Justified Series Premiere Ratings
FX’s critically acclaimed new drama Justified got off to a great start Tuesday (10-11:10 PM, 3/16/10) as the series premiere episode posted 4.16 million Total Viewers and 2.04 million Adults 18-49. Justified recorded 1.42 million Men 18-49, which was the second-highest delivery in that demo ever for a scripted series premiere on basic cable.
Justified’s delivery of Total Viewers and Men 18-49 ranks second all-time for an original series on FX just behind the Emmy® and Golden Globe® award-winning drama The Shield (4.83 million Total Viewers and 1.74 million Men 18-49; 3/12/02, which pre-dates DVR data).
Justified ranked #1 for the night in basic cable in Total Viewers, Adults 18-49, Men 18-49, Men 18-34 (694,000), Adults 25-54 (2.19 million), and Men 25-54 (1.42 million). Justified also ranked #1 in all of television in the 10 PM time period in delivery of Men 18-49 and Men 18-34, broadcast or cable.
The combination of Justified and its lead-in movie, Live Free or Die Hard, led FX to the top spot in basic cable prime (8-11 PM) in Adults 18-49 (1.33 million), Adults 18-34 (654,000) and Men 18-49 (902,000). The encore airing of the premiere episode (11:10 PM-12:23 AM) notched an additional 1.85 million total viewers and 1.01 million Adults 18-49.
Top Five FX Series Premieres (000s)
Total Viewers Adults 18-49 Men 18-49
The Shield (3/12/02) 4,827 The Shield 3,037 The Shield 1,739
Justified (3/16/10) 4,158 The Riches (3/12/07) 2,842 Justified 1,421
Rescue Me (7/21/04) 4,071 Rescue Me 2,516 Rescue Me 1,341
Over There (7/27/05) 4,062 Over There 2,385 Over There 1,325
Dirt (1/2/07) 3,744 Dirt 2,362 The Riches 1,309
(*Data prior to series premieres of 12/26/05 is based on Live viewing; post 12/27/05 data is Live+Same Day)
FX will run encores of the premiere episode of Justified on Friday, March 19 at 11pm e/p and on Sunday, March 21 at 11:30 pm e/p. Episode 2, “Riverbrook”, airs next Tuesday, March 23 at 10pm e/p. Raylan hunts an escaped prisoner who is determined to reunite with his ex-wife…and his stashed fortune.