So much for any speculation that the poor ratings drawn by this winter's NBC Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search knock-off series might foretell that viewer interest for UPN's spring America's Next Top Model edition would wane.
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Based on the ratings for its first two episodes, Top Model's allure is as strong as it has ever been, with this month's debut of its fourth edition launching the Tyra Banks reality series off to its best start ever among total viewers and the Adults 18-49, Women 18-49, and Women 18-34 ratings demographics.
Drawing the franchise's largest premiere audience ever, America's Next Top Model 4's March 2 debut delivered 5.1 million viewers. The Top Model 4 premiere also delivered a 3.3/10 rating/share among Teens -- its best debut number ever -- and matched its premiere highs among Adults 18-34 (2.7/8), Women 18-34 (4.1/11) and Women 18-49 (3.3/8).
All told, Top Model 4's premiere ranked second in its 8-9PM ET/PT hour among Women 18-34 (trailing only ABC's hit Lost) and third among Adults 18-34 and Teens (behind Lost and Fox's back-to-back That 70's Show broadcasts.)
Last week's second Top Model 4 episode retained the strong rating performance of its debut despite airing half its broadcast versus Fox's top rated American Idol juggernaut. March 9's Top Model 4 second episode broadcast averaged another 5.1 million viewers and once again placed second in its hour among Women 18-34 (4.4/12, behind only Fox's American Idol/The Simple Life combo) and jumped to second among Teens (2.4/8, also only behind Fox.)
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The episode also placed third in its time period among Adults 18-34 (2.9/9), Adults 18-49 (3.5/9) and Women 18-49 (2.4/7) -- numbers that represented a 7% increase over its premiere in Adults 18-34, a 9% increase among Adults 18-49, a 7% increase among Women 18-34, and a 6% increase among Women 18-49.