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AMC's 'Mad Men'
soars on Emmy buzz


Sunday's season premiere pulls twice the audience

Jul 30, 2008

Like "Lost" and "The Office" before it, AMC's "Mad Men" is benefitting from the Emmy bump.

And it hasn't even won anything yet.

The second-year show, which became the first-ever basic cable show to be nominated for best drama, along with FX's "Damages," saw numbers for its season debut soar compared with last season following two weeks of Emmy buzz.

Sunday's 10 p.m. premiere averaged 1.95 million total viewers, more than double last season's average 915,000.

Among adults 18-49, it jumped 22 percent over last year, to 955,000, and with 25-54s it was up 25 percent.

It came in a tough timeslot, too, airing opposite USA's hit drama "In Plain Sight" and ESPN's New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game.

"Men" rose on a swarm of publicity following the Emmy nominations earlier this month. It led all dramas with 16 nominations, setting a record for a basic cable show. That followed a surprising Golden Globe win for series star Jon Hamm, who plays Don Draper, in January.

But the most remarkable thing about "Men's" success may be what it means for AMC, the network formerly known for broadcasting classic movies. These days, it's becoming better known for its contemporary hits.

AMC's surge began two years ago, when the network's first-ever original miniseries, the Western "Broken Trail" starring Robert Duvall and Thomas Haden Church, became the most-watched show in network history, drawing 9.6 million households, the best for any basic cable movie in more than a decade.

The buzz continued to rise last summer, when "Men," an atmospheric look at a 1960s Madison Avenue ad agency, premiered to overwhelming critical acclaim. The series, from "Sopranos" writer Matthew Weiner, drew decent but not outstanding numbers.

But it was this year that AMC really fulfilled its promise for scripted series. In January, "Breaking Bad," a drama about a high school teacher who starts dealing crystal meth when he's diagnosed with a terminal disease, also drew solid numbers and critical huzzahs.

It combined with "Men" to give AMC 20 total Emmy nominations this year, including one for "Bad's" Cranston and one for Hamm.

Emmy attention often helps audiences discover shows that critics love but mainstream audiences have overlooked. "The Office" got a nice Emmy boost in its third season following an Emmy for best comedy and now is one of broadcast's top-rated sitcoms.

"Lost," which had a healthy audience in its first season, saw its numbers soar by double-digit percentages after it received best drama in its first year.

***

Meanwhile, in other cable ratings for the week ended July 27:
 
Top five networks in primetime (18-49s): USA, TBS, TNT, A&E, Discovery
 
Top five networks in primetime (total viewers): USA, TNT, TBS, Nick at Nite, Fox News Channel
 
Top movie (18-49s): TBS’s “Last Holiday” (Sunday, 8 p.m.) 2.10 million
 
Top sporting event (total viewers): ESPN’s “NASCAR Sprint Cup” (Sunday, 2 p.m.) 6.67 million
 
Shows making the top 10 among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s: USA’s “WWE Entertainment” (Monday, 9 and 10 p.m.); Discovery’s “Deadliest Catch” (Tuesday, 9 p.m.)
 
Show on the rise: Disney’s “Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert in 3D,” Saturday 8 p.m. The cable premiere of the theatrical movie drew 5.9 million total viewers, ranking No. 1 on broadcast and cable for the night. Among kids 6-11, 2.2 million tuned in, bettering last year’s timeslot rating by 83 percent.
 
Show on the decline: TNT’s “The Closer,” Monday 9 p.m. The Kyra Sedgwick drama was No. 6 for the week on ad-supported cable with a healthy 2.16 million viewers 18-49 but that was down 13 percent from the previous week’s 2.48 million for its premiere.

 

TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Ranked on Household Rating
 Week Ending July 20

Rank

Primetime

Total Day

Net

(000)

Net

(000)

1

USA

2206

NICK

1721

2

TNT

1811

NAN *

1343

3

TBSC

1439

USA

1039

4

NAN

1326

TOON

998

5

FOXN

1301

TNT

959

6

ESPN

1177

ADSM*

942

7

LIF

1143

TBSC

786

8

AEN

1067

FOXN

772

9

HGTV

1057

LIF

764

10

TOON

1028

ESPN

687

11

HALL

998

AEN

598

12

DISC

946

HALL

586

13

SCIF

895

DISC

582

14

HIST

870

HGTV

562

15

SPK

859

TRU

554

16

CNN

816

FAM

534

17

TRU

816

HIST

523

18

AMC

814

FX  

512

19

FX  

798

SPK

487

20

FOOD

784

CNN

485

21

USA

2206

NICK

1721

22

TNT

1811

NAN *

1343

23

TBSC

1439

USA

1039

24

NAN

1326

TOON

998

25

FOXN

1301

TNT

959

* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.

TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE PROGRAMS
Ranked on Households
 Week Ending July 20

Rank

Program

Net

(000)

1

The Closer

TNT

5323

2

NASCAR Sprint Cup      

ESPN

4889

3

Saving Grace

TNT

3504

4

Monk

USA

3446

5

Burn Notice

USA

3394

6

WWE Entertainment

USA

3337

7

Law & Order: CI (Orig)

USA

3311

8

Yankees/Red Sox

ESPN

3179

9

In Plain Sight

USA

3178

10

Psych

USA

3129

11

Special Food Network Star 4 Finale

FOOD

3110

12

WWE Entertainment

USA

3058

13

iCarly

NICK

3026

14

Army Wives

LIF

2984

15

Spongebob

NICK

2744

16

Spongebob

NICK

2733

17

Last Holiday

TBSC

2732

18

iCarly

NICK

2646

19

Family Guy

ADSM

2644

20

Spongebob

NICK

2637

21

Law & Order: SVU

USA

2602

22

Spongebob

NICK

2592

23

Design Star III

HGTV

2535

24

Spongebob

NICK

2510

25

Family Guy

ADSM

2482

Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 18-34
 Week Ending July 20

Rank

PRIME TIME

TOTAL DAY

Net

(000)

Net

(000)

1

TBSC

601

ADSM*

409

2

USA

488

NAN *

389

3

CMDY

404

NICK

346

4

TNT

370

TBSC

305

5

AEN

359

TNT

240

6

DISC

350

CMDY

238

7 <