Ratings: DVR Playback Make’s E!’ ‘I Am Cait’ the No. 1 Unscripted Cable Bow of 2015

With early DVR data included in its total, E! docuseries “I Am Cait” has become cable’s biggest unscripted launch of the year and the network’s second most popular reality show premiere ever.

According to Nielsen “live plus-3″ estimates, “I Am Cait” last Sunday averaged a 1.78 rating in 18-49 and 3.892 million viewers overall — up 54% and 42%, respectively, from its “live plus same-day” numbers reported earlier in the week. “Cait” ranked No. 11 among all broadcast and cable primetime series for the week in the 18-49 demo.

In live plus same-day, “I Am Cait” was the most-watched E! series premiere since “Kourtney and Kim Take New York” (3.01 million) in January 2011, but it leapfrogged it in “live plus-3.” Only the big 2002 debut of “The Anna Nicole Show” rates higher among E! launches.

The three July 26 airings of “I Am Cait” drew a unique audience of roughly 7.7 million in “live plus-3.”

“I Am Cait” moved ahead of Discovery’s “Naked and Afraid XL” as the seaosn’s No. 1-rated unscripted debut of 2015. Earlier this month, “Naked and Afraid XL” averaged a 1.62 rating in adults 18-49 and 3.765 million total viewers in Nielsen’s “live plus-3″ estimates.

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