via press release:
OXYGEN’S “DANCE YOUR ASS OFF” DEBUTS AS MOST WATCHED AND MOST CLICKED SERIES PREMIERE EVER IN NETWORK HISTORY
Over One Million People Tuned In, Show Site Logged Over One Million Page Views
New York ? June 30, 2009 ? Oxygen’s highly anticipated dance/weight-loss competition show “Dance Your Ass Off” became the most watched series premiere in network history among W18-49, A18-49 and total viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research Fast Nationals. The telecast drew an impressive 1.3 million total viewers; 614,000 A18-49, 432,000 W18-49, and 173,000 W18-34 launching Oxygen’s second night of original programming on Monday nights.
Hits on www.Oxygen.com also reached record breaking levels with nearly 40,000 unique visitors yesterday alone, a record for an Oxygen premiere. The show site has generated more than one million page views since it launched a month ago.
Compared to the previous four Mondays’ average, last night increased 249% among A18-49 (614,000 vs. 176,000), 211% on F18-49 (432,000 vs. 139,000), 204% among F18-34 (173,000 vs 57,000) and 249% among total viewers (1,269,000 vs. 364,000). This comes on the heels of Oxygen’s strongest first six months of the year among A18-49 (224,000, up 8% vs. 2008), W18-49 (172,000, up 16%), W18-34 (91,000, up 25%), total viewers (414,000, up 11%).
Bringing dance and diet together, “Dance Your Ass Off” features talented, full-figured contestants who struggle with their weight and through dancing unleash their inner thin. TONY Award®-winning actress Marissa Jaret Winokur, well known for her role as plus-sized Tracy Turnblad in the hit Broadway musical “Hairspray,” serves as host.
Last night’s episode saw Angela from Boise, ID, the first contestant eliminated from the competition. Next week’s episode, premiering Monday, July 6 at 10PM ET/PT, will feature Disco dancing; but the pressure is too much for one contestant, while another is threatened with a show ending knee injury.
Fans that can’t get enough of “Dance Your Ass Off” can log-on to www.oxygen.com for the “Dance Your Ass Off Fit Club” diet channel that features contestant recipes, calorie calculators, mobile outreach and blogs. Viewers also can watch weekly fitness videos and chat with fellow fans on diet-friendly message boards. As part of the network’s 360 degree outreach to its viewers, Oxygen launched its “Dance Your Ass Off” VOD series featuring weekly themed dance lessons. Additionally, check out the “Dance Your Ass Off Contest” running now through August on www.youtube.com/danceyourassoff as part of the new “Dance Your Ass Off” brand channel on YouTube.
“Dance Your Ass Off” is produced by 495 Productions with SallyAnn Salsano serving as executive producer and Joel Zimmer as co-executive producer with concept by Lisa Ann Walter; Lisa Ann Walter and Kate Rigg also serve as executive producers.
ABOUT OXYGEN MEDIA
Oxygen Media is a multiplatform lifestyle brand that delivers relevant and entertaining content to young women, wherever they are. Oxygen is rewriting the rulebook for women’s media, with a vast array of unconventional and original content including “Bad Girls Club,” “Pretty Wicked” and “Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood.” Popular features online include makeOvermatic, tweetOverse and hormoneOscope. Available in 74 million homes, online at www.oxygen.com, or on mobile devices at wap.oxygen.com, Oxygen Media is a service of NBC Universal.
Good show! The one bad thing about it was the horrible karaoke versions of great tunes….
I had a sense this would hit, writing about it yesterday on my blog. And, I think the ratings will grow while the contestants shrink.
Oxygen is another one of those networks I would like to see succeed even if I only watch it one hour a week. They used to have dirty movies’ ladies style, and you could even see clips and freeze frame and print them, but that was back when Oprah was funneling $$$ in it like crazy. Girls Behaving Badly had a smidgen of popularity, and this weight loss show is a smart, meretricious and opportunistic move, but I have to feel they could compete against Lifetime head to head with the demos, and even get some young male viewers ( like MTV in the afternoon does,) with edgy programming, if only they were available in enough markets. Oxygen Hallmark, and some others are like the 1960’s ABC of cable. It’s unfair, and until the FCC does something about it instead of politisizing everything they touch, … well, screw the FCC under this admin, as well as the last three.