Ratings: 'Real Housewives of O.C.' Hits Season High, 'Below Deck' Opens Well for Bravo

Jethro Nededog

"The Real Housewives of Orange County" returned for its first new episode after last week's 100 episode special to earn its highest viewership of the season.

In the 9 p.m. on Monday slot, the Orange County ladies (and Tamra Barney's wedding dress shopping) brought in 1.3 million viewers in the advertiser-coveted Adults 18-49 demographic and 2 million total viewers, representing a 13 percent and 6 percent increase, respectively.

New series "Below Deck" premiered in the 10 p.m. slot and did well for the network. It attracted 1.1 million viewers with about 645,000 viewers in Adults 18-49.

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That's a slight increase over the last original show in the time period, "Newlyweds: The First Year," which premiered to 1.02 million total viewers and 600,000 in Adults 18-49.

"Below Deck" follows the crew of a luxury boat for hire. The debut episode followed the fallout after a crew member found a powdery white substance in one of the guest bathrooms.

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