Hallmark Channel Takes Saturday Night

Hallmark Channel claimed victory as the highest-rated cable network on Saturday night behind the second-season premiere of Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove and original telefilm, For Better or For Worse.

The sophomore-season opener of Cedar Cove on July 19 averaged a 1.6 household rating and 1.7 million viewers in the 8 p.m. hour, according to Nielsen data. Included in that total were 374,000 women 25 to 54, marking the series’ second-highest delivery among the network’s core demo and a 26% increase over its first-season average. The two-hour series premiere averaged 2.6 million viewers last July.

Network officials said Cedar Cove, starring Andie MacDowell as a small-town judge and Dylan Neal as her love interest, amidst their family and friends, ranked as the top-rated cable program among women 18 to 49 (0.7 rating); women 25 to 54 (0.8); and total viewers (0.8). The program also placed second with 1.36 million households and the 374,000 women 25 to 54.

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