'Tudors' season finale ratings up

Was Showtime series' second-most-watched episode

By Kimberly Nordyke

June 3, 2008, 04:38 PM ET

Showtime's "The Tudors" ended its second season on a regal note.

The drama series averaged 852,000 total viewers at 9 p.m. Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research. That's an 83% increase over the first-season finale, which drew 465,000 viewers at 10 p.m. June 10, and an 11% increase over the Season 2 premiere, which averaged 768,000 viewers at 9 p.m. March 30.

The telecast ranks as the second-most-watched episode for the show, behind the April 1, 2007, series premiere (870,000).

A repeat airing of "Tudors" at 11 p.m. Sunday averaged 210,000 viewers. Combined, the 9 and 11 p.m. telecasts brought in 1.1 million viewers.

"Tudors" is set to go into production on Season 3 this month for a spring premiere.

Meanwhile, the MTV Movie Awards averaged 3 million viewers from 8-10 p.m. Sunday, off 17% from last year's installment (3.6 million).

Elsewhere in cable, NBA playoff games comprised the top 5 telecasts of the week ending June 1, led by TNT's coverage of the L.A. Lakers-San Antonio Spurs matchup Tuesday (7.2 million) and Thursday (6.8 million). ESPN's Boston Celtics-Detroit Pistons telecasts rounded out the top five (6.45 million on Friday, 6.43 million on Wednesday and 6.1 million on Monday).

The most-watched nonsports programs of the week were USA's "In Plain Sight" series premiere Sunday (5.3 million) and A&E's two-part miniseries "The Andromeda Strain" on Tuesday (5 million) and Monday (4.8 million).

'Tudors' season finale ratings up

Was Showtime series' second-most-watched episode

By Kimberly Nordyke

June 3, 2008, 04:38 PM ET