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.
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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.