Note that the HH rating #s they are using are the coverage rating and not the national rating. We should see the 18-49 numbers tomorrow.
via press release:
AMC’S NEWEST ORIGINAL SERIES “RUBICON” IS NETWORK'S HIGHEST RATED ORIGINAL SERIES PREMIERE EVER
Two Million Viewers Tune in to August 1 Two-Hour Premiere
Mad Men's Second Episode, Season Four Attracts
2.5 Million Total Viewers
New York, NY – August 2, 2010 – AMC’s third original series, Rubicon, premiered on Sunday, August 1 from 8 - 10pm ET and became the network's highest-rated and most-watched original series premiere ever. The newest original drama attracted two million total viewers and garnered a 1.5 HH rating. Airing directly after the two-hour Rubicon premiere, last night's second episode of Season Four's Mad Men attracted 2.5 million viewers and received a 2 HH rating.
"With last night's premiere of Rubicon, AMC is now three for three with our original series," said Charlie Collier, President and General Manager of AMC. "Rubicon joins our hit series Mad Men and Breaking Bad -- cementing AMC's Sunday night as the place to go for premium programming on basic cable."
Inspired by the suspenseful and high-stakes political whodunits of the 1970s – from The Parallax View to All The Presidents Men – Rubicon is a modern-day political conspiracy thriller that taps into the collective paranoia of a post-9/11 era. Executive produced by Henry Bromell (Homicide: Life on the Street, Chicago Hope, Brotherhood) and produced by Warner Horizon Television, Rubicon stars James Badge Dale (The Pacific, The Departed) and Academy® Award nominee Miranda Richardson (Sleepy Hollow, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). Following its debut, Rubicon will move to its regular timeslot, airing Sundays at 9pm ET/PT.
Prior to last night's two-hour premiere, AMC made the first hour of Rubicon available as a sneak peek on-air in prime-time, as well as on VOD, iTunes and Hulu, and generated 4.6 million views.
About AMC
AMC reigns as the only network to ever win the Golden Globe® Award for Best Television Series - Drama three years in a row and the only basic cable network to win back-to-back Primetime Emmy® Awards for Outstanding Drama Series. Whether commemorating favorite films from every genre and decade from the most comprehensive library or creating acclaimed original productions, the AMC experience is an uncompromising celebration of great stories. AMC's original stories include the Emmy® Award-winning dramas “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad,” and insightful non-scripted programming such as “AMC News.” AMC further demonstrates its commitment to the art of storytelling with curated movie franchises like AMC Hollywood Icon and AMC Complete Collection. Available in more than 95 million homes (Source: Nielsen Media Research), AMC is a subsidiary of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, which includes sister networks IFC, Sundance Channel, WE tv and Wedding Central. AMC is available across all platforms, including on-air, online, on demand and mobile. AMC: Story Matters HereSM.
I'm more impressed by how well Mad Men held up. Last season it was back under 2 mil by the second episode, I believe.
I do like how AMC conveniently forgets that it had an original series before Mad Men or Breaking Bad.
Are you saying AMC doesn't Remember WENN?
Considering how many times this aired before, I'm actually pretty impressed.
First, kudos to Rubicon for hiring a black man as part of the main cast! Some AMC shows forget the USA is full of “brown” people! Second, MM will probably, hopefully be under 2 million next week! The “real” premiere of Rubicon may have helped….
Yuk yuk.
I think bringing up the lack of African American actors on Mad Men and Breaking Bad is a red herring. Mad Men is a period piece in the early 1960's, just how many African Americans do you think were working on Madison Ave. in advertising then? Breaking Bad takes place in New Mexico a state whose African American population is less than 3% of the state's population, so how much would you expect there?
I guess if you consider that the July 2007 premiere of Mad Men's drew 1.8 million viewers and the January 2008 debut episode of Breaking Bad 1.5 million viewers then yes it was successful. Though at the same time the show certainly was a beneficiary of the reputation for quality AMC achieved because of MM and BB.
I am looking forward to seeing the numbers breakdown of the already previously viewed 8pm-9pm episode c/w the new episode that aired from 9pm-10pm. And then obviously the demo, that it will be above 0.2 and below 0.9 is stating the obvious (I think), but where will it land, yesterday I guessed 0.5. I am still inclined to think 0.5 to 0.6 but am new to thinking this way. Any more experienced hands have a guess.
Whoa, a little axe to grind there? First of all, MM did nothing wrong – you surely didn't expect any black people to work in a Mad Avenue ad firm at that time, did you? Or should they re-write history just to usher in african americans? Same thing with Breaking Bad: there aren't that many african americans over there… Why would you wish shows to do bad based on their cast's ethnicity? Or shows to do good because they hired an african american? Do you think Rubicon's the first to put a “brown” person, as you so eloquently put it, in the main cast of a show? You probably have not watched many television then. I'd say, if the race quotient is the only criteria for you, watch The Undercovers in the Fall and keep these petty comments to yourself.
Rubicon won't hold this record for very long. When “The Walking Dead” premieres in October it'll top these numbers easily, I would imagine.
There are “brown” people on BB. Giancarlo Esposito's “brown,” I'd say….
As far as black ad executives in the 1960s, Georg Olden, an artistic director with BBDO and then an exec with Mcann-Erickson and a black man. Caroline R. Jones, a copywriter with J. Walter Thompson in the 1960s and black woman!
Google them!
See my reply to ap076! With the addendum that I can express whatever I like about any show I like! I do NOT need permission to do so!
Of course people can say anything they like, but you are nothing more than a race baiter. Mad Ave. was lily White until a program forced them to integrate. Their are exceptions to most every rule but the majority of Black people working in Mad Men's world were elevator operators and maids.
In MY personal world, I lived in a city in a non-descript neighborhood and we were NOT people of means. There was a sizable population of Black people and my school wasn't integrated until 1966 with just two kids. The only jobs that *I* saw Black people perform were as delivery men and nurses.
Whatever happened in your life, sfkev, is your business….Not sure what that has to do with AMC's TV shows….
Not sure how pointing out there were ad execs, like Clarence L. Holte, in addition to the 2 previously mentioned is race-baiting. Just showing there were people of color in all facets of Mad Ave.; not just in positions of servitude!
Again, Google is a fantastic tool!
So I guess by your opening you concede that your comment “some AMC shows forget the USA is full of brown people”, was aimed solely at Mad and not Breaking Bad.
I thank you for giving the names of Mr. Olden and Ms. Jones and suggesting I goggle then and read their biographies. I did but I am afraid it only leaves me more comfortable in my assertion that in portraying an average advertising firm in the early 1960's it is not inaccurate to not have African Americans represented at the firm. The biography of Mr. Olden point out he was “an anomaly” while Ms. Jones in her own words states; “No black men were trained as copywriters in the early sixties”.
So alas Mad Men will continue in it's portrayal of African Americans as elevator operators, bartenders, or the domestic help. It truly would be interesting to see how this would change as the years go by as depicted on the show but I believe that the show's creator does not envision taking the show into the late sixties. I take comfort that the only person walking around the Draper household who is normal or grounded is Carla, Betty's domestic help as portrayed by Deborah Lacey.
I mentioned MY life experiences because I grew up during that time. Did you?
The charcters in Mad Men were making a lot more money than my father did yet I saw similar segregation first hand. I also stated that there are exceptions to most rules which is why naming three people in an industry where thousands were employed is absurd. Mad Ave. was FORCED to integrate in the 60's and things became slightly more balanced. Funny but I didn't see any Jewish people working at the agency either. Where are the Asians? The Latinos? Knock off the race baiting. You're making yourself look foolish.
Why you wish to make a comment about TV shows personal is beyond me. Really….
For the record, Holte and Olden were on Mad Ave in the 1950s, before the “FORCED” integration you stated occurred.
You are taking messageboard comments way too personally, so have a good night!
Folks I think we are going to have to agree to disagree here, we have gone way off topic, and are veering in a direction that is way out of the purview of a site devoted to at it's core TV ratings.
There may be other/better forums for this discussion and I doubt anybody's mind is going to be changed here.
I'm not denying that these people existed on Mad Ave but these were extreme exceptions in a lily White world. ap076 backs this assertion up in his most recent post:
“The biography of Mr. Olden points out he was “an anomaly” while Ms. Jones in her own words states; “No black men were trained as copywriters in the early sixties”.
If Mad Men had Black characters during the early 60's it would not be a fair representation of the times. The only thing I make “personal” is when somebody comes on a board with an agenda and a complaint that “my ethnicity” or “my cause” isn't being portrayed. Your complaint is sheer race baiting 101 and you have no basis in fact to make it.
I'm glad you took time to Google the names mentioned.
In all honesty, I doubt MM will ever fully flesh out a character of color….I will concede that!
One last point on the matter, do you share the same feelings towards Sons of Anarchy as you do towards Mad Men? I don't watch Sons (which I am lead to believe I should regret), but a quick glance at the cast reveals an almost entirely “white” cast with no African Americans listed and yet you list the show as a favorite on your twitter? Why is one so bad and the other OK, is it because it is “dirty” to use your word.