Reality hit Jersey Shore keeps growing, with Thursday night's
telecast adding to the show's Nielsen legacy: It was the most-watched
series' episode in MTV history.
The Jan. 20 installment averaged 8.9 million viewers, 3% more than the 8.6 million that tuned in the show on Jan. 13, according to Nielsen live plus same-day data. Those numbers, coupled with the 7.7 million for the Jan. 17 show, which served as a lead-in to the premiere of the controversial series Skins, and the 8.5 million for the third-season debut on Jan. 6, combined to give Jersey Shore an average audience of 8.4 million through the first four episodes.
Thursday
night's premiere also drew 6.9 million persons 12 to 34, MTV's broad
demo. That was up 4% from the prior week's episode, which garnered 6.6
million of those watchers.
