Army Wives Retains Audience in Second Week
Lifetime Series Prospers Despite Sopranos ’ Finale
By R. Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, 6/11/2007 1:17:00 PM
On the night of The Sopranos’ finale, Lifetime Television did some whacking of its own. Gunning down the traditional second-week ratings-drop-off trend among new series, Lifetime's June 10 episode of Army Wives matched the
network-record-setting 2.9 household rating the series garnered during its premiere one week prior
. The series -- about the struggles and friendships of a diverse group of women and one man living with their spouses and families on a live army base -- attracted 3.3 million viewers in its second week, down slightly from 3.5 million for its June 3 premiere. Still, it far outpaced the average 66% second-episode retention rate of nine other new, ad-supported 2007 cable series, including FX’s Dirt and Riches; ABC Family’s Lincoln Heights; Sci Fi Channel’s The Dresden Files and Painkiller Jane;and Lifetime’s own Blood Ties, according to the network. More important for the network, the June 10 Army Wives episode kept pace with the 2.1 rating among female viewers 18-49 generated by the premiere episode. Army Wives’total viewer numbers for its June 3 debut were the best in the network’s 23-year history, beating out the premieres of the suspense/drama Missing, which drew 3.3 million viewers in 2003; and cop series The Division, which garnered 3.2 million viewers in 2001.
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