Ratings: ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ Docuseries En Route To Making Lifetime Viewership History!

Published: Friday 4th Jan 2019 by Rashad

The first two hour block of Lifetime’s controversial three-part documentary, ‘Surviving R. Kelly,’ made its premiere last night despite reports its key subject, the Grammy-winning R. Kelly, was threatening a lawsuit if it aired (click here to read more on that).

Highlighting Kelly’s alleged 30-year+ history with the sexual abuse of young girls, the docuseries called on a number of testimonies from people in the singer’s circle including relatives, former business partners, and, of course, the victims themselves.  Setting Twitter alight, the hashtag #SurvivingRKelly dominated the social media platform as the night’s most trending topic – a conversation that spilled over into the next morning (January 4).

Now, preliminary ratings figures reveal people did more than talk, but also tuned into the series in droves! Joining rank among the network’s most watched programs EVER, look for details inside:

Total Viewers (Night 1) = 1.9 million

Via official press release:

The premiere of Lifetime’s ground-breaking documentary series Surviving R. Kelly captivated audiences and commanded the social conversation, delivering 1.9 million Total Viewers and marking Lifetime’s best performance in more than two years in all key demos including Adults 25-54 (1.2 million), Adults 18-49 (1.1 million), Women 25-54 (837,000), and Women 18-49 (767,000), according to Nielsen Media Research. 
Surviving R. Kelly also dominated social media, ranking as the #1 most social primetime program across Broadcast and Cable for January 3, excluding sports, according to Nielsen Social Content Ratings. With over 743,000 total interactions across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, Surviving R. Kelly was Lifetime’s largest social premiere for any series or movie in network history.

*****

Check back next week when official figures are revealed for the entire docuseries (which is clearly off to a great start).  At this rate it could easily rank as the network’s most watched program ever.

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  1. Haterz Gon‘ Hate January 4, 2019

    Now what would be great would be to switch the focus from how many people tuned in to watch – to what is going to be done about it – why doesn’t the lifetime makers donate proceeds to charity for protection of children from abuse? Just celebrating how many people watched seems to diminish the seriousness of the subject and the impact on the victims.

    • Jasmine January 4, 2019

      Jasmine’s Review
      By
      Jasmine

      I watched that lifetime documentary part 1 yesterdaty and this documentary SUCKS despite its failed attempts at being salacious. It is not thorough at all. I could have done a better job if the goal is to crucify R. Kelly publicly with my intellect and natural ability to read between the lines. They left the more codemning information out of the documentary and focused on hearsay and interviews about nonsense instead of interviewing real victims. Where are the alleged teenagers Kelly bedded?????????????

      1. Jovante Cunningham is a lying. She has NO RECEIPTS. Not 1 photo of her and Aaliyah and not 1 photo of her and R. Kelly. She professes she wanted to be a star and sang background for Kelly at 14 yet she could not produce one photo of her with R. Kelly. Aaliyah’s mom was telling the truth that Jovante is LYING.

      2. We all know the story of Aaliyah but she is not here to talk about her relationship with Kelly. When she was living she denied they were together romantically but we all know they were by their body language. Where are the other underrage victims that are alive????????????????????????????????

      3. Why is that queen John Legend speaking on this? We all know he is a gay queen with disdain for any black man that is straight. Go take your tight pant suit off and sashay away queen! I hope Kelly sues him for libel.

      4. All of the women interviewed claim to have met and dated him when they were adults. You know what R. Kelly is about before you got with him. Blame yourself for whatever happened because you “abused” yourself by choosing to date a man with a dark past. You pursue a snake and get bitten that ain’t nobody’s fault but your own cause u knew they were a snake before u got with them!

      Overall, i conclude the documentary was a sensationalized gathering of hearsay with no concrete evidence. If I had made this documentary I would have done interviews with the alleged teenage victims because their story is the one the public wants to hear and NOT these old h*** who dated a well known snake and now they crying about getting bitten. Drea Kelly is the worst of them all. Aint nobody force these fame hungry and money hungry women to pursue Kelly and now they crying about being peeed on like they aint know what he was into before they pursued him. Girl bye.

      • Samantha Mumba January 4, 2019

        Review of a Troll’s Review

        Crispy-Skinned Chicken a l’Orange

        Level: Easy
        Yield: 4 servings
        Total: 40 min
        Prep: 10 min
        Inactive: 10 min
        Cook: 20 min

        Ingredients
        Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
        3 skin-on bone-in chicken breast halves
        1 tablespoon vegetable oil
        1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
        4 tablespoons honey

        Directions:

        Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
        Liberally salt and pepper the chicken breast halves. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat and sear the chicken, skin side only, until brown and beginning to crisp, about 5 minutes.
        Meanwhile, make the orange glaze: In a small saucepan, heat the orange juice concentrate, honey, and salt and pepper, to taste, over medium heat, and boil for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.
        Turn the chicken over and brush each piece with the glaze. Turn the chicken skin side up and transfer the pan to the oven. Bake until the internal temperature reaches 160 to 170 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, brushing on more glaze halfway through, about 15 minutes in total. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes on a cutting board. Remove the chicken breast from the bone and slice the meat on the bias. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and serve.

      • Jasmine January 4, 2019

        Samantha yesterday you professed “I choose not to engage with her” yet here you are again STALKING my comments. I thought I trained your simple ass to ignore my comments but I guess you are SLOW and a LIAR.

        Keep your ghetto recipes to yourself gurl. I’m NOT interested. Now stick to your words and ignore my comments.

        RECEIPT of Samantha professing it won’t engage with ME:

        https://thatgrapejuice.net/2019/01/kelly-threatens-sue-lifetime-airs-must-see-documentary-aaliyah-fans-criticise-her-mother-over-statement/

    • Samantha Mumba January 4, 2019

      Spaghetti alla PUTTAnesca

      Serves 4
      Preparation
      15 MINUTES
      SUPER EASY

      Ingredients
      4 cloves of garlic
      1 small handful of black olives , (stone in)
      2 handfuls very ripe cherry tomatoes
      2 fresh red chillies
      ½ a bunch of fresh basil , (15g)
      400 g dried spaghetti
      olive oil
      3 anchovy fillets
      Parmesan cheese

      Method
      Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Meanwhile, peel and finely slice the garlic, destone the olives, and halve the cherry tomatoes. Slice the chillies and pick the basil leaves.
      Add the spaghetti to the pan of boiling salted water and cook according to the packet instructions.
      Place a large frying pan over a medium–high heat, drizzle in a good lug of olive oil, add the garlic and chilli, then tear in the anchovies and olives and stir for 2 minutes, or until the garlic starts to turn golden and the anchovies melt into the base.
      Add the cherry tomatoes, a good splash of pasta water and cover with a lid. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the cherry tomatoes start to cook down slightly.
      Drain the pasta, reserving a cupful of cooking water. Add the basil to the sauce along with the pasta and a splash of the reserved cooking water, to loosen.
      Have a taste and season, if needed. Transfer to a serving platter and top with a good shaving of fresh Parmesan.

      • Jasmine January 4, 2019

        I’m NOT interested. Now stick to your words and ignore my comments STALKER.

      • Samantha Mumba January 5, 2019

        Lamb Chops Sizzled with Garlic

        Total Time: 20 minutes
        Yields: 4

        Ingredients

        Eight 1/2-inch-thick lamb loin chops (about 2 pounds), fatty tips trimmed
        Salt and freshly ground pepper
        Pinch of dried thyme
        3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
        10 small garlic cloves, halved
        3 tablespoons water
        2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
        2 tablespoons minced parsley
        Pinch of crushed red pepper

        How to Make It

        Season the lamb with salt and pepper and sprinkle lightly with thyme. In a very large skillet, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the lamb chops and garlic and cook over moderately high heat until the chops are browned on the bottom, about 3 minutes. Turn the chops and garlic and cook until the chops are browned, about 2 minutes longer for medium meat. Transfer the chops to plates, leaving the garlic in the skillet.
        Add the water, lemon juice, parsley and crushed red pepper to the pan and cook, scraping up any browned bits stuck to the bottom, until sizzling, about 1 minute. Pour the garlic and pan sauce over the lamb chops and serve immediately.

  2. ~The Arcade~ January 4, 2019

    R.Kelly’s shenanigans and mama Haughton’s passiveness made people tune in even more.

    • Jasmine January 4, 2019

      Lifetime also re-aired it all night unlike how they do other premiers. The Toni Braxton movie technically had more viewers who tuned in to watch.

      • Jasmine January 4, 2019

        but this is broken up into 6 parts so each part counts towards 1 overall movie so of course this will collect more viewers than their other premiers.

  3. Gloria Newsome January 4, 2019

    If parents are so concerned about their daughters why did they let them go to his house. Money? I’m sure they got a big check. Did he stop paying them? As far as his ex wife I’m sure she gave him as much hell as he gave her. Probably started most of the fights. Jealousy of all the women he was with aand knocked the s*** out of him. So Don’t act like a victim.

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