The third week of the “Hardcore Justice” angle finally spurred an increase in viewership, with the show garnering its lrgest audience in months.
An average of 1.645 million viewers watched iMPACT! this week, an increase of 14% from last week’s figure. Its cable rating landed at a 1.22, up from last week’s 1.06.
Among adults 18-49, the rating was in line with last week’s 0.5; the biggest demographic gain came in male teens 12-17, for which the rating rose from a 0.97 to a 1.21.
A PWTorch.com commentary on the iMPACT! ratings boost recognizes the value that younger audience played and thus attributes the mere presence of MTV’s “Jersey Shore” season premiere with boosting television among teens and very young adults. The key to assessing that theory will come once hourly data is revealed for iMPACT!; if “Jersey Shore” were the driving force behind bringing more teens to television (and thus iMPACT!), the second hour of the TNA show, which went head-to-head with “Shore,” would have posted a considerably lower rating.
If that is not the case, then at least a solid portion of the ratings increase can be attributed to interest in TNA’s current product.
(Ratings Sources: Mediaweek, PWTorch.com)
