Monday night’s premiere of TNT’s new original series Rizzoli & Isles now claims the record as cable’s #1 commercial-supported series launch of all time, with 7.6 million viewers. The series, starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander, raced out of the starting gate after an equally strong performance for the sixth-season premiere of The Closer, which delivered 7.7 million viewers, up 7% over its fifth-season premiere on June 8, 2009. Both premieres also rank as ad-supported cable’s top series telecasts for the year-to-date among viewers and households.
“The tremendous viewer response to Rizzoli & Isles is very gratifying,” said Michael Wright, executive vice president and head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies (TCM). “Rizzoli & Isles is shaping up to be a great companion for The Closer, which continues to deliver extraordinary numbers in its sixth season on our network.”
Rizzoli & Isles premiered Monday at 10 p.m. (ET/PT) with 7,553,000 viewers and 5,647,000 households, making it cable’s most successful commercial-supported series launch of all time. The episode ranks a close second behind the September 2008 commercial-free debut of Raising the Bar among all series premieres on ad-supported cable. Rizzoli & Isles built on its lead-in from The Closer among key adult demos, with 2,079,000 adults 18-49 and 2,722,000 adults 25-54.
Source: TNT
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