'Falling Skies' Has Big Ratings Debut

TNT

"Falling Skies"

TNT's alien invasion series Falling Skies, executive produced by Steven Spielberg, hit big in the ratings.

For the two-hour series premiere last night, 5.91 million viewers tuned in to the Noah Wyle-led drama, according to Nielsen. The launch marks cable's top new series for the year to date. The TNT drama also ranks as cable's biggest scripted debut since last year's TNT drama Rizzoli & Isles, which drew 7.6 million to its premiere in mid-July 2010.

Comparably, Falling Skies outdrew the series debuts of USA's Covert Affairs (4.9 million) and AMC's The Walking Dead (5.3 million).

In the adult demos, the ambitious sci-fi drama did well: in the 18-49 demographic, 2.64 million tuned in and 3.24 million in the adults 25-54.

“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 vice president, head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies. “TNT’s Falling Skies is an exciting, fascinating and often moving story made possible through the magic of DreamWorks Television, an incredibly talented cast led by Noah Wyle and the vision of one of the greatest storytellers of our time, Steven Spielberg.”

Falling Skies premieres in its regular time slot this Sunday at 10 p.m. following Leverage.

Email: philiana.ng@thr.com