Ratings Report: The Boondocks Scores for Adult Swim

After a nearly two-year absence, Adult Swim's animated comedy The Boondocks returned Sunday night with a ratings smash.

The third season premiere of The Boondocks raked in 2.55 million viewers overall, the highest ratings for an original series at Cartoon Network's latenight imprint in over a year.

The episode also set new records for the series itself, breaking its previous ratings high in adults 18-34, adults 18-24, adults 18-49, women 18-34, and women 18-49.

Additionally, the broadcast also ranked number one in its time period across all key demos for basic cable, no mean feat for a series that's been off the air for two years now. (If that weren't enough, I'm also told that, since the show's premiere Sunday, the episode has also already been streamed over 200,000 times on AdultSwim.com.)

The full ratings release from Adult Swim can be found below.

Season Three Premiere of THE BOONDOCKS Sets Series Ratings Records;
Propels Adult Swim to #1 Among Target Young Adults

100th Episode of AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE Also Scores Significant Gains on Sunday Night

The Season 3 premiere of Aaron McGruder’s Peabody Award-winning animated series THE BOONDOCKS (Sunday, 11:30 p.m.) set several all-time series ratings records and anchored Adult Swim as the #1 ad-supported cable network among key young adult demos, according to preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research. The first original episode since Feb. 4, 2008, THE BOONDOCKS charted its best performance to date among adults 18-34, men 18-24 and adults 18-49. The premiere also earned Adult Swim’s highest audience delivery on any Sunday night in the 11:30 p.m.-12 a.m. time period among adults 18-34 since Feb. 8, 2009, and adults 18-24 since Nov. 16, 2008. A total of 2.55 million viewers tuned in, the highest overall audience delivery for THE BOONDOCKS since the series’ first season in 2006.

Additional highlights for THE BOONDOCKS include:
· #1 telecast in the timeslot on all television among adults 18-34, adults 18-24, men 18-34 and men 18-24
· #2 program of the day on all television among adults 18-24, behind only Fox’s Family Guy presentation
· #8 among the Top 10 telecasts of the week on ad-supported cable among adults 18-34

Compared to the same time period in 2009, THE BOONDOCKS earned double and triple-digit gains among all targeted demos: adults 18-34 delivery (1,255,000) increased by 61% and ratings (1.8) by 64%; adults 18-24 delivery (835,000) increased by 104% and ratings (2.9) by 107%; adults 18-49 delivery (1,576,000) increased by 57% and ratings (1.3) by 50%; men 18-34 delivery (671,000) increased by 28% and ratings (2.0) by 33%; and men 18-24 delivery (498,000) increased by 102% and ratings (3.4) by 100%. Additionally, adults 18-49 delivery (1,576,000) increased by 57%.

Overall for the week, Adult Swim once again ranked #1 among all ad-supported cable networks for total day delivery of adults 18-34, adults 18-24, men 18-34 and men 18-24. Adults 18-34 delivery (510,000) grew by 15%, adults 18-24 delivery (304,000) grew by 30%, men 18-34 delivery (295,000) grew by 14% and men 18-24 delivery (181,000) grew by 27%. Adults 18-49 delivery (682,000) also grew by 13%.

Also on Sunday night, the 100th episode premiere of AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE (12 a.m.) earned remarkable delivery gains compared to the 2009 time period. Adults 18-34 delivery (989,000) jumped by 79%, adults 18-24 delivery (604,000) jumped by 99%, men 18-34 delivery (524,000) jumped by 42% and men 18-24 delivery (364,000) jumped by 98%. TIM AND ERIC AWESOME SHOW, GREAT JOB! (12:30 a.m.) earned significant delivery gains as well. Adults 18-34 delivery (464,000) improved by 37%, adults 18-24 delivery (284,000) improved by 44%, men 18-34 delivery (225,000) improved by 15% and men 18-24 delivery (160,000) improved by 52%.

Adult Swim (AdultSwim.com), launched in 2001, is Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.’s network offering original and acquired animated and live-action series for young adults. Airing nightly from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. (ET, PT), Adult Swim shares channel space with Cartoon Network, home to the best in original, acquired and classic entertainment for youth and families, and is seen in 97 million U.S. homes.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.