FX goes to the Wire with key viewers

FX's US cop drama The Wire may be little more than a cult attraction but the show attracts the sort of viewers TV executives lust after.

Last night's episode at 10pm attracted an average audience of 46,000 (0.29%), giving the show a series average over the four episodes that have aired so far of just 43,000 (0.27%).

The episode last week attracted 61,000 (0.40%), its highest so far.

While the show is way behind in the ratings compared to multichannel front runners like ITV2, BBC3 and E4, The Wire is up by 138% on the channel's slot average for the year so far of just 18,000 (0.11%).

The show itself may only attract very small overall audiences but it appeals to the type of viewer that is the holy grail of TV executives and advertisers.

The show is a massive hit amongst upmarket viewers with 92.8% of the audience over the four shows coming from the ABC1 demographic. Last week, 99.9% of the audience were from this group.

Younger viewers are also attracted to the show with 73.2% of the audience aged between 16 and 34.

Viewers who fall into both categories and are highly desirable to advertisers – both young and upmarket – make up 65.7% of the audience.

Whilst The Wire was on air both of the BBC's main multichannel offerings were on fine form.

BBC3's EastEnders gained 583,000 (3.18%) for half an hour while BBC4's repeat showing of the first ever episode of Life on Mars gained 557,000 (3.31%) over a hour.

E4's film I, Robot, while not in the same league as either of the BBC's offerings, made a firm impression at 10pm with 282,000 (2.28%). The Will Smith film also performed well on E4+1 with 236,000.

ITV2's movie Wayne's World 2, at 9pm, amused 159,000 (0.84%) with a further 69,000 watching on ITV2+1.

Source: Broadcast Now