Spain and DVR Viewers Love ‘Life’

As attentive Comedy Centric readers may know, I can’t get enough of NBC’s quirky sophomore cop show Life, which is consistently one of the most refreshing and entertaining series on television nowadays.

It seems the smart folks who live in Spain share my immense appreciation of the dramedy and its cast, led by London native Damian Lewis and his Iranian-Spanish American costar Sarah Shahi. According to Variety, the series follows only proven franchise hits and fellow Telecino network staples CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and CSI: New York in the overall number of viewers tuning in to it each week since its February 16 premiere.

As a result of the three shows’ combined performance winning their respective time slots on Monday nights with about a quarter of all viewers, Telecino is the place to be on Spanish TV the first day of the week. How about that?! And, to think the only reason Life is in the lineup is because the last writers strike shorted the number of available CSI: Miami episodes.

But, wait, there’s more!

Although Life hasn’t been exactly knocking the ball out of the park in the U.S. Nielsen ratings, the numbers for time-shifted DVR viewing during the second week of February are quite encouraging. Recent reports indicate the series posted a fifth-highest 29 percent increase among adults when seven-day DVR viewership is factored into its performance. Clearly, the love spreads farther and wider than regular U.S. ratings demonstrate (thank goodness!).

Life airs Wednesdays on NBC at 9pm EST.