way to a new residence in Miami, was its best season-premiere rating in more than seven years, since the sophomore season launch of The Osbournes on Nov. 26, 2002.
In addition to record total viewership, the season-two starter also broke the Jersey Shore mark with a 5.1 rating among persons 12 to 34, the best performance in all of cable with that demo in 2010, according to MTV officials.