'Army Wives,' Most-Watched Series in Lifetime Television's 23-Year History, Now the Year's #1 New Cable Drama Dominating Households, W18-34, W18-49 and W25-54

NEW YORK, June 26 -- Powered by unprecedented weekly growth across all key demographics and viewing categories, "Army Wives," Lifetime Television's most-watched series in its 23-year history, has now become the year's #1 new cable drama! The critically acclaimed series has captured the top ratings spot in households (3.0), W18-34 (1.9), W18-49 (2.3) and W25-54 (2.5), and is tied for first among P2+ (1.5).

This past Sunday (June 24) for the second consecutive week, the smash hit was the #1 program in basic cable during primetime (8-11PM) among W18-49 (2.8/1.6 million) and W25-54 (3.1/1.6 million), while additionally winning its 10PM time period in households, W18-34 and P2+.

The success of "Army Wives" boosted the record-setting audience for the Monday, June 25 premiere of the Lifetime Original Movie "Girl, Positive," which drew a W18-34 3.35 rating/ 935,000 viewers and a W18-49 2.83 rating/1.6 million viewers, both #1 among all 2007 basic cable original movies, along with 3.5 million P2+.*

"Army Wives"

Underscoring its strength in upscale homes and its exploding popularity among all television viewers, "Army Wives" commands first place among all of this year's new cable dramas among W25-54 living in high income homes ($75k+). It is also #1 among African-American W18-49 (2.9), and #1 among Hispanic W18+ (0.8) and W25-54 (0.8).

The cumulative audience for the first run episode on Sunday, June 24 at 10PM (ET/PT) and the encore on Sunday, June 25 at 1AM (ET/PT) was 6.1 million.

In just four weeks, "Army Wives" has the highest IAG **engagement scores among new cable dramas this year among W18-49 and W25-54, both at 86% (first three episodes). The series has also demonstrated a highly engaged audience with DVR*** playback increasing household ratings by 11%, 16% among W18-49 and 18% among W25-54 (for the June 3 premiere).

Building upon the success of "Army Wives," Lifetime's bold summer strategy of debuting three new dramas for the same night in the same season continues on Sunday, July 15 when "Side Order of Life" and "State of Mind" premiere at 8PM (ET/PT) and 9PM (ET/PT), respectively.

Filmed on location in Charleston, South Carolina, "Army Wives" stars Emmy(R) Award winner Kim Delaney ("NYPD Blue"), Sally Pressman ("Shark"), Brigid Brannagh ("Over There"), Brian McNamara ("The O.C."), Sterling K. Brown ("Starved"), Wendy Davis ("Commander in Chief"), Drew Fuller ("Charmed") and Catherine Bell ("JAG"). Mark Gordon ("Grey's Anatomy," "Criminal Minds") and The Mark Gordon Company's President of Production, Deborah Spera ("Criminal Minds") serve as executive producers. Jeff Melvoin ("Alias") serves as executive producer and show runner. Katherine Fugate ("The Prince & Me") created the series and also serves as executive producer and writer. The series is based on the book Under the Sabers: The Unwritten Code of Army Wives by Tanya Biank, who serves as a consultant. "Army Wives" is produced by ABC Studios.

LIFETIME is the leader in women's television and one of the top-rated basic cable television networks. A diverse, multi-media company, LIFETIME is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and their families. LIFETIME Television, LMN, Lifetime Real Women and Lifetime Digital (including LifetimeTV.com) are part of LIFETIME Entertainment Services, a 50/50 joint venture of The Hearst Corporation and The Walt Disney Company.

*Source Nielsen Fast Nationals 6/25/07

**Source: IAG All program data except Army Wives reflect the time period 9/18/06-5/20/07; Army Wives data reflect the time period 6/03/07-6/18/07.

***Source: Nielsen Live + 7 Army Wives premiere episode 6/3/07 10p

SOURCE LIFETIME Television
http://www.lifetimetv.com