AMC Renews Mad Men for a Second Season
Critically Acclaimed Drama Marked First Original Series for Network
New York - NY, September 20, 2007 - AMC announced today that it will renew Mad Men for a second season continuing the network's mandate to deliver a distinctive viewing experience through cinematic-quality original programming. Created, written and executive produced by Matthew Weiner (Executive Producer/Writer, "The Sopranos"), Mad Men follows the personal and professional lives of New York advertising execs circa 1960. Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), the leading independent filmed entertainment studio, produces the series. Season one's finale will be on Thursday, October 18th at 10PM EST.
The first season of Mad Men received unprecedented accolades from the press including being deemed "the best new show of the summer" by The New York Post, "unmissable" by Time Magazine and "Must See TV" from Newsweek. The Los Angeles Times declared "If you want to feel good about being alive on the planet in 2007, watch the premiere of Mad Men on AMC" and the Wall Street Journal stated that Mad Men is "one of the best-written, all-around sparkling works to come along in many a summer season."
"AMC's first foray into original scripted series has been a success right out of the gate. The incredible production values coupled with an utterly unique and intelligent writer's point of view has made for a wholly distinct program," said Rob Sorcher, Executive Vice President programming and production for AMC. "We're grateful that our quality-driven programming instincts connected with a passionate fan base, and we're looking forward to an exciting second season which will continue to spark broader cultural conversation. Mad Men clearly fulfills AMC's new promise to be The Future of Classic."
"In a season distinguished by the high quality and variety of dramatic programming on cable, we're particularly proud that Matt Weiner's distinctive voice and the exceptional work of Mad Men's cast have resonated so strongly with critics and audiences alike," said Kevin Beggs, Lionsgate's President of Television Programming and Production. "Mad Men epitomizes the kind of daring and provocative entertainment that defines the Lionsgate brand, and we're thrilled to continue our relationship with AMC and our outstanding creative team to produce another season of great storytelling."
To date, Mad Men has reached over 21 million viewers and more than 16 million households on AMC (1). Mad Men on Thursday @ 10p has reached over 6.2 million households and more than 7.9 million viewers (2). Overall, the 9 premiere episodes of Mad Men are pacing at a .8 HH rating and delivering 774,000 homes on Thursday night, maintaining its movie lead-in performance (3) Performance to date, during the 10pm Mad Men premiere episodes, both Household and A25-54 ratings are on par to AMC's Prime average for the last completed quarter, 2Q07 (4). A higher percentage of Mad Men's target viewer's (A25-54) have Household incomes over 100k+ (32%) more than any other new ongoing scripted series to premiere on basic cable this summer. (5)
Source: Nielsen Media Research. NPower 75% unification, 6 minute qualifier. Reach among all telecasts of Mad Men on AMC 7/19/07-9/16/07. Source: Nielsen Media Research. Npower 75% unification, 6 minute qualifier. Reach among all Thurs 10-11pm Mad Men telecasts on AMC 7/19/07-9/13/07. Source: Nielsen Media Research. Mad Men 7/19/07-9/13/07 performance compared to Lead in movie airings 7-10p 7/19/07-9/13/07. Source: Nielsen Media Research. Mad Men 7/19/07-9/13/07 performance vs. 2Q07 (4/2/07-7/1/07) M-Su 8-11p average. Source: Nielsen Media Research, Npower. % composition of Adult 25-54 HHI $100K+ premiere telecast of an original summer series airing on basic cable in 2Q07 thru 9/16/07.
Mad Men is a smart and cinematic drama about advertising executives on Madison Avenue when the industry was at its height of glamour, power, and prestige. The setting is the Sterling Cooper agency, which sells everything from cigarettes to political candidates. The protagonist, Don Draper, is a fast-rising creative director whose smooth exterior conceals any number of secrets. The show's cast includes: Jon Hamm ('We Were Soldiers'), Elisabeth Moss ('West Wing'), Vincent Kartheiser ('Angel'), January Jones ('American Wedding'), and Christina Hendricks ('Kevin Hill'), as well as guest star John Slattery ('K Street', 'Sex and the City').
Today's announcement comes on the heels of AMC receiving 4 Emmys awards for its first ever original movie event Broken Trail including Outstanding mini-series, Outstanding Lead Actor for a mini-series or movie for Robert Duvall and Outstanding Supporting Actor for a mini-series or movie for Thomas Haden Church. The network followed the success of Broken Trail with its first original drama series Mad Men that premiered in July of 2007. Continuing its original programming momentum, AMC will premiere its newest original series, Breaking Bad, in January 2008. The series is created by Vince Gilligan (X-Files) and follows the story of a desperate man, played by Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle), who turns to a life of crime to secure his family's financial security.
About AMC
AMC is a multi-platform network that celebrates classic movies and high-quality scripted series. Among the elite services reaching over 92,000,000 homes, AMC defines what it means to be a classic movie network today, creating a distinctive viewing experience that celebrates all that is enduringly cool, personal and powerfully relevant about movies. AMC's comprehensive library of popular movies strikes a meaningful chord with its audience, and its critically-acclaimed slate of originals all have a cinematic quality that allow them to complement and be complemented by some of the best movies of all time. A division of Rainbow Media Entertainment Services, AMCs sister divisions include WE TV and the IFC Companies. AMC is THE FUTURE OF CLASSIC.
About Rainbow Media Holdings LLC
Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC). Rainbow Media is a leading producer of targeted, multi-platform content for global distribution, creating and managing some of the world's most compelling and dynamic entertainment brands, including AMC, IFC, WE tv, Lifeskool, sportskool, and VOOM HD Networks. Through its IFC Entertainment division, Rainbow Media also owns and manages the following: IFC Films, a theatrical feature film distribution company; IFC First Take/IFC in Theaters, a day and date theatrical feature film/VOD initiative; the IFC Center in New York City; IFC Productions, a feature film production company; and IFC Entertainment, which owns and operates a film library. Rainbow Media also operates Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation, its advertising sales company, and Rainbow Network Communications, its full service network programming origination and distribution company.
About Lionsgate
Lionsgate is the leading independent filmed entertainment studio, winning the 2006 Best Picture Academy Award� for Crash and operating as a premier producer and distributor of motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment, and video-on-demand content. Its prestigious and prolific library of more than 11,000 motion picture titles and television episodes is a valuable source of stable, recurring revenue and a foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate brand is synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.
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