‘The Vampire Diaries’ season 4: More reasons to make Ian Somerhalder, cast smile

Damon Salvatore may not always be a character that is particularly easy to please, but we have a feeling that even he would be smiling at some of the latest DVR figures coming up for “The Vampire Diaries.” Why? Let’s just say that the CW series is somehow even more impressive now as a ratings monster than it is when the live numbers are initially reported.

First things first, remember that this is already the network’s most-popular series, so anything that it brings in to go along with that is just icing on the cake (or a bag of blood, if you are a thirsty vamp). When it comes to the just-released date for the week of December 10, the show rose (per TVbythenumbers) from a 1.3 rating in the key 18=49 demographic all the way to a 2.0. This is an increase of 53%, which for any show is something worth reporting about. Would The CW prefer all of these people to watch live? Definitely, but the reality of the modern world is that this is simply not going to be happening.

Just to give you an extra frame of reference as to how impressive this total is, the following are all shows from the big four networks (at least the ones that we have accurate date for) that Ian Somerhalder and company defeated in the demo once these DVR figures are included: “Last Resort” (1.6), “Fringe” (1.7), “Happy Endings” (1.8), “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23” (1.5), “Up All Night” (1.6), and “Whitney” (1.9). Maybe this is a sign of comedies over-saturating the market, since the majority of the shows we mentioned are all in that genre.

So congratulations again to “The Vampire Diaries” for pretty much guaranteeing yourself a season 5, and we would honestly be surprised if the show actually stops before season 6 (which is when many standard TV contracts are up for most actors).

If you want to see how Ian and Nina Dobrev rang in 2013, you can do so here.

Photo: The CW