Britney and Kevin ratings both up and down.

How you frame and/or spin something matters more than the actual data. The latest example comes courtesy UPN’s Britney and Kevin’s third episode. First, the story from a UPN press release:

UPN’S “BRITNEY AND KEVIN: CHAOTIC” PLACES 2ND AND 3RD IN KEY WOMEN DEMOS

“BRITNEY AND KEVIN” Is Up Double Digits
Versus The Year-Ago Time Period

“BRITNEY AND KEVIN” Is Also Up Double Digits In Key Demos
Over Season Time- Period Average

UPN’s “BRITNEY AND KEVIN: CHAOTIC” places second in Women
12-34 (2.3/7) and third in Women 18-34 (2.3/6).

Versus a year-ago, BRITNEY AND KEVIN improved the time-period
average by double digits:
+36% in Adults 18-34
+10% in Adults 18-49
+53% in Women 18-34
+14% in Women 18-49

BRITNEY AND KEVIN is also up versus the 2004-2005 time-period
average by double digits:
+25% in Adults 18-34
+44% in Women 18-34
+23% in Women 18-49

Source: NTI (5/31/05)

And here’s Media Life’s version:

Terrible tumble for tab-tease Britney

Third of viewers flee ‘Britney & Kevin: Chaotic’

…Last night the third episode of the show posted a 1.1 rating among viewers 18-49, according to Nielsen overnights. That’s a 26.6 percent drop from episode two’s 1.5 last week, and a 42.1 percent drop from the 1.9 rating the premiere earned two weeks ago.

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