'Legend of the Seeker' Premiere Draws Viewers

By Paige Albiniak
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

Click here to see the Legend of the Seeker trailer


Disney-ABC’s new, first-run weekly hour, Legend of the Seeker, turned in respectable premiere ratings, improving its time periods by an average of 15% compared to the prior month. Legend of the Seeker scored a 1.5 rating/3 share primary-run average among 54 metered markets.

The results are particularly noteworthy considering the show faced strong competition from a dramatic college football game in which number-seven ranked Texas Tech beat cross-state rival and number-one ranked University of Texas in, literally, the final second of the game.

In top markets, Legend of the Seeker improved time periods by 14% on Tribune-owned KPIX New York, 80% on Tribune-owned WGN Chicago, 117% on Hearst-Argyle-owned WCVB Boston, 30% on Gannett-owned WATL Atlanta, 67% on Tribune-owned WDCW Washington, D.C., and 33% on Tribune-owned KIAH Houston.

The show’s performance improved 21% from Saturday to Sunday, moving from a 1.4/3 on Saturday, Nov. 1, to a 1.7/3 on Sunday, Nov. 2

In key demographics, Legend of the Seeker improved Oct. 2008 time periods by as much as 40% among men 25-54, 25% among men 18-49 and 20% among women 18-49, among all airings of the show.

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.