CNN's signing of Anthony Bourdain is paying dividends. His new Sunday-night series, Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, drew 974,000 viewers this past Sunday, up 30% versus its debut episode the prior week, CNN said, citing Nielsen live plus same-day data. The 9 p.m. show also posted 470,000 adults ages 25-54, CNN said in a release, up 67% vs. its premiere week and more than double the deliveries of its cable news competitors Fox News Channel and MSNBC (208,000 and 187,000 respectively).
In Sunday’s episode, Bourdain explored the Koreatown section of Los Angeles and spotlighted the talents and food preferences of award-winning chef Roy Choi and acclaimed graffiti artist, painter, portraitist David Choe. The debut episode was a visit to Myanmar.
On the digital front, Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown has received more than 1 million page views in its first two weeks on CNN.com. (Source: Adobe Analytics.) On social media, the premiere received 9,000 social mentions, up from last year’s 2,000 mentions for the No Reservations premiere on the Travel Channel. Three posts about Parts Unknown on CNN’s Facebook fan page received more than 70,000 combined actions and were the top posts on the account for each Sunday. (Sources: Sysomos 4/14/2013; Facebook API 4/14 & 21/2013; Twitter API 4/14/2013. Sysomos Domestic mentions 4/14 & 15/2013.)
Future episodes of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown feature tours of Colombia (April 28), Quebec, Canada (May 5), Tangier (May 12), Libya (May 19), Peru (June 2) and the Congo (June 9), the Turner Broadcasting System outlet said.
