“HLN After Dark: The Jodi Arias Trial,” which kicked off Wednesday night at 10 p.m., got off to a strong start.
Wednesday night’s launch, hosted by Vinnie Politan on CNN’s sister station, snared over 900,000 viewers — big numbers for HLN and thanks, in no small part, to the carry over from the day’s news of the new newly installed Pope Francis I. HLN’s numbers, in fact, were solid all day Wednesday as the news broke, and immediately afterward — with “Evening Express” (Ryan Smith) reeling in 1.2 million viewers at 6 p.m., and Jane Velez-Mitchell’s show, which followed at 7, topping 1 million viewers.
But “After Dark,” to be fair and to give credit where it’s due, went wall-to-wall with Arias trial coverage (no Pope news) with a cast of thousands including Nancy Grace, Velez-Mitchell, Smith, Beth Karas, Jean Casarez and Joey Jackson. The show will air for the duration of the Arias trial and, after that, who knows? — though insiders say that HLN is “definitely considering” keeping the show up-and-running. But I’m guessing that determination will be made once all the numbers are signed, sealed and delivered.
Meanwhile, they’re no strangers to big numbers over at “Entertainment Tonight,” and the show’s February sweeps numbers didn’t disappoint.
For the month, “ET” (Nancy O’Dell, Rob Marciano) averaged 5.7 million viewers, which topped genre competitors “Access Hollywood” (2.7 million viewers) and “Extra” (2.2 million viewers).
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Last, but not least:
* Outdoor Channel host/music star Craig Morgan (“Craig Morgan All Access Outdoors”) will be here in NYC this Monday and Tuesday to perform at the CMA Songwriter Series and promote his show, which returns for a fourth season in July . . . Oscar-winning director Ang Lee (“Life of Pi”) will direct the pilot for FX’s drama, “Tyrant” . . . Tickets are now on sale for Q104 DJ Ken Dashow’s play, “The Wingding Doodle Club,” which will be staged June 1 at the St. George Theatre on Staten Island, with all proceeds going to the Tunnel To Towers Foundation.