EXCLUSIVE: Summer game shows have been making a splash on ABC.
Who Wants To Be a Millionaire and Match Game both returned for new seasons Wednesday, pulling in solid viewership gains to deliver multi-year highs.
Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, Who Wants To Be a Millionaire kicked things off in the 8 p.m. hour with 4.24 million viewers, according to Live+Same Day Nielsen data. The premiere episode — which featured Drew Carey, Aisha Tyler, Matt Damon and Ken Jennings — scored the most-watched telecast in more than four years, since January 2021, and shot 27% above last season’s average audience.
In terms of the 18-49 demo, the episode stayed steady against last summer’s premiere episode with a 0.38 rating.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire stands as ABC’s most-watched entertainment telecast this summer so far.
At 9 p.m., Martin Short took the reins for a new season of Match Game, which drew 3.3M total viewers, marking its most-watched telecast in five years (since June 2020). The premiere episode topped the previous season’s debut by 13%.
Featuring celebrity guests Kevin Nealon, Selena Gomez, BD Wong, Anthony Anderson, Cara Delevingne and Ziwe, the Season 6 premiere also rose 19% above the previous season’s average total viewers.
The post ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ & ‘Match Game’ Make A Splash On ABC As Summer Premieres Post Multi-Year Audience Highs appeared first on Deadline.
