The third episode of Sons of Anarchy was rock steady week to week in P18-49 and Total Viewers - a spectacular achievement given that this week commences the b'cast nets in full swing. Among all basic cable programs of the night, SOA was the most-watched in Total Viewers, P25-54, and all three key men demos. What's more, SOA -- in combination with a very strong performance from prime movie The Day After Tomorrow - vaulted FX to primetime's #1-rated basic cable network in P/M18-49, M18-34, P/M/W25-54; and #2 in W18-49. All data is Live+Same Day 000s; complete data sets attached.

Week to Week: SOA gained +1% in P18-49 (2,398 vs. 2,370), driven by a +7% gain in W18-49 (942 vs. 1,100) as M18-49 eased slightly (-2%, 1,456 vs. 1,488). The demo posting the strongest gains week to week was W25-54, vaulting +19% (966 vs. 813) to the third most-watched telecast in its history. Key competitive notes in the time period include (P18-49):

· Two of three b'cast nets posted significant increases week to week, making SOA's didn't-miss-a-beat performance all that more impressive: CBS with a new episode of NCIS Los Angeles gained +422% over last week's weak spec Fashion's Night Out (3,938 vs. 755) and ABC with the bow of Detroit 187 soared +74% over last week's bow of Final Witness (3,050 vs. 1,751). Meanwhile, NBC's Parenthood declined -9% (3,231 vs. 3,553).

Vs. Lead-in: SOA's movie lead-in, The Day After Tomorrow vaulted +55% over last week's Prom Night (1,142 vs. 738). From there SOA tacked on another tidy +148% to a 2,543!

Rank in its Basic Cable Time Period (Tuesday 1000 - 1100P): for the first week of its season, SOA ranked #1 in its basic cable time period in Total Viewers (3,480), ahead of Teen Mom/MTV (3,351) and Swamp People/History (2,103). Additional notable time period ranks included: #1 in all three key men demos and P25-54; and #2 in P/W18-34 and W25-54.

· What's more, in M18-34, SOA ranked #1 in its time period outright (918) with a whopping +47% advantage over #2-ranked NCIS/LA on CBS (624) and more than doubling the delivery of #3-ranked Detroit 187 [P] on ABC (442). In M18-49, SOA ranked #2 outright (1,456), behind NCIS/LA (1,718) but ahead of Detroit 187 (1,206).

FX for the Night: in P18-49, the killer-combo of SOA and The Day After Tomorrow ranked FX #1 in primetime (1,371), ahead of MTV by +15% (1,192), History by +46% (940), USA by +64% (834), TBS by +110% (653), Discovery by +223% (616 ), and TNT by +241% (402), to name a notables. FX also captured #1 ranks for the night in M18-49, M18-34, P/M/W25-54; and #2 in W18-49 and P18-34.

· Among all basic cable primetime programs on Tuesday, SOA was the most-watch in Total Viewers (3,480), ahead of Teen Mom/MTV (3,351), and The O'Reilly Factor on FOX News (2,892); and in P25-54 (2,325), ahead of Teen Mom (1,537), and the season finale of Warehouse 13 on SYFY (1,279). Other notable program ranks for the night include: #1 in all three key men demos; #2 in P/W18-49, P18-34, and W25-54; and #3 in W18-34.