Comedy Central’s “South Side” series premiere reached beyond the Chicago city limits — especially among African Americans.
Counting three days of playback, the new comedy’s first episode posted a 0.85 rating among African American viewers ages 18-49, making it Comedy Central’s highest-rated series premiere in that demo since June 2017. Those Nielsen numbers also make “South Side” the No. 1 new primetime cable comedy premiere of 2019 in the same demo.
Among all adults 18-49, “South Side” averaged a 0.30 rating, which also counts three days of delayed viewing. All told, the comedy’s premiere drew 2.2 million multiplatform viewers — that tally counts the premiere, streaming tune-in, and replays.
Comedy Central is particularly pleased with how “South Side” immediately improved upon its time slot among African American viewers.
Here are its comps from the previous four-week average for Wednesdays at 10:30 p.m. ET:
- African American adults 18-49 rating: 0.85, up +268% from the previous four-week average
- African American men 18-49 rating: 1.1, up +218% from the previous four-week average
- African American women 18-49 rating: 0.65, up +368% from the previous four-week average
- African American adults 25-54 rating: 1.0, up +344% from the previous four-week average
- African American men 25-54 rating: 1.33, up +274% from the previous four-week average
- African American women 25-54 rating: 0.81, up +484% from the previous four-week average
It’s important to include here that the 0.30 from all adults 18-49 was not an improvement from the prior four-week average, however.
The series hails from co-creators, executive producers and stars Bashir Salahuddin and Diallo Riddle. It currently has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
“South Side” airs Wednesdays at 10:30/9:30c on Comedy Central.