Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin was no stranger to ruling over radio and charts during her 50+-year career, and now her legacy reigns over TV ratings courtesy of the critically acclaimed National Geographic series, ‘Genius.’
Toplined by EMMY, GRAMMY, and TONY Award-winning singer-actress Cynthia Erivo (alongside a cast of familiar faces that includes T.I., Luke James, Tweet, Omar Dorsey, Crystal Rucker, and the late Gospel legend Duranice Pace), the four-part miniserieschronicled Franklin’s humble Memphis beginnings to worldwide fame on the backs of hits ‘Respect,’ ‘Never Loved a Man,’ ‘Think,’ and more.
Despite the legend’s estate vocalizing their disappointment for being excluded from the biographical venture’s conception and planning, their protests did little to quell viewership as updated ratings reports reveal the 8-episode venture is the franchise’s most watched edition to date.
Details inside:
Viewership Average: 1.10 Million
Airing March 21-24, ‘Genius: Aretha’ – which was delayed by a year from its original air date – courted an average of 1 million viewers across an 8-episode run (2 million per night). Its lowest viewed chapter generated 930,000 viewers while its highest conjured 1.382 million – making the latter the most viewed ‘Genius’ episode of the entire franchise to date (which dedicated previous seasons to Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso).
Ranking in the top 10 highest-rated scripted cable programs per night, the show’s viewership numbers were only outdone by the likes of sports entertainment and live news broadcasts.
Look below to see how many eyes each episode drew:
‘Genius: Aretha’ Viewership
Night 1:
- Episode 1: 1.38 million viewers
- Episode 2: 1.37 million viewers
Night 2:
- Episode 3: 1.04 million viewers
- Episode 4: 1.07 million viewers
Night 3:
- Episode 5: 980,000 viewers
- Episode 6: 1.03 million viewers
Night 4:
- Episode 7: 930,000 viewers
- Episode 8: 1.03 million viewers
*****
The TV event is not to be mistaken the Franklin’s forthcoming big screen biopic, toplined by ACADEMY and GRAMMY Award-winning singer-actress Jennifer Hudson.
Click here to learn more about that.