Real Housewives Franchise Delivers for Bravo

NEW YORK: The premiere of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta drew in more than 4 million viewers across its 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. broadcasts, making it the highest-rated premiere in the franchise’s history, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The 10 p.m. debut episode scored an unprecedented 1.72 million adults 18 to 49 and 2.66 million total viewers. An additional 929,000 adults 18 to 49 and 1.32 million total viewers tuned in for the 11 p.m. encore. The cumulative totals make it the highest rated Thursday in prime time in network history.

The debut of The Real Housewives of Atlanta‘s second season grew by triple-digits over the season one premiere, up 289 percent among adults 18 to 49 and 305 percent among total viewers. Online the show generated the best premiere day video performance for any Bravo series in the history of Bravo.

Piggybacking on this success, Thursday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live scored its highest rated showing to date. The episode delivered 592,000 adults 18 to 49 and 1.66 million total viewers. Top Chef Masters was also up, 9 percent among adults 18 to 49 and 7 percent among total viewers.