Fights, in short, are a clear gateway to ratings success in the world of reality television. More than five years ago, the in-ring culmination of a feud between Chris Leben and Josh Koscheck sparked a big rating for Spike TV and helped establish “The Ultimate Fighter”–and UFC–as a valued addition to popular culture. Last season, viral interest in Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi getting punched by a male bar patron helped drive the rapid ratings growth of MTV’s breakout series “Jersey Shore.”
A long-anticipated season two “catfight” between cast members Sammi “Sweetheart” and Jenni “JWoww” Farley propelled the show to a record rating Thursday night.
The fight between the two had been teased in early preview footage for the second season; confirming what was promised in advertising for this week’s episode, the fight footage finally aired in the closing moments of the show and undoubtedly attracted enough interest to help “Shore” post another ratings record.
The episode averaged 6.54 million viewers with a 3.3 adults 18-49 Nielsen rating, besting everything on television in the demo that night. The show additionally did a whopping 6.0 with women 18-34 and a 6.7 among teens 12-17; 25% of teenagers watching television Thursday at 10PM were watching “Jersey Shore.”
According to THRFeed, the episode marked MTV’s highest-rated broadcast among viewers 12-34 in eight years.