‘Sarah Palin’s Alaska’ Ratings Plummet

After setting a TLC ratings record last week, Sarah Palin’s reality show plummeted for its second episode.

Sarah Palin’s Alaska fell 40% on Sunday night to 3 million viewers.

Not many were in the key adult demo either. Only 885,000 viewers were ages 18-49, dropping 44% from last week.

In fact, the median age of the show is 57 — that’s 15 years older than TLC’s average.

TLC expected a ratings drop coming off the high-flying premiere; executives realized some of their numbers were driven by sheer curiosity rather than eagerness to see an Alaska-based travelogue reality show. Competition from Sunday Night Football and the American Music Awards may have impacted the numbers as well.

“We are very happy with the ongoing strength of Sarah Palin’s Alaska, and it continues to drive big ratings gains for TLC,” said a network spokesperson, who noted Conan had a similar drop.

Tonight, Bristol Palin will be on the Dancing With the Stars finale and there should be no shortage of viewers there given the controversy surrounding her improbable continued success on the show.