or


[01/26/10 - 01:50 PM]
Record Audience of 3.3 Million Powers Weekend Debut of New Starz Original Series, 'Spartacus: Blood and Sand'
Starz spins the numbers for Friday, January 22.

[via press release from Starz]

Record Audience of 3.3 Million Powers Weekend Debut of New Starz Original Series, 'Spartacus: Blood and Sand'

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Jan. 26 -- Updated figures for the series premiere of "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" indicate that more than 3.3 million total viewers* tuned in for episode one of the new Starz Original, a record performance for a series debut on the premium pay TV network.

Based on live plus same-day DVR viewing, the Friday night 10PM ET/PT airing on Starz drew a 2.1 HH rating (661,000 viewers) and Encore a 1.2 rating (580,000 viewers), or more than 1.2 million viewers combined. An additional 430,000 viewers (1.6 HH rating) watched at 11PM ET/PT on Starz.

The 3.3 million viewership figure includes three additional weekend airings on Starz and Encore with same-day DVR usage. Figures from other Starz channels, additional DVR usage, starz.com viewership and on-demand/online previews with affiliates are expected to grow that figure well past 4 million total viewers.

With a gross average viewing audience of more than 2.5 million for the six Starz/Encore airings, Stephan Shelanski, executive vice president, programming for Starz Entertainment commented, "This is the most successful premiere in the company's history. We are very gratified to see that our excitement and faith in the series - already renewed for a second season - has been matched by initial demand. This show is unlike anything ever seen on television, and we are confident that passion for the series will grow as the character development and incredible story arcs unfold."

Post-premiere episodes of "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" debut on Starz on Fridays at 10PM ET/PT with an additional airing on Sunday nights at 10PM ET/PT.

About "Spartacus: Blood and Sand"

Produced by Rob Tapert, Sam Raimi, Joshua Donen and Steven S. DeKnight, "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" is the most highly anticipated original series in the history of Starz. The 13-episode hour-long drama was renewed for an epic second season prior to the series premiere on January 22, 2010.

The UK-born and Australia-based Andy Whitfield portrays Spartacus, a soldier in the Roman Auxiliary who is taken prisoner. Lucy Lawless is cast as Lucretia, who along with her husband Batiatus (John Hannah), own the slave Spartacus and the gladiator camp where the former soldier learns the ways of the arena fighter. Additional cast members include: Erin Cummings as Spartacus' Thracian wife, Sura; Peter Mensah as Doctore, Batiatus' most loyal and trusted slave; Manu Bennett as Crixus, the top gladiator at Batiatus' gladiator school; Antonio Te Maioha as Barca, who is Batiatus' bodyguard and hit man; Craig Parker as Glaber, who blames Spartacus for his failed military campaign; and Nick E. Tarabay as Ashur, a former gladiator who is now the school's resident bookie. Starz' new "Spartacus" series was inspired by the actual slave of the Roman Republic who in 73 BC led a slave revolt that grew to more than 120,000 fighters. Defying the Roman Republic's legions of soldiers, they campaigned for two years through much of what is now Italy before succumbing to a much larger army. The new series will tell a new set of stories rich in character, action, sex and combat.

Starz Entertainment is the exclusive subscription television and broadband provider of Starz Originals (including "Party Down," "Crash," "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," and "Gravity") and feature films. First-run movies are from leading Hollywood studios including Walt Disney Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Overture Films, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Pixar, TriStar, Screen Gems, Sony Classics and Warren Miller Films. Starz licenses hundreds of feature films from a wide array of independent distributors including IFC, Yari Film Group, and Summit Entertainment and a vast collection of classic and favorite titles from most Hollywood studios, including Warner Bros., Universal and MGM.

Starz Entertainment, LLC, is a premium movie service provider operating in the United States. It offers 16 movie channels including the flagship Starz� and Encore� brands with approximately 17.3 million and 30.7 million subscribers respectively. Starz Entertainment airs more than 1,000 movies and new original series every month across its pay TV channels and offers advanced services including Starz HD, Encore HD, Starz On Demand, Encore On Demand, MoviePlex On Demand, Starz HD On Demand, Encore HD On Demand, MoviePlex HD On Demand, and Starz Play. Starz Entertainment (www.starz.com) is an operating unit of Starz, LLC, which is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation, and is attributed to Liberty Starz (NASDAQ: LSTZA), a tracking stock group of Liberty Media Corporation.

*3.3 million viewers based on Live + Same Day P2+ Cume estimates across Starz and Encore channels, Nielsen NPOWER 1/22/10 - 1/24/10. All Ratings references based on Live + SD HH Coverage Area estimates for respective program telecasts. All other viewer references based on Live + Same Day P2+ Average Audience and Gross Average Audience estimates for Starz and Encore, Nielsen NPOWER 1/22/10 - 1/24/10. Subject to qualifications available upon request.





  [january 2010]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
     


· SPARTACUS (STARZ)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[10/03/25 - 02:17 PM]
ESPN's Record-Setting '25 MLB Wild Card Series
Across eight games, the MLB Wild Card Series is averaging 4.4 million viewers, up 65% from last year.

[10/03/25 - 12:07 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Continues to Shatter Records - Growing Two Weeks in a Row Since Season Premiere for First Time Since 2005
Plus: "High Potential" hit a season high in Total Viewers (4.24 million), growing by double digits over the show's comparable third episode from last fall.

[10/02/25 - 04:09 PM]
ESPN Delivers the Most-Watched WNBA Semifinals Ever
Game 5 between the Indiana Fever and the Las Vegas Aces averaged 1.8 million viewers, peaking at 2.1 million.

[10/02/25 - 02:51 PM]
ESPN's Record-Setting Day One of MLB Wild Card Series
Coverage of Red Sox versus Yankees averaged 6.5 million viewers, peaking at 9.9 million.

[10/02/25 - 11:00 AM]
"Survivor" and "The Amazing Race" Season Premieres Hit Their Largest 3-Day Streaming Viewerships Ever
The "Survivor" season 49 premiere grew to 6.83 million viewers with three days of multiplatform viewership; while "The Amazing Race" season 38 premiere grew to 4.01 million viewers.

[10/02/25 - 09:38 AM]
"Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" Scores on Friday Nights with Biggest Total Viewer Audience in Nearly Two Years
"Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" stood as the No. 1 program of the night, rising by double digits in Total Viewers over its previous season premiere.

[10/01/25 - 10:27 AM]
"Big Brother" Season Finale Is Most-Watched Episode in Over Three Years
The finale was up +33% from its year ago finale and up +33% from this season's average.

[09/30/25 - 03:44 PM]
ESPN and ABC Win College Football's Week 5; "College GameDay's" Most-Viewed Season Rolls On
ABC is off to its best start ever with 7.1 million average viewers per game, and the network has aired eight of the top 10 most-viewed games this season.

[09/30/25 - 02:08 PM]
Packers-Cowboys OT Thriller Averages 26.9 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock, As NBC Sports Opens with Best Four-Week Audience Average in 20 Seasons of NBC "SNF"
The audience peaked at 29.9 million viewers in the second quarter (9-9:15 p.m. ET).

[09/30/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of September 22: "Wayward" Lures Viewers at No. 1, "KPop Demon Hunters" Sets Top 10 Record
New on Netflix this week is "House of Guinness," a historical drama series created by Steven Knight, which debuted at No. 3 on the English TV list with 5.2 million views.

[09/30/25 - 10:24 AM]
"High Potential" Season Premiere Vaults to Nearly 16 Million in First Week Across Platforms
This marks ABC's best season premiere for a drama among Total Viewers in five years.

[09/29/25 - 06:06 AM]
ESPN's 2025 MLB Game Viewership Up 21 Percent from Last Year
Coverage delivered 1.8 million viewers on average across 30 games this season.

[09/26/25 - 01:11 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Week Two Delivers Over 5 Million Total Viewers Rising Over Season Premiere for First Time in 14 Years
Once again, the show led its time period and stood as the No. 1 show of the night in Total Viewers (5.46 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.02 rating).

[09/25/25 - 02:05 PM]
Viewers Have Watched More Than 8 Billion Minutes of "Big Brother" This Summer - Up +27% from Last Year
Multiplatform average episode viewership grew to 5.1 million, up +23% versus last year in 35-days of viewing, outpacing the competition.

[09/24/25 - 02:47 PM]
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Returned on Tuesday to 6.26 Million Total Viewers on Broadcast, According to Initial Live+Same Day Measurement
In addition to linear ratings, the monologue has garnered more than 26 million views across YouTube and social platforms.