Hurricane Sandy’s landfall on Monday drew the third-highest total day average ratings ever for the Weather Channel, according to data provided by the network.
The data for the 3am-3am period across all people and households shows a total audience of more than 2.035 million.
The channel also said its Sandy coverage drew the sixth-highest full-day audience in its history among its target demographic of people aged 25-54. In that demo, the Weather Channel reached an average of 800,000 viewers on Monday, making it the network’s highest-rated day of the year. In comparison, Irene's landfall last year drew an average of 1.037 million people in the 25-54 age range on a Saturday.
The Weather Channel said it was the top-rated cable network in the 25-54 demo in the 6am-9am time period Monday and ranked third among all cable channels in total day and primetime figures. It said it was also the top news network in the target demo in total day, morning and primetime figures, edging out Fox News Channel.
Katrina’s landfall holds the Weather Channel's total day record in the core demo of 25-54 year-olds with 1.103 million average viewers. Irene’s landfall leads the viewership among all people two years and older with a full-day average audience of 2.455 million.
Viewing of the Weather Channel in the target demo on Monday peaked in the hours after Sandy made landfall, with the 10:30pm time slot reaching nearly 1.6 million viewers.
Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com
Twitter: @georgszalai