HBO’s anti-Sarah Palin film “Game Change” scored some pretty impressive ratings over the weekend – 2.1 million viewers, according to numbers released today.
But while the cable network may be tempted to spike the football, it might want to do some digging on some other Palin-related data first.
TLC’s “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” debuted in 2010 to five million viewers, more than double the HBO figure. Now, TLC isn’t a pay channel like HBO, but the tally still undermines the narrative that audiences were clamoring to see a Palin takedown.
Plus, while HBO’s film got almost universally glowing reviews and all the media attention a title could muster, the TLC reality show debuted on a much less well known outlet sans universally positive press.
Even when one adds up the three “Game Change” airings on Saturday it still only comes to 3.6 million viewers, far less than the number of folks who caught Palin basking in her beloved Alaska two years ago.