David Hasselhoff roast a ratings hit

12:34 PM PDT 10/14/2010 by Georg Szalai, AP

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Comedy Central event highest rated cable show of Sun. night

NEW YORK -- The Hoff gave Comedy Central a turbo boost in the ratings.

The Sunday night premiere of the "Comedy Central Roast of David Hasselhoff" was the highest rated cable show of the night among adults and the top show in all of TV among males 18-34, the network said Tuesday.

The 10 p.m. premiere drew 3.5 million total viewers (2.5 rating), 2.5 million viewers in the 18-49 demographic (2.2) and 1.1 million males 18-34 (or 3.7), Comedy Central said citing Nielsen Media Research ratings.

The special topped the Viacom network's highest rated and most watched week since October in the 18-49 and males 18-34 demos. Plus, it helped make the evening Comedy Central's highest rated Sunday night among viewers 18-49 since April 2009.

Compared with last year's "Comedy Central Roast of Joan Rivers," ratings rose 18% in total households and 40% in the 18-49 demo.

Overall, the Hoff special was Comedy Central's fifth most-watched roast ever among total viewers - and the 18-49 audience. The ranking of the network's top-rated roasts is led by one for Jeff Foxworthy, followed by Pamela Anderson, Larry The Cable Guy and Flavor Flav, according to a spokeswoman.