Jersey Shore Season 3 Premiere Draws Record 8.45 Mill

'Jersey Shore' Season Premiere Draws Record 8.45 Million Viewers; 4.2 Adults 18-49 Rating

By Bill Gorman

The season premiere of MTV’s Jersey Shore on Thursday drew 8.45 million viewers, that’s 38% above the viewership (6.1 million viewers) for the late October season finale and is MTV’s most viewed series telecast ever. It drew a 4.2 adults 18-49 rating, up 35% from the 3.1 adults 18-49 rating for the late October finale. That crushed the 18-49 ratings for everything on broadcast at 10pm last night.

So much for the memo that DVRs kill everything at 10pm.

Here’s the official press note with more information from MTV:

MTV’S HIGHEST RATED SERIES TELECAST EVER! SEASON THREE OF“JERSEY SHORE” DELIVERS 8.45 MILLION TOTAL VIEWERS FOR PREMIERE

“JERSEY SHORE” SEASON THREE PREMIERE

* Delivered 8.45 million total viewers.
* Averaged an 8.3 P12-34 rating and 6.5 million P12-34 viewers.
* MTV’s most watched series telecast ever.
* Delivered more P12-34 viewers than any broadcast or cable television show this broadcast season.*
* For P12-34, the “Jersey Shore” premiere is +63% versus the Season Two premiere (8.3 vs. 5.1) and +36% versus the Season Two finale (8.3 vs. 6.1).
* For P12-34, “Jersey Shore” is +46% vs. the Season Two average (8.3 vs. 5.7).

*Excludes sporting events.

Source: Nielsen. L+SD cvg rtg. 1/6/11. Season 2: 7/29/10-10/21/10. Rank on 000s. Broadcast season: 9/20/10-1/5/11