A&E Cable Television Network Ratings
| 1WK | 4WK | 3MO | 6MO | YTD | 1YR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 7 | 16 | 11 | 13 | 33 |
A&E, founded in 1984 as the Arts & Entertainment Network, is an American cable television channel that focuses on the broadcast of non-fiction programming, including reality docusoaps, true crime, and documentary miniseries. At the time of its launch, A&E was available to a mere 9.3 million homes in the U.S. and Canada but has since grown its subscriber base to over 96 million households - accounting for approximately 83% of all households with television in the United States. A&E is owned by A+E Networks, a joint venture with Hearst Communications and Disney–ABC Television Group, a unit of The Walt Disney Company.
In 1987, A&E revived the one-hour docuseries Biography, which quickly became the network's signature show. In 1994, airings of Biography went from weekly broadcasts to five nights a week, becoming A&E's top-rated show with record rating numbers, consequently winning Primetime Emmy Awards in 1999 and 2002. Since then, programs such as Duck Dynasty, Bates Motel, and Storage Wars have performed extremely well including helping place A&E fourth in 2013 among cable channels in the key 18-49 age demographic according to Nielsen ratings data.
A&E premiered Live PD, a police patrol reality series, in October 2016. The series originally aired in an eight-episode run, but its success prompted the network to order additional episodes, as well as produce various spin-offs. A survey by Inscape found Live PD to be the most-watched program among non-live (DVR and VOD) and over-the-top viewers in 2018. This took the channel out of its rating slump suffered since the end of Duck Dynasty in 2017. Live PD was canceled in June 2020 amid protests around the police murder of George Floyd when it was revealed that the show's production destroyed ride-along footage of the police killing of Javier Ambler.
A&E Network Ratings Chart
A&E Ratings: Historically, A&E has enjoyed ratings boost from series such as Biography, Flight 93, Duck Dynasty, rerun of HBO's The Sopranos, and most recently Live PD. The Sopranos's premiere in January 2007 averaged 3.86 million viewers, making it the most-watched premiere of a rerun off-network series in cable television history at the time. A&E regularly ranks in the top 20 basic U.S. cable channels in prime time ratings, riding on the strength of current non-fiction shows such as 60 Days In and Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.
A&E Network Weekly Ratings
| Date | Total Day | Prime Time | PT Gain | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Audience | Change | Rank | Audience | Change | ||
| 2021-02-21 | 16 | 364,000 | +2.25% | 18 | 577,000 | +2.12% | +59% |
| 2021-02-07 | 17 | 356,000 | -3.26% | 17 | 565,000 | -11.72% | +59% |
| 2021-01-31 | 18 | 368,000 | +8.55% | 17 | 640,000 | +19.63% | +74% |
| 2021-01-17 | 17 | 339,000 | +4.95% | 18 | 535,000 | +1.13% | +58% |
| 2020-12-20 | 22 | 323,000 | -3.58% | 22 | 529,000 | -2.58% | +64% |
| 2020-12-13 | 20 | 335,000 | +6.35% | 22 | 543,000 | +2.07% | +62% |
| 2020-11-22 | 22 | 315,000 | -1.25% | 21 | 532,000 | +3.91% | +69% |
| 2020-11-15 | 23 | 319,000 | -0.93% | 21 | 512,000 | +0.59% | +61% |
| 2020-10-25 | 20 | 322,000 | -2.13% | 18 | 509,000 | -0.39% | +58% |
| 2020-10-18 | 20 | 329,000 | +8.58% | 23 | 511,000 | -0.78% | +55% |
| 2020-10-11 | 21 | 303,000 | +10.18% | 21 | 515,000 | +15.47% | +70% |
| 2020-10-04 | 23 | 275,000 | -6.46% | 24 | 446,000 | -20.64% | +62% |
| 2020-09-20 | 20 | 294,000 | +1.38% | 19 | 562,000 | +9.34% | +91% |
| 2020-09-13 | 22 | 290,000 | +4.69% | 22 | 514,000 | +1.98% | +77% |
| 2020-09-06 | 23 | 277,000 | -8.28% | 21 | 504,000 | -4% | +82% |
| 2020-08-30 | 21 | 302,000 | 21 | 525,000 | +74% | ||
