Well Gladiators, it appears you made Shonda Rhimes ‘ Scandal the most-watched broadcast ever during its second season finale on May 16th.
Viewers for the ABC political drama, which stars Kerry Washington , surpassed its first season finale by 25%.
The show tied a series high in adults, ages ranging from 18 to 49 for the second week running and achieved new all-time highs across all key women in age groups 18 to 34, 18 to 49, and 25 to 54.
The surprise-packed finale ( DAD!?!?!?! ) dominated the 10pm time slot, beating the second hour of CBS’ two-hour Elementary finale by 68%.
Remaining the #1 most social series, the show brought in 571,353 tweets, its highest number of the season and an 83% increase from the prior week.
Overall, this season of Scandal has garnered over 4.3 million tweets. The finale outperformed American Idol ‘s finale by 56% (366,061 tweets).
With its 8 million+ weekly viewers, the show’s success has earned its renewal for a third season which is now being written.
Shonda, the show’s creator, is ABC/Disney’s top money maker in the drama department.
Her shows Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy bring in $13 million in ad revenue each week for the network, and account for nearly $300 million dollars in revenue each season.
As one the few Black “showrunners” working in television today that has enjoyed lasting success, she will be profiled in Forbes Magazine ‘s May 27, 2013 issue.
If you missed the Scandal finale, watch it free at watchabc.go.com .
