The two-hour premiere of TNT's Falling Skies on Sunday night drew more than 5.9 million viewers,
according to Nielsen fast nationals.
That showing ranked it as cable's top new series launch for
2011 to-date, according to TNT. The alien invasion drama from executive
producer Steven Spielberg also garnered 2.6 million adults 18-49 and 3.2
million in the adults 25-54 demo.
Falling Skies was
also cable's top scripted series debut since TNT's Rizzoli & Isles in July 2010, which drew 7.6 million viewers.
The Noah Wyle-led Skies outperformed
other big cable entries of last year like USA's Covert Affairs (4.9 million) and AMC's The Walking Dead (5.3 million).
"The enormous success of Falling Skies demonstrates
what can happen when you partner with the best people in the business and give
them what they need to do their very best work," said Michael Wright, executive
VP, head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies (TCM).
Falling Skies
moves to its regular Sunday 10 p.m. timeslot this week following the season
premiere of Leverage.
