The most recent “Star Wars” trilogy has been available on DVD for years now, but it can still draw a big crowd on cable.
Spike aired all three movies last weekend, culminating with the network premiere of “Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” on Sunday, which became the highest-rated movie in network history.
The three-hour “Sith” averaged 4.2 million total viewers Sunday at 8 p.m., placing fourth on basic cable for the week. It was ad-supported cable’s highest-rated film of the year thus far in adults 18-49, averaging a 2.1 rating, and it became the highest-rated cable movie among men 18-49, with a 2.7, since USA’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl” in 2006.
The other two “Star Wars” movies aired earlier in the weekend. “Episode I: The Phantom Menace” drew 2.8 million total viewers on Friday at 8 p.m. and “Episode II: Attack of The Clones” pulled 3.3 million at 8 on Saturday.
Together, the three films averaged 3.46 million total viewers, leading the network to finish ahead of all broadcast networks among men 18-49 and 18-34 in primetime over the weekend, save for CBS and its Final Four coverage.
Spike plans a similar back-to-back-to-back showing this coming weekend of the original trilogy, and it's put a big marketing push behind the two-week marathon.
In addition to devoting a big chunk of its own promotions to “Star Wars,” the network also advertised heavily on cable networks with male-skewing audiences, like Sci Fi and Viacom sister networks. It bought across a number of male-focused web sites, too, like Maxim and Ask Men, and produced out-of-home attention-getters like sheathed light sabers at bus shelters in New York and Los Angeles.
Spike acquired the six-movie franchise for a reported $65 million to $70 million. The challenge was to give it a feel fresh, since the most recent movie has been available on DVD for nearly three years and the others had long since appeared on broadcast. To that end, Spike added short features that ran before, during and after the airings that focused on different characters’ histories and explained technology used for various “Star Wars” gadgets.
While the extra features were certainly a draw, the marathon also likely appealed to “Star Wars” fans’ sense of nostalgia, harkening back to when the movie ran yearly on television in the 1980s.
It shows once again that that fans of film franchises will tune into the cable offerings even if they already own the DVDs, simply for the fun of it. Another trilogy that ran over the weekend, “Lord of the Rings” on TNT, averaged an impressive 2.7 million total viewers.
Of course, while it would be tempting to air “Star Wars” marathons every weekend and watch the ratings pile up, that would dilute the franchise. Spike intends to keep the marathons as a special event, while still airing the movies themselves frequently enough to justify the investment.
The network will air one “Star Wars” movie in primetime each Sunday for six weeks, starting on April 20.
***
Meanwhile, in other cable ratings for the week ended April 6:
Top five networks in primetime (18-49s): USA, Spike TV, TNT, TBS, Comedy Central.
Top five networks in primetime (total viewers): USA, TNT, Spike TV, Nick at Nite, Fox News Channel.
Top movie (18-49s): Spike TV’s “Star Wars-Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” (Sunday, 8:01 p.m.) 2.39 million
Top sporting event (total viewers): ESPN’s “Women’s College Basketball: LSU vs. Tennessee” (Sunday, 9:32 p.m.) 3.6 million
Shows making the top 10 among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s: USA’s “WWE Entertainment” (Monday 9 and 10 p.m.); TNT’s “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” (Sunday 8 p.m.); VH1’s “Rock of Love 2” (Sunday 9 p.m.).
Show on the rise: Sci Fi Channel’s “Battlestar: Galactica,” Friday 10 p.m. The season premiere posted 2.1 million total viewers, 1.4 million 18-49s and 1.5 million 25-54s. Versus last season’s premiere that jumped 19 percent in total viewers and 25-54s and 11 percent in 18-49s.
Show on the decline: MTV’s “The Hills,” Monday 10 p.m. While still among the top shows in its target demos, “Hills” fell 20 percent week-to-week among total viewers, from 4.79 million to 3.83 million.
|
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Ranked on Household Rating
Week Ending April 6 |
|
Rank |
Primetime |
Total Day |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
USA
|
2122
|
NICK
|
1637
|
|
2
|
TNT
|
1644
|
NAN
*
|
1290
|
|
3
|
SPK
|
1525
|
USA
|
1069
|
|
4
|
NAN
|
1407
|
TNT
|
1052
|
|
5
|
FOXN
|
1305
|
ADSM*
|
847
|
|
6
|
ESPN
|
1253
|
TOON
|
783
|
|
7
|
TBSC
|
1177
|
FOXN
|
747
|
|
8
|
LIF
|
1011
|
TBSC
|
733
|
|
9
|
AEN
|
991
|
LIF
|
713
|
|
10
|
HGTV
|
945
|
SPK
|
686
|
|
11
|
FAM
|
937
|
ESPN
|
675
|
|
12
|
TOON
|
931
|
AEN
|
629
|
|
13
|
CMDY
|
930
|
HIST
|
575
|
|
14
|
HIST
|
886
|
HALL
|
570
|
|
15
|
AMC
|
878
|
TRU
|
566
|
|
16
|
DISC
|
872
|
DISC
|
556
|
|
17
|
TRU
|
840
|
HGTV
|
550
|
|
18
|
SCIF
|
834
|
FAM
|
520
|
|
19
|
FX
|
809
|
CMDY
|
513
|
|
20
|
HALL
|
804
|
FX
|
511
|
|
21
|
MTV
|
792
|
MTV
|
494
|
|
22
|
ESP2
|
698
|
AMC
|
491
|
|
23
|
CNN
|
691
|
FOOD
|
491
|
|
24
|
VH1
|
678
|
TVLD
|
462
|
|
25
|
TLC
|
664
|
CNN
|
422
|
|
* 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 April 6 |
|
Rank
|
Program |
Net
|
(000) |
|
1
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
3898
|
|
2
|
WWE Entertainment
|
USA
|
3630
|
|
3
|
The Hills
|
MTV
|
3029
|
|
4
|
iCarly
|
NICK
|
3013
|
|
5
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2956
|
|
6
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2920
|
|
7
|
Star Wars: Episode lll
|
SPK
|
2859
|
|
8
|
The Hills
|
MTV
|
2833
|
|
9
|
NCIS
|
USA
|
2821
|
|
10
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2741
|
|
11
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2735
|
|
12
|
Back At The Barnyard
|
NICK
|
2726
|
|
13
|
NCIS
|
USA
|
2723
|
|
14
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2703
|
|
15
|
LSU/Tennessee
|
ESPN
|
2669
|
|
16
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2664
|
|
17
|
LOTR: Return of the King
|
TNT
|
2652
|
|
18
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2603
|
|
19
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2599
|
|
20
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2554
|
|
21
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2546
|
|
22
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2542
|
|
23
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2500
|
|
24
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2492
|
|
25
|
NCIS
|
USA
|
2431
|
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 18-34
Week Ending April 6 |
|
Rank |
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
TBSC
|
578
|
ADSM*
|
417
|
|
2
|
USA
|
569
|
NAN
*
|
410
|
|
3
|
MTV
|
561
|
NICK
|
335
|
|
4
|
SPK
|
557
|
TBSC
|
315
|
|
5
|
TNT
|
491
|
MTV
|
308
|
|
6
|
CMDY
|
441
|
TNT
|
305
|
|
7
|
NAN
|
376
|
CMDY
|
262
|
|
8
|
VH1
|
351
|
ESPN
|
260
|
|
9
|
ESPN
|
329
|
USA
|
253
|
|
10
|
FAM
|
326
|
SPK
|
251
|
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 18-34
Week Ending April 6 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
