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.
