THE SKED WEEKEND CABLE RATINGS ROUND-UP – 4/12-14/13

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FRIDAY

STARZ:  It doesn’t appear as though DA VINCI’S DEMONS is going to be a gamechanger for Starz, as the series debuted with a tame 0.4 in 18-49s, about half of the total viewership of 1M.  That was coming off a 0.6 rating for the series finale of SPARTACUS: WAR OF THE DAMNED, which is probably the best lead-in Da Vinci will ever get, so we’ll find out next week if the new show is any kind of self-starter.  (Note, though, that even at this level Da Vinci is outperforming Boss and Magic City, so if it can hold steady, a Season 2 renewal would be no surprise at all.)

SATURDAY

BBCAMERICA:  So far ORPHAN BLACK isn’t building the head of steam it deserves, with an 18-49 rating not much over a 0.1 (around 55% of total viewers).  That’s only about one-third of the numbers for its DOCTOR WHO lead-in, although admittedly the Doctor is by BBCAmerica standards a blockbuster.

SUNDAY

HBO:  A particularly tasty episode of GAME OF THRONES (it was worth an HBO subscription for the seating arrangements alone) matched its series high 2.4 in 18-49s (plus another 0.5 for the 11PM rerun), hit a new high in total viewers, and took the night.  That did a limited amount for the season premiere of VEEP, however, which lost the bulk of that audience with a 0.6.  (Veep shared the young skew of Game, though, with a bit less than two-thirds of its audience under 50–even though that matters less to HBO than to a network that sells advertising.)  Veep was just about even with last year’s finale in both 18-49s and total viewers, although it was down from the series premiere.

SHOWTIME:  This time of year isn’t where Showtime puts up any real competition for its pay-TV foe, although on its own terms NURSE JACKIE didn’t do badly.  It was at the high end of last year’s numbers with 0.3 in 18-49s, about half the 770,000 total viewers.  THE BORGIAS, though, was mired at half that 18-49 rating, the same as last year, although it did do better with older audiences, since only about 35% of its total viewers were under 50.

MTV:  The MTV MOVIE AWARDS may have been a train wreck, but it was a well-attended one, with a 2.0 rating in 18-49s (and of course that’s an “older” demo for MTV) that was hugely up from last year’s 1.4.

AMC:  MAD MEN tends to fall in the second week of its season as the tourists drop away, and that held true this year too, as the show was down 21% in total viewers (last year it was 17%) and down 0.1 in 18-49s to 1.0 (same as last year).

HISTORY CHANNEL:  A steady ride for VIKINGS, which held at 1.2 with a particularly battle-heavy hour.

LIFETIME:  Similarly, the fans of ARMY WIVES and THE CLIENT LIST know what they like, and both shows were even at 0.8 in 18-49s.