“Seinfeld” Boosts “Curb Your Enthusiasm” Finale Rating

Though the numbers clearly reveal that the average “Seinfeld” viewer did not see the reunion arc on the seventh “Curb Your Enthusiasm” as a substitute for the beloved 1990s sitcom, they do indicate that Jerry Seinfeld and company produced additional interest in the HBO series’ season finale.

Sunday’s “Curb” airing garnered 2 million viewers over its initial two airings, which represents a jump of 24% from the sixth season finale in 2007. Down from the show’s heydey numbers in the early part of the decade, the figure nonetheless holds up to HBO’s standards for comedy success and indicates some reward in building the season around the production of a fictitious “Seinfeld” reunion episode.

The first airing at 9PM did 1.3 million viewers, up from about 1 million for the previous season-ender.

“Having said that,” the viewership was down significantly from the first reunion-centric episode of the season, which attracted 2.6 million viewers over the two Sunday night airings.

Between DVR, On Demand and the excess of weekly encores, this year’s “Curb” is averaging about 5.1 million viewers per episode, a gain of 36% from the season six average.

Worth noting is the fact that “Curb” stars “Seinfeld” co-creator and occasional guest star Larry David and thus presumably draws much of its viewership from the passionate “Seinfeld” contingent. So while the “Seinfeld” arc did generate some additional interest, it seems logical that those most interested in a televised “Seinfeld” reunion were already regular “Curb” watchers.

As Larry David traditionally does not reveal his future plans for “Curb” until well after the season finale, it is not clear if and when a new season will premiere on HBO.