Topline90 Day Fianc's summer spinoff was the most viewed non-news program on cable TV last Wednesday, adding to the years of strong viewership of the immigration-focused reality dating series.Sharp Entertainment CEO Matt Sharp, Molly Hopkins, Paola Mayfield,... [+] Russ Mayfield, of '90 Day Fiance - Happily Ever After?'. On July 26, 2018, Sharp Entertainment CEO Matt Sharp spoke onstage at the Discovery Communications Summer TCA Event held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel. Getty Images for Discovery, Inc.The Key FactsAccording to Nielsen data, Sunday's episode of 90 day fianc: Happily ever After attracted nearly 2.2 million viewers. This was more than any other show on cable TV, except for Fox News Tucker Carlson Tonight and Hannity. The show's new episodes are often well-received. For four weeks, Happily Ever After was either the first or second most watched on cable TV, according to Nielsen data. This excludes news-related programs like Fox News Tucker Carlson Tonight, Hannity, and The Five. TLC claims Happily Ever After averaged 2.6m viewers per episode during its current season. This figure includes people who watched new episodes for up to three days.TangentFor years, the 90 Day Fianc series has attracted large audiences. According to TLC, the eighth season of 90 Day Fianc drew 3 million viewers. The sixth and seventh seasons had 2.5 million and 3.13 million viewers respectively. Its spinoffs often draw audiences of more than 2 million each episode.Important BackgroundTLC's 90 Day Fianc, which premiered on TLC in 2014 looks at the difficulties of families and couples dealing with an obscure aspect of American immigration law. It is called the K-1 visa. The visas, which number in the tens of thousands, allow Americans who are not U.S. citizens to remain in the United States for up to 90 days. After that, they must either return home, get married or risk being deported. Many spin-offs have been created from the show, including Happily Ever After which revisits past couples. TLC President Howard Lee stated to Vulture last week that the show's dramatic stories and open cast members make it popular. The show may also benefit from a wider appetite for reality TV: CBSs Big Brother and ABCs The Bachelorette have both exceeded 3 million viewers recently, while reality-focused TLC drew 830,000 viewers last week. The network claims that it is currently the most watched cable network by women aged 18-49 and 25-54.ContraAlthough Happily Ever After has strong ratings on cable, it still draws less viewers than broadcast TV. Broadcast TV is more popular. The show was outpaced on Sunday by CBS' 60 Minutes coverage of the Olympics, CBS' Celebrity Family Feud, CBSs NBCs Olympics coverage and many other shows.Continue readingSpellbinding Acrimony is a hit with TLC's 90-Day Fianc (Bloomberg Businessweek).
