The Season 6 premiere of “Black Ink Crew” set a ratings record for VH1, marking the Viacom network’s highest-rated Wednesday night premiere in its history.
The episode earned a 1.13 rating in the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults 18 to 49, according to Nielsen’s Live + Same Day numbers. That’s the best ever of roughly 50 season or series premieres on the night. In total, the episode was watched by 2 million viewers.
That marked an improvement on premiere’s lead-in, the Season 3 finale of spinoff “Black Ink Crew: Chicago,” which came in with 1.9 million total viewers and a 0.96 rating. Together, the two episodes marked the two highest-rated cable broadcasts of the day.
“Black Ink Crew” follows the staff of a Harlem tattoo parlor, documenting their personal and professional relationships. Season 6 saw the show expand to Atlanta as Ceaser Emmanuel splits his time between the shops in the two cities.
“Black Ink Crew” is executive produced by Dan Cesareo, Rasheed J. Daniel, Lindsey Bannister and co-executive produced by Chris Engelmann and Mimi Adams for Big Fish Entertainment. Nina L. Diaz, Liz Fine and Daniel Blau Rogge are executive producers for VH1.