Bama State Style Premiere Boosts Lifetime Network Ratings

Last week's premiere of “Bama State Style,” the reality television series featuring ASU's Mighty Marching Hornets band, helped the Lifetime Network rank as the number one cable network with original programming in its Friday time period.

If last week's premiere of “Bama State Style,” the new Lifetime Network reality television featuring ASU's Mighty Marching Hornets band, is any indication of ratings for future episodes, the cable network and the Hornet Nation have a great deal to be excited about.

ASU officials learned today that Lifetime Network's ratings information for last week's April 17 premiere reflects a major boost for the network.

Among the Bama State Style ratings highlights shared with ASU:

• The series premiere of “Bama State Style” on April 17, 2015, helped the Lifetime Network jump to a double-digit increase compared to the prior four-week average for the network's Friday 10 – 11 p.m. (CST) time slot.

• “Bama State Style” helped Lifetime rank as the number one cable network with original programming in its Friday time period with women ages 18-49 and number two with women ages 25-54.

• Among total viewers, “Bama State Style” drove Lifetime Network to rank eighth among cable networks with original programming (not including news and sports).

“When I read that email (about the ratings), I was speechless for only a few seconds because I knew that this show was going to be an awesome show and the ratings would be high,” said James Oliver, director of the Mighty Marching Hornets. “I was even more convinced of that last week when we trended number three in the whole country (on Twitter). I had no doubt that this would happen. And this is only the beginning.”

University officials also are excited about the ratings and proud of how viewers have responded to the show, said Zillah M. Fluker, ASU's vice president for Institutional Advancement.

“We are extremely grateful to the members of the Hornet Nation who responded overwhelmingly to the University’s marketing efforts regarding ‘Bama State Style,'” Fluker said. “We began a strong social media push, complemented by coordinated efforts by our marketing team so that the message was carried on all available ASU venues … (with) direct marketing to our students and our alumni across the nation, and we’re proud to see that our efforts paid off.”

Dr. Tommie Tonea Stewart, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, said the show shines a positive light on the entire University.

“I am so excited and so proud. Actually, I am choked up a little bit,” Stewart said. ‘“Bama State Style’ is just one example of all of the wonderful things that are going at Alabama State University. All of the colleges on this campus have excellent students and excellent faculty and have great stories to tell. Now that the band has put us on a national platform, I think that the spotlight will certainly shine bright on this great University and all of the opportunities that exist here.”

Stewart added that the University family is looking forward to the rest of the “Bama State Style” series, as the show airs weekly on Fridays at 10 p.m. (CST) on the Lifetime Network.