'Sopranos' Whacks Network Rivals
Bada-bing! The much-anticipated return episode of mob drama "The Sopranos" to HBO was the most watched program in the history of the cable channel, and also beat its broadcast network rivals, HBO said Tuesday.
The premiere of the series' fourth season averaged a record 13.4 million viewers from 9 to 10 p.m. Sunday, surpassing the No. 1 show for that hour on broadcast television, NBC's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," and the most watched program of the night on the Big Four, CBS news magazine "60 Minutes."
Although both "Law & Order" and "60 Minutes" were repeats, the robust performance of "The Sopranos" was impressive given that the premium cable channel reaches only about a third of the estimated 107 million American homes with TV sets.
"This is higher than I thought we had the potential to reach," said David Baldwin, HBO's executive vice president for program planning. The show appeared to bring in a lot of viewers who might not otherwise have been watching television for the night, he said.
HBO's previous audience peak came for a Mike Tyson heavyweight fight in 1989, the network said.
Network executives were nervous about the 16-month break between new episodes of the mob drama. Instead, the wait only appeared to whet the audience's appetite for the fourth season.
The show's third season premiere was its previous high-water mark in the ratings, with an estimated 11.3 million viewers.
The numbers threatened to overshadow next week's start of the broadcast networks' new fall season. This was the first time HBO began a run of new "The Sopranos" episodes in the fall.
More than the ratings, Baldwin said HBO is eager to see whether the attention will translate into new paying subscribers — the basis of HBO's business.
For the week, CBS averaged 9.6 million viewers (6.6 rating, 11 share), ABC averaged 9 million viewers (6.0, 10), NBC had 7.9 million (5.5, 10), Fox had 7.1 million (4.4, 8), UPN had 3.4 million and the WB had 3.2 million (both 2.1, 4) and Pax TV had 1.5 million (1.1, 2).