A&E Scares Up Record Audience for Series Premiere

A&E captured record viewership for Thursday night's premiere of its original series Beyond Scared Straight.

The series, based on the 1970's Emmy award-winning documentary Scared Straight!,
averaged 3.7 million viewers in its Jan. 13 debut, a network record for
a series premiere, according to A&E officials. The series, which
puts at-risk teens through intensive one-day in-prison sessions that
show them the unfiltered realities of life behind bars, also set records
among adults 18-49 (2.2 million viewers) and adults 25-54 (2.1
million.)

"We could not be more proud to have undertaken this
groundbreaking series and the audience response is extremely rewarding,"
said Bob DeBitetto, President and General Manager of A&E Network
and BIO Channel in a statement. "Beyond Scared Straight truly
exemplifies our unique brand of highly engaging programming with a focus
on excellent storytelling and first-class auspices."

The success
comes on the heels of strong performances by A&E original series
this week including the most-watched episode of the hit series Storage Wars, which garnered 2.8 million total viewers on Wednesday night (Jan. 12) and the Jan. 10 season finale of Hoarders, which drew 3.0 million total viewers.

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R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.