Oxygen's ‘The Face' Stumbles in Premiere

Episode draws 515,000 viewers, under a million for three-net total

By Andrea Morabito -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/13/2013 5:59:05 PM

The premiere of Oxygen's much-promoted new modeling competition series The Face failed to gain much traction on its first night, drawing just 515,000 total viewers on Tuesday at 9 p.m., according to Nielsen ratings.

As part of a roadblock strategy to increase exposure to the premiere, the episode aired simultaneously on sister NBCUniversal networks Bravo and Style. The Face averaged 422,000 viewers on Bravo and 62,000 viewers on Style, bringing its three-network total to 999,000.

Among adults 18-49, The Face drew 312,000 viewers on Oxygen, 172,000 on Bravo and 32,000 on Style to total 516,000 demo viewers.

Compared to the network's last high-profile launch, The Glee Project, The Face actually fared better than the 465,000 viewers who watched that series' premiere in June 2011. Glee Project went on to improve throughout its first season.

But compared to its 8 p.m. Bad Girls Club lead-in on Oxygen, The Face retained just 44% of total viewers. In the network's core demo of women 18-34, the episode retained 43% of the audience. BGC spinoff Love Games, which previously launched in the timeslot in 2010, retained 52% of that lead-in. The premiere went up against the State of the Union address but no original competition on broadcast.

Oxygen last week used the launch party for The Face as its annual upfront event for advertisers. The series stars model-coaches Naomi Campbell, Karolina Kurkova and Coco Rocha and is produced by Shine America.