Last week's season finale of The Biggest Loser 2 turned out to be a big fat ratings draw for NBC, with the show's two-hour live finale delivering the reality weight loss franchise's highest ratings ever.
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The Biggest Loser's November 29 finale broadcast dominated its 8-10PM ET/PT time period, averaging 16.0 million overall viewers and a 6.7/16 rating/share in the Adults 18-49 demographic.
In addition to representing The Biggest Loser's highest ratings ever, the numbers also represented NBC's strongest non-Olympic results in the time period in four years (since November 27, 2001.) Compared to its pre-finale season-to-date average, The Biggest Loser's Adults 18-40 finale performance was up 86%. The Biggest Loser's finale was first in its time period among all key measures, including a 56% advantage over the time period's second place Adults 18-49 performer (original episodes of Fox's Bones and House dramas.)
The Biggest Loser's finale also ranked well in the total primetime rankings for the week ending December 4. The Biggest Loser ranked 14th in the week's overall viewership ratings (way ahead of other more talked about reality shows such as The Amazing Race and The Apprentice and just behind ABC's 13th ranked Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.) The Biggest Loser also fared even better among the week's demographic rankings, placing 9th among Adults 18-49, 10th among Adults 25-64, and 3rd (tied with ABC's Lost) among Women 18-34.
While NBC recently announced plans for a third edition of The Biggest Loser, the series -- not yet in production -- may not air until Fall 2006. In the meantime, NBC has announced plans to begin airing episodes of its previously announced self-contained The Biggest Loser spin-off series -- now retitled The Biggest Loser: Special Edition -- beginning Wednesday, January 4 at 9PM ET/PT. Taking over the time period currently occupied by The Apprentice: Martha Stewart -- a timeslot that will put it up against ABC's Lost megahit -- Special Edition will fill the hour until NBC's Winter Olympics coverage begins on February 10.