Ratings Five-Spot, WE 4/24/11 - Game of Thrones, Treme, The Killing, Audrina, Sanctuary

Here's your Ratings Five-Spot for the week ending April 24, 2011:

Game of Thrones - The premiere ratings for Game of Thrones on April 17 weren't exactly breakout; it pulled 2.222 million viewers and a 0.9 rating in adults 18-49. That significantly trailed the last heavily hyped HBO drama premiere (Boardwalk Empire, which got 4.809 million viewers and a 2.0 A18-49). The good news is that while Boardwalk tumbled 25% in week two, Game of Thrones kept all but 20,000 of its week one audience (2.202 million) and actually ticked up to a 1.0 A18-49. Season two's already in the bank anyway, but this was a good sign for the long-term prospects.

Treme - HBO seems to have a decent performer in Game of Thrones, but they certainly don't have one in the critically-beloved Treme. Its season two premiere managed just 605,000 total viewers and a 0.2 A18-49. That means just 27% retention in viewers and just 20% in adults 18-49 out of Game of Thrones. That's way down from its series premiere back in April 2010 (1.13m, 0.5 A18-49), so the question for HBO will be whether they can continue subsidizing a piece of programming that can't be bringing them but so many subscribers. They've done it before. (See The Wire, In Treatment.)

The Killing - I said after seeing the premiere ratings for The Killing that it was tough to judge because it was so much better than other AMC premieres and so much worse than The Walking Dead. The good news is that The Killing has held up nicely since the premiere. Its four week track to date in A18-49 is 0.7 -> 0.7 -> 0.8 -> 0.7, and total viewers have been well over two million. Considering the ratings they got early in the runs of Mad Men and Breaking Bad, those would seem to be more than enough to warrant a renewal by AMC standards.

Audrina - Though Audrina Patridge has been on some very solidly-rated programming in the past (from The Hills to Dancing with the Stars), it hasn't gone quite so well for her since she's struck out on her own. Her self-titled VH1 reality docudrama pulled just 791,000 viewers and a 0.5 A18-49 in its April 17 premiere, then plummeted to 600,000 and a 0.3 in week two. Week two saw the show dropping more than half of its lead-in from solid VH1 option Mob Wives.

Sanctuary - I mentioned when discussing Syfy's summer plans that it seems their new destination for scripted programming is Monday. But the early returns from Sanctuary's move to the night seem to throw a wrench in those plans. After pulling about 1.4 million viewers and a 0.4 A18-49 in its early-season airings after Friday Night Smackdown, the Monday debut tanked to just 868,000 viewers and a 0.2 demo. The Friday hour is now occupied by the new unscripted show Urban Legends, so turning the ratings around could be a hairy proposition.

More Five-Spots in the Index.