FROM FX RESEARCH
Archer - Season 3 Premiere, Thursday 10:30P
Premiering on a fiercely competitive night facing Jersey Shore on MTV and the Lakers/Heat match-up on TNT, Archer's third season premiere was very solid, ranking as its third most-watched telecast ever among M18-34 and M18-49. Additionally, in key young demos Archer was stronger than its three-episode special run in September, as well as its second season premiere last year. All data is Live+ Same Day 000s; complete data sets attached. WHEN LIVE+7 DATA BECOMES AVAILABLE IN APPROXIMATELY 20 DAYS, IT IS VERY LIKELY THAT LAST NIGHT'S EPISODE WILL RANK AS ARCHER'S HIGHEST SEASON PREMIERE IN ALL KEY DEMOS.
Vs. Prior Season 2 Premiere: Compared to its Season 2 premiere last year, Archer vaulted +31% among P18-34 (639 vs. 489) fueled by a +42% surge in M18-34 (507 vs. 356), as W18-34 were on par (132 vs. 133). While M18-49 gained +3% (730 vs. 707) it was not enough to offset the -21% decline in W18-49 (220 vs. 279), which resulted in a -4% decline in P18-49 (950 vs. 986).
Vs. Lead-in: Archer vaulted +62% over its Two and a Half Men lead-in among P18-49 (950 vs. 587) and +101% among P18-34 (639 vs. 318).
· What makes Archer's performance last night so encouraging was its growth despite a diminished lead-in (i.e., its audience was largely self generating). Last night's Archer lead-in, Two and a Half Men, was off -66% from Archer's Sunny lead-in back in September (587/2.5 Men vs. 1,749/Sunny). Additionally, Archer's Two and a Half Men lead-in last night was also down -41% from when it led into the Season 2 premiere of Archer last January (587 vs. 1,003).
Rank in its Basic Cable Time Period (Thursday 1000 - 1030P): Archer ranked #6 in its basic cable time period in P18-49 (950), behind Jersey Shore/MTV (4,439), NBA/TNT (Lakers @ Heat), The Big Bang Theory/TBS (1,962), Beyond Scared Straight/A&E (1,157), Impractical Jokers/truTV (1,049), but ahead of American Dad/Adult Swim (946), GOP Debate Coverage/CNN (868), NCIS/USA (845), and Impact Wrestling/Spike (768), to name a few.
· What's more, in M18-34 Archer (507) ranked #4 outright, out-delivering originals on the broadcast networks -- CBS by +17% (The Mentalist; 434), ABC by +128% (Private Practice; 222), and NBC by +135% (The Firm, 216).
Quarter Hours were solid across key adult demos: P18-49 (+6%; 923>974), P18-34 (+5%; 621>655), and P25-54 (+1%; 718>727).
Median Age/Audience Composition: Median age was 32, on par with its Heart of Archness spec (29), but five years younger than its Season 2 norm (37). Male/Female split was 74%/26% -- more male than Heart of Archness (71%/29%) and its Season 2 average (67%/33%).
Unsupervised - Series Premiere, Thursday 1030P
Unsupervised enjoyed a reasonably solid premiere. Two aspects were especially encouraging: 1) Unsupervised's retention of its Archer lead-in was similar to The League's frosh season retention of Sunny [this repped the last time an FX original comedy premiered leading out of an established FX comedy]; 2) quarters were strong. All data is Live+ Same Day 000s; complete data sets attached.
Unsupervised bowed with a 609 in P18-49 amid a very competitive environment.
Quarter Hours were great!
· P18-49: +14% (568>647).
· M18-49: +14% (477>542).
· W18-49: +15% (91>105).
Vs. Lead-in: Unsupervised retained 64% of its Archer lead-in (609 vs. 950) ? this was in line with The League's first season retention of Sunny (62%), which marks the last time a new FX original comedy bowed from an established FX comedy brand. Of note, in the Live-only data stream, Unsupervised retained 80% of Archer in P18-49 and 89% in M18-49.
Median Age/Audience Composition
· Median Age: the median age of the series premiere of Unsupervised was 30, slightly younger than its Archer lead-in (32) and in line with the recent compete seasons of other FX original comedies: Sunny (29), The League (30), Wilfred (35), Louie (35).
· Note that the median of Archer/Season 2 was 37. This was likely due to having a 2.5 Men lead-in as Archer/Season 1's median age was 30 and the three "Heart of Archer" telecasts that led out of Sunny last fall had a median age of 29.
· Male/Female Split: 80% male/20% female for Unsupervised, slightly more male than its Archer lead-in (74%/26%).
Key Competitive Thursday night (P18-49):
Basic Cable
· MTV: Jersey Shore slid -7% (4,439 vs. 4,796).
· TNT: NBA with the Lakers/Heat vaulted +202% over last week's Knicks/Grizzlies (2,639 vs. 875).
· TBS: Big Bang Theory rose +6% (1,962 vs. 1,845).
· A&E: Beyond Scared Straight fell -12% (1,157 vs. 1,313).
· truTV: Impractical Jokers jumped +25% (1,049 vs. 841).
· Adult Swim: American Dad gained +21% (946 vs. 785).
· CNN: Anderson Cooper with GOP Presidential debate coverage quadrupled last week's delivery (868 vs. 214).
· USA: NCIS increased +18% (845 vs. 718).
· Spike: Impact Wrestling was on par week to week (748 vs. 759).
Broadcast
· CBS: The Mentalist advanced +12% over last week (3,927 vs. 3,520).
· ABC: Private Practice declined -12% week to week (2,875 vs. 3,264).
· NBC: The Firm slid -12% from prior week (1,233 vs. 1,407).
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