Andy DehnartFX’s social experiment Black. White. pulled in 3.98 million viewers overall on Wednesday night.
With a 2.1 rating among people ages 18 to 49, the show “matched the basic cable record in 18-49 for a reality [show] by MTV’s ‘The Osbournes,'” Variety reports. And the premiere “did especially well among young men, with its 2.2/8 in men 18-34, putting it ahead of ABC’s ‘Invasion’ and behind only dramas ‘CSI: NY’ on CBS and ‘Law & Order’ on NBC.” That’s especially impressive for a show that airs on cable.
Perhaps most surprising, that show and the finale of Project Runway 2 set records for their respective networks, and both aired at the exact same time.
On UPN, the premiere of Top Model 6 “grew with each half-hour and exploded at 9 when Fox’s ‘Idol’ went off the air,” according to Variety. The show “set premiere records for the franchise in virtually all key categories, ranking second only to Fox in adults 18-34 from 8 to 10.”
Clearly, there’s an audience for reality TV, as long as the show doesn’t suck.