Ratings: "Pretty Little Liars" Strong, "Shadowhunters" Premiere Solid in ...

Shadowhunters - 7 Minute Sneak Peak

ABC Family officially transitioned to Freeform on Tuesday night with continued strong ratings for the winter premiere of Pretty Little Liars and a promising start for new drama Shadowhunters, which seemed to benefit from facing the wall-to-wall coverage of the State of the Union on the broadcast networks in much of the country.

The network will release live plus-3 estimates next week, but in same-night Nielsen estimates, Pretty Little Liars opened things for Freeform as the nights No. 1 cable program in adults 18-49 (1.06 rating), up a bit from last years midseason premiere (0.95). Its 2.25 million total viewers was also up vs. last year (2.01 million). The show, which fast-forwarded its storyline by five years, had finished last summers season especially strong, hitting a nearly two-year high in 18-49 (1.39) and a 19-month high in total viewers (3.12 million).

Liars stood as Tuesdays No. 1 telecast in adults 18-34 (963,000/1.4 rating), women 18-34 (758,000/2.2 rating), viewers 12-34 (1.45 million/1.6 rating) and females 12-34 (1.20 million/2.6 rating).

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It was followed by the debut of Shadowhunters (0.76 rating in 18-49, 1.82 million viewers overall), which retained a good 72% of its Liars lead-in among adults 18-49. The fantasy drama about a human-angel hybrid who hunts demos also out-rated other recent premieres behind Pretty Little Liars including Stitchers last June (0.53 in 18-49, 1.28 million) and Twisted in 2013 (0.52 in 18-49, 1.60 million).

Shadowhunters (pictured) didnt hold as much of Pretty Little Liars in the 18-34 age group (55%, 0.78 vs. 1.41), but its rating in the demo makes it the No. 4-rated scripted cable launch of the past 12 months behind only AMCs Fear the Walking Dead, Better Call Saul and Into the Badlands.

It also brought more men and older adults to the network. In fact, Shadowhunters actually built on its veteran Liars lead-in among men 25-54 (0.54 vs. 0.49).

See More:Shadowhunters Star Katherine McNamara Talks Edgier, Darker Freeform Series

ABC Family opted for the name change to cultivate a fresh, hipper brand, network president Tom Ascheim told reportersat this months TCA tour stop in Pasadena.

The social media-savvy network celebrated its transition with a daylong virtual event and partnerships including a Social DNA Project with Twitter; a live stream of events via Periscope; a Vine booth; a BuzzFeed Facebook Live chat and a custom Pretty Little Liars Facebook icon; Instagram content and talent takeovers; and a Pretty Little Liars Snapchat filter.

Freeform was the most talked about TV network across social media Tuesday, garnering more than one-quarter on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google + and Tumbler (26.9%) and delivering. It also delivered the top two most-social entertainment series across Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and Twitter with Pretty Little Liars (5.8 million engagements) and Shadowhunters (1.1 million engagements).

Source: http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/pretty-little-liars-shadowhunters-premiere-freeform-1201679238/