'Baby Daddy' Debut Draws 1.7 Million Viewers

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ABC Family's new comedy series Baby Daddy netted nearly 2 million viewers in its Wednesday night premiere, the second-biggest comedy debut for the network.

The series, which stars Jean-Luc Bilodeau as a 20-something single man forced to raise a baby left on her doorstep by an ex-girlfriend, drew 1.7 million viewers, second only to the 2.1 million viewers generated by the debut of Melissa & Joey in 2010, said network officials.

The series was also popular with women, averaging 492,000 viewers in the female 18-34 demo and 732,000 women 18-39, said the network.

Baby Daddy lead-in Melissa & Joey delivered its highest viewership for its sophomore season Wednesday, averaging 1.5 million total viewers and 626,00 viewers in the network's core 18-49 demo.

R. Thomas Umstead
R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.