In its 5th season, "It's Always Sunny..." viewing with adults 18-34 was up almost 50 percent over season 4.
via press release -- sorry about some of the wacky formatting with the tables -- they looked very pretty in what FX sent out, but they have been stretch-o-fied, but there is a lot of data on the season averages and prior seasons in the release and I wanted to include it!:
IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHIADELPHIA AND The League FINISH STRONG
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia Ends Fifth Season As Most-Watched Season Ever Among All Demos
The League Finishes First Season With the Finale Being Second Most-Watched Episode Ever
Both Shows Renewed And Will Be Back On FX Next Year
LOS ANGELES, December 11, 2009 – It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and The League ended their seasons on a ratings high note, as Thursday’s season five finale of Sunny was the top-rated show on cable in Adults 18-34 (1.31 million) and Men 18-34 (1.01 million), marking an all-time series high for Men 18-34. The season one finale of The League drafted 1.20 million total viewers and 963,000 Adults 18-49, the series’ second-highest totals in those categories.
Sunny’s finale brought in 1.68 million Adults 18-49 and 1.24 million Men 18-49 – making it #2 for the night in all of cable in those categories behind the Steelers vs. Browns game on the NFL Network – and 2.13 million total viewers. For its 12-episode fifth season, Sunny averaged 1.79 million total viewers, 1.42 million Adults 18-49 and 1.10 million Adults 18-34, which represented respective gains of +36%, +52% and +49% versus season four averages and marked the highest numbers ever for the series.
Sunny’s fifth season was its most-watched ever. The chart below provides a comparison to its prior season.
P2+ A18-49 M18-49 W18-49
Season 5 1794 1418 960 459
Season 4 1318 935 569 366
Season 3 1278 967 571 395
Season 2 1243 832 502 330
Season 1 1139 747 424 323
%change Season 5 vs. 4 +36% +52% +69% +25%
A18-34 M18-34 W18-34
Season 5 1107 752 354
Season 4 745 457 288
Season 3 706 431 276
Season 2 522 314 209
Season 1 419 231 188
%change Season 5 vs. 4 +49% +65% +23%
For its 6-episode first season, The League averaged 1.09 million total viewers, 880,000 Adults 18-49 and 680,000 Adults 18-34. Compared to the first season averages of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, these represent gains of +18% in Adults 18-49 and +62% in Adults 18-34.
The League posted gains over the first season of Sunny. Ratings Information Listed Below (deliveries in 000s).
A18-49 M18-49 A18-34 M18-34
The League Sn.1 880 626 680 499
Sunny Sn. 1 747 424 419 231
% difference +18% +48% +62% +116%
FX is the flagship general entertainment basic cable network from Fox. Launched in June of 1994, FX is carried in more than 96 million homes. The diverse schedule includes a growing roster of distinctive original series and films, an established film library with box-office hit movies from 20th Century Fox and other major studios that run in prime time and an impressive lineup of acquired hit series
So is it safe to say The League will be back for another season?
Wasn’t The League already renewed?
yes, it was renewed within the last couple of weeks. if you do a site search on “the league” it will probably be the first story after this one.
edit: actually it was only two DAYS ago.
This is great news! It’s Alwasys Sunny… is fantastic. My current fav comedy program.
Good to hear. I have been enjoying The League, I hope Archer does well for FX too.
SUNNY rules!
The League finally was epic
Sunny.Is.Best.Comedy.Show.ONTV RIGHT NOW PERIOD
Sunny is a great show. The League is OK, but I think it can get better. The two will make a good pair next year. Both series will air 13 episodes next fall September-December, Thursdays at 10 and 10:30