Mar 28, 2024
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‘Breaking Bad’ Finale Is Big But Not AMC’s Biggest

A reported 10.3 million people tuned in last night to watch the (spoiler alert) demise of meth kingpin Walter White. It was a huge night for the show and for network AMC. More people watched Breaking Bad than anything on network television that wasn’t football on Sunday night.

It’s a huge feather in AMC’s cap. A decade ago, the network was still American Movie Classics surviving on people who wanted to watch old movies on TV.

Since 2007, the network has slowly evolved to become the basic-cable equivalent of HBO. With a growing reputation for quality, it has fostered hits like Mad Men, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead. Those shows didn’t always get the best ratings. Breaking Bad averaged 1.3 million viewers per show (over seven days) in the first season, according to Nielsen.

In the final season, it was averaging 8 million viewers. Now it’s closed the books with 10 million.

And while that may be a lot, look for AMC to do even better in the coming years. Breaking Bad’s reported numbers (Nielsen has yet to release official numbers) don’t match up to The Walking Dead’s season finale in April. That episode drew 12.4 million viewers. And it wasn’t even show’s goodbye. Imagine how many people will tune in when Walking Dead finally goes of the air.

This kind of success isn’t easy. Cable networks like USA and FX try to compete but they can’t match the buzz and devotion AMCs shows inspire. Thanks to services like Netflix NFLX +3.45%, people binge on AMC shows just as passionately as they watch new episodes and the streaming success fueled the live success. Last night’s Breaking Bad was a hit on social networking as well as on TV. According to AMC, at its peak last night there were 22,373 tweets per minute about Breaking Bad. Those kinds of numbers helped AMC ask for roughly $250,000 per 30 second ad for the finale.

But not even AMC hits every show out of the park. The network has been using the final few weeks to push its newest flawed male hero show, Low Winter Sun. But last week that show attracted just 1.3 million viewers, a fraction of the audience who tuned in for the penultimate Breaking Bad.

If Low Winter Sun doesn’t turn into a hit, AMC will have time to build more quality shows. Unlike the networks, the cable station doesn’t have to program every night. Breaking Bad will be missed but here’s to the network’s next winner.

Source: Forbes

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Front Page, Industry News

‘Breaking Bad’ Finale Is Big But Not AMC’s Biggest

A reported 10.3 million people tuned in last night to watch the (spoiler alert) demise of meth kingpin Walter White. It was a huge night for the show and for network AMC. More people watched Breaking Bad than anything on network television that wasn’t football on Sunday night.

It’s a huge feather in AMC’s cap. A decade ago, the network was still American Movie Classics surviving on people who wanted to watch old movies on TV.

Since 2007, the network has slowly evolved to become the basic-cable equivalent of HBO. With a growing reputation for quality, it has fostered hits like Mad Men, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead. Those shows didn’t always get the best ratings. Breaking Bad averaged 1.3 million viewers per show (over seven days) in the first season, according to Nielsen.

In the final season, it was averaging 8 million viewers. Now it’s closed the books with 10 million.

And while that may be a lot, look for AMC to do even better in the coming years. Breaking Bad’s reported numbers (Nielsen has yet to release official numbers) don’t match up to The Walking Dead’s season finale in April. That episode drew 12.4 million viewers. And it wasn’t even show’s goodbye. Imagine how many people will tune in when Walking Dead finally goes of the air.

This kind of success isn’t easy. Cable networks like USA and FX try to compete but they can’t match the buzz and devotion AMCs shows inspire. Thanks to services like Netflix NFLX +3.45%, people binge on AMC shows just as passionately as they watch new episodes and the streaming success fueled the live success. Last night’s Breaking Bad was a hit on social networking as well as on TV. According to AMC, at its peak last night there were 22,373 tweets per minute about Breaking Bad. Those kinds of numbers helped AMC ask for roughly $250,000 per 30 second ad for the finale.

But not even AMC hits every show out of the park. The network has been using the final few weeks to push its newest flawed male hero show, Low Winter Sun. But last week that show attracted just 1.3 million viewers, a fraction of the audience who tuned in for the penultimate Breaking Bad.

If Low Winter Sun doesn’t turn into a hit, AMC will have time to build more quality shows. Unlike the networks, the cable station doesn’t have to program every night. Breaking Bad will be missed but here’s to the network’s next winner.

Source: Forbes

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Front Page, Industry News

‘Breaking Bad’ Finale Is Big But Not AMC’s Biggest

A reported 10.3 million people tuned in last night to watch the (spoiler alert) demise of meth kingpin Walter White. It was a huge night for the show and for network AMC. More people watched Breaking Bad than anything on network television that wasn’t football on Sunday night.

It’s a huge feather in AMC’s cap. A decade ago, the network was still American Movie Classics surviving on people who wanted to watch old movies on TV.

Since 2007, the network has slowly evolved to become the basic-cable equivalent of HBO. With a growing reputation for quality, it has fostered hits like Mad Men, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead. Those shows didn’t always get the best ratings. Breaking Bad averaged 1.3 million viewers per show (over seven days) in the first season, according to Nielsen.

In the final season, it was averaging 8 million viewers. Now it’s closed the books with 10 million.

And while that may be a lot, look for AMC to do even better in the coming years. Breaking Bad’s reported numbers (Nielsen has yet to release official numbers) don’t match up to The Walking Dead’s season finale in April. That episode drew 12.4 million viewers. And it wasn’t even show’s goodbye. Imagine how many people will tune in when Walking Dead finally goes of the air.

This kind of success isn’t easy. Cable networks like USA and FX try to compete but they can’t match the buzz and devotion AMCs shows inspire. Thanks to services like Netflix NFLX +3.45%, people binge on AMC shows just as passionately as they watch new episodes and the streaming success fueled the live success. Last night’s Breaking Bad was a hit on social networking as well as on TV. According to AMC, at its peak last night there were 22,373 tweets per minute about Breaking Bad. Those kinds of numbers helped AMC ask for roughly $250,000 per 30 second ad for the finale.

But not even AMC hits every show out of the park. The network has been using the final few weeks to push its newest flawed male hero show, Low Winter Sun. But last week that show attracted just 1.3 million viewers, a fraction of the audience who tuned in for the penultimate Breaking Bad.

If Low Winter Sun doesn’t turn into a hit, AMC will have time to build more quality shows. Unlike the networks, the cable station doesn’t have to program every night. Breaking Bad will be missed but here’s to the network’s next winner.

Source: Forbes

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

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