The 4400 Scores As Highest-Rated Cable Series Premiere Of The Year
The return of the USA Network original series The 4400 on Sunday averaged a 4.0 household rating with 5.3 million viewers tuning in, making it the highest-rated basic cable original series telecast of the year among P18-49 (2.4 rating) and P25-54 (2.9 rating).
The premiere of The 4400 on USA also topped all other original series premieres on cable the same night in all key demos, ahead of the competition by triple-digit percentages among both P18-49 and P25-54.
In prime (8p-11p) on Sunday, The 4400 was the #1 rated program in all of basic cable in households (4.0), all key demos (2.4 in P18-49 and 3.0 in P25-54) and viewers tuning in (5.3 million).
The 4400 will air all-new episodes through Sunday, August 28 at 9:00 PM ET/PT.
4400 Down but Still Strong
Audiences are still interested in The 4400 -- but not as much as they were last year.
The USA Network series opened its second season Sunday (June 5) in front of nearly 5.3 million viewers, tops on cable for the night. It also ranked as the most-watched non-sports broadcast on cable for the week.
That's the good news. The bad news is that the two-hour season premiere fell well short of The 4400's series debut last July. That episode, also two hours, drew more than 7 million viewers, a rare accomplishment for a cable program that's not a sporting event or The Sopranos. The series' first season went on to average 6.2 million viewers over its five-week run.
Nonetheless, 5 million viewers is nothing to sneeze at. USA also says the 2.4 rating among adults 18-49 for The 4400 was the best by a basic-cable original series this year.