Army Wives Finale Is Lifetime's Most Watched Telecast

The original series was the top primetime show on ad-supported cable on Sunday.

By Marisa Guthrie -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/28/2007 1:07:00 AM

The finale of Lifetime’s Army Wives was the network’s most watched telecast on the network ever and the top primetime show on ad-supported cable on Sunday, Aug. 26.

Sunday night’s finale was watched by 4.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen, outpacing the show’s season average of 3.7 million viewers.

Army Wives, which stars Kim Delaney, Sally Pressman, Brigid Brannagh and Catherine Bell as spouses of deployed military men, has been a boon for the female-targeted Lifetime. It is also among the first shows that Entertainment President Susanne Daniels developed from start to finish since she joined the network in August 2005.

The show is the highest rated original drama in the network’s 23-year-history in households and key female demographics including women 18 to 34, women 18 to 49 and women 25 to 54. It also became basic cables No. 1 drama among women 18 to 34.

The finale also sent an influx of users to the network’s Website. Traffic on LifetimeTV.com broke records Monday, Aug. 27, posting gains of 135 % over the previous high set in June, the day after the show premiered.

Army Wives, which is executive produced by Mark Gordon (Grey’s Anatomy) and Deb Spera (Criminal Minds), returns for a second season in spring 2008.