Reality TV > Finale of Bravo's Runway sets viewer record
October 20, 2006
Content taken from TV.com:
Talk about looking sharp. Wednesday's third-season finale of Project Runway set a viewership record for Bravo by a huge margin.
The hourlong episode that saw Los Angeles resident Jeffrey Sebelia emerge as the winner of the clothing design competition drew 5.4 million viewers in the 10 p.m. hour. That was well above Bravo's previous record high of 2.4 million viewers set in July with the season opener of Runway. It also was strong enough to make Runway the top-rated program on cable for the night.
"To say we are pleased by last night's numbers would be an understatement," Bravo president Lauren Zalaznick said.
In adults 18-49, a demographic coveted by advertisers, the Runway finale brought in a healthy 3.4 million viewers. The show also has been a boon to Bravo on digital and mobile platforms. On the BravoTV.com Web site, Runway hit a new show high with the heaviest traffic in network history, up 267 percent over the traffic on the Runway section last season. Additionally, page views were up 36 percent with 73 million and streaming video was up 38 percent with 5.1 million users, according to Bravo.
At 11 p.m., the sophomore-season bow of Top Chef weighed in with 1.9 million viewers as 15 new chefs began their culinary competition. Chef couldn't hold much of the Runway audience but did build 46 percent on the show's rookie-season bow in March. In adults 18-49, Chef averaged 1.3 million viewers.
In other cable ratings news, the third annual VH1 Hip Hop Honors drew 1.8 million viewers at 9 p.m. Tuesday. That marks an increase of 29 percent over last year's show.
