TNT Sweeps Basic Cable in Q2 2014 as "The Last Ship" Premiere Climbs to 7.2 Million Viewers in Live + 3

The Last Ship and Murder in the First Rank as Basic Cable's Top 2 New Series for the Year-to-Date; Rizzoli & Isles and Major Crimes Top the Returning Series Charts for Q2

TNT has swept the competition as basic cable's #1 network in primetime among total viewers and all key adult demos for Q2 2014. The win comes as time-shifted viewing has lifted the network's new hit series The Last Ship to 7.2 million viewers in Live + 3 delivery for last week's premiere episode. The Last Ship now ranks as basic cable's #1 new series for the year-to-date among total viewers, with TNT's Monday night drama Murder in the First coming in second. The Last Ship is also on track to claim basic cable's #1 new series for the year-to-date among adults 25-54.

TNT's Q2 victory, which was driven early in the quarter by Turner Sports' coverage of the NBA Playoffs and the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, has been cemented by the network's powerful summer lineup. In addition to landing the top new series of Q2, TNT is home to basic cable's Top 2 returning series for the quarter: Rizzoli & Isles, which has risen to 7.8 million viewers in Live + 3 delivery for last Tuesday's episode, and Major Crimes, which has garnered 6.6 million viewers in Live + 3 for last Monday's episode, a +9% increase over the prior week. Major Crimes also scored growth in key demos, increasing its deliveries of adults 18-49 by +20% and adults 25-54 by +13% over the prior week's episode.

The Last Ship forms a strong action-adventure block on Sunday nights with TNT's returning hit Falling Skies, which has grown to 5.5 million viewers in Live + 3 delivery for last week's season 4 premiere. In key demos, time-shifted viewing has increased last week's series launch of The Last Ship to 2.5 million adults 25-54 and 2.2 million adults 18-49 in Live + 3, while the season premiere of Falling Skies has garnered 2.4 million adults 25-54 and 2.0 million adults 18-49 in Live + 3.

In other time-shifted viewing, the June 9 season 3 premiere of Major Crimes scored a final tally of 7.4 million viewers in Live + 7 delivery, a +6% increase over last summer's season 2 premiere. The show also grew its adults 25-54 delivery by +3% over last summer's premiere, with more than 2.2 million in Live + 7. The June 9 launch of Murder in the First topped out with 5.5 million viewers in Live + 7 delivery (+8% over the same timeslot last year), including 1.6 million adults 25-54 (+6%). In addition, Murder in the First has expanded its audience for last Monday's episode to 4.1 million viewers in Live + 3 delivery; Perception has grown its delivery for last Tuesday's episode to 4.0 million viewers in Live + 3; and TNT's real-life investigation series Cold Justice has drawn more than 2.3 million viewers in Live + 3 delivery for its June 20 summer premiere, a remarkable +34% increase over the show's season 2 premiere in January.

Capping TNT's exceptional quarter, Sunday night's episode of The Last Ship scored 4.6 million viewers in Live + Same Day at 9 p.m. and matched last week's premiere performance among adults 25-54 with 1.7 million. Falling Skies followed with 3.0 million viewers in Live + Same Day, including 1.2 million adults 25-54.

About TNT

TNT is television's destination for drama. Seen in 101 million households and ranking among cable's top networks, TNT is home to such original drama series as Rizzoli & Isles, Major Crimes, Falling Skies, The Last Ship, Murder in the First, Perception, Dallas and Franklin & Bash. TNT's upcoming slate of original scripted dramas includes Legends, The Librarians, Public Morals, Proof and Transporter The Series, which will make its U.S. television debut on the network this fall. TNT also features such dramatic unscripted series as Cold Justice and the upcoming On the Menu and Wake Up Call. In addition, TNT is the cable home to popular dramas like Hawaii Five-0, Castle, The Mentalist, Bones and Supernatural; primetime specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards(R); blockbuster movies; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR, the NBA and the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

TNT is part of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company. Turner Broadcasting creates and programs branded news; entertainment; animation and young adult; and sports media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.