>Is it a HUGE cable hit and a modest broadcast hit?
> How do these numbers work in comparison? For channels like Scifi, Spike TV, etc. 1.5 millions is big.
...for "bigger" cable channels like MTV, USA Network, even FX, 1.5 isn't that big.
For example, Todd TV did 800k in its premiere and was a dud -- those numbers were BELOW what FX used to get running Cops repeats in the same slots. For Spike TV on the other hand, Joe Schmo's 800k premiere was good, and the numbers that followed were even better.
...but if those shows were on a channel like MTV -- where 3-4 million a week watch MTV's first Real World airing and 4-5 million watch something like Newlyweds, those numbers would be nothing. Then on the other hand you have something like USA's Nashville Star, which averaged just under 2 million a episode on Saturday nights last year, but Saturday nights are the black hour of viewership, so those were decent enough numbers there that USA brought it back again.
Scifi's numbers were good -- they were double what they normally get in the time period, and it was a very difficult time period, probably the most competitive period on TV (even moreso than Thursdays at 8PM.)
-SB