"Jon & Kate" Ratings Record: 9.8 Million For Season Five Premiere

The tabloid attention to Jon and Kate Gosselin's troubled marriage drove a record audience Monday night to the season five premiere of TLC's "Jon & Kate Plus 8."

Broadcasting & Cable's Alex Weprin reports that the show drew its best ratings ever, averaging 9.8 million total viewers and 4.3 million viewers in the Women 18-49 demographic, and beating everything else on television Monday night. Further, the premiere delivered the highest ratings in TLC history in three demos (Women 18-34, Men 18-34, and Persons 18-34).

Read a summary of the premiere episode here.

Kate's sister-in-law Julie had urged viewers not to watch the show Monday night, suggesting that TLC would be stringing along the Gosselins' marriage drama in an effort to boost ratings:

They will only show what they think people want to see and it isn't real anyway. They will probably drag this out (J&K's 'relationship') for the entire season. They just string the viewers along hoping that they will come back for more."

Comments

[cmarmonhalm]

I like reality TV just as much as the next person but I can't be a party to child exploitation. If adults want to jeopardize their marriages...fine but the kids don't have a choice and that's not right.

[SoCalNick]

I am a perfect example of why they are doing this. To a point. Until this story was run I had never heard of this show. I could care less about it though but how many WILL tune in just to see what it is all about?

Marketing used to be an art now it is just TRASH

[Vyvjala]

Desperate for ratings, the networks will continue to air controversional subject matter. It's like the show, "You ask for it," back in the fifties.

[jordan3189]

Basketball beat that record last night.

[Grannysue]

I was at my daughters and she doesn't miss the show, after sitting through it she said "so Mom what do you think?, will they stay together"? I told her I raised her to use her brain, and not be an idiot. First of all, the kids are being exploited, secondly, the woman Kate seems a little tightly wound for my taste, and John, well he seems to be a guy that thought having those eight kids and a T.V. show would be just so cool until it all happened and then it was like oh wow, now I'm 27 with eight kids and a bitch for a wife and a whole lot a money, time to screw around and go party. That's what I thought.

[LiberalBuzz]

Further proof of the decline and fall of Western Civilization.

[fame]

Not gonna lie, I watched it for the first time on Monday to see what the hype was about.

[Imzadi]

And?.....

[TheBaffler]

Something tells me I'm better off never having seen this, nor having heard of it until now. I can only imagine it's a thoroughly crass, trashy "reality" show.

[Albertmum]

I'm am happy to say I have never watched it, but have unfortunately had the privilege of seeing a commercial or two. What if nobody watched it? Nobody. Maybe that would send a small message to the network to stop, as someone else said, dumbing down america?

[dildeaux]

Man, I wish some one would pay me to film my wife and I fighting.

[progressivelady]

agree, my hubby and I would be rich, we make J&K look tame...lol

[OKSunny]

I hope they are--for the kids' sakes-I liked the show at first, but its become tiresome..fickle viewer that I am and now even marriage drama wont make me return

[DSOTM]

With so much going wrong in peoples lives, they need to see other peoples lives crumbling too.

We are who we are.

[BapsZim]

Looks like the publicity stunt worked!! That Kate is a genius!!

[KarateKid]

Further evidence that the dumbing down of Americans is in fourth gear.

[cdub1984]

Who are these people?

[OhComeOnNow]

People that don't get watched in this house - actually we don't watch anything on that channel. It has nothing to do with Learning anymore. The "L" now stands for lame.

"House", "Bones" and "24" provide actual entertainment on Mondays.

[norkas]

I watched a little of it and chaged it fast when i realized i just stuffed 5 fingers in my nose all the way to my elbow