'Political Animals' Premiere Draws 2.6 Million Viewers

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USA Network's highly-touted
Political Animals limited series debut to a lukewarm 2.6 million
viewers in its Sunday night debut.

The premiere of the series, starring Sigourney Weaver as a
U.S. secretary of state dealing with political and personal issues, was
slightly below the network's 2.7 million summer primetime average, according to
Nielsen.

The premiere of the six-part series was up against strong Sunday
night competition from such shows as AMC's Breaking Bad -- which drew aseries record 2.9 million viewers -- and A&E's freshman series Longmire,
which also set a series ratings record with 4.5 million watchers.

Political Animals also drew 675,000 adult 18-49
viewers; 834,000 adult 25-54 viewers and 263,000 adult 18-34 viewers, said the
network.

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.