OWN, Tyler Perry Hit Again With ‘Love Thy Neighbor’

By R. Thomas Umstead
published

Tyler Perry’s second scripted series with OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network drew more than 1.6 million viewers during its Wednesday night premiere.

The 9 p.m. premiere episode of comedy sitcom Love Thy Neighbor is the second-highest debuting series on OWN, following Tuesday night's premiere of Perry’s drama series The Haves and The Have Nots, which averaged 1.77 million viewers.

A second Love Thy Neighbor episode averaged 1.8 million viewers, an increase of 8% in the network’s key demo of women 25-54 and 9% in total viewers, said the network.

The two series are part of an exclusive production deal between Perry and OWN reached last October.

R. Thomas Umstead
R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.