‘Pretty Little Liars’: Season 4 premiere ratings prove dominance; as for ‘Twisted’…

Remember that old phenomenon known as shows losing viewers as they age? That isn’t happening with “Pretty Little Liars.” ABC Family has to be more than thrilled about the numbers that came in for Tuesday’s mid-season premiere. Not only are they up versus 2012 in all key demographics, but we’re talking about double-digit increases when it comes to the 18-34 and 18-45 demographics.

Here are the totals, which are pretty much higher than any show drew this past spring for live viewings. The premiere drew 2.9 million viewers, and also a 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic. This was enough to put it at #1 on the night in cable, above everything from repeats of big-name broadcast shows to sports programming. Also worth noting is that it was apparently the most-tweeted about episode of a TV show in history. Boom.

So what about its new Tuesday-night companion in “Twisted”? The results are actually a little hard to figure out. At first, you would look at this 0.5 premiere rating and scoff, but this is up from last year’s summer average in this time-slot. Not only that, but this is for an episode that previously aired in the spring following the winter finale, and is thus a repeat that aired against the NBA Finals. We will really be able to tell the show’s success next week, but if it draws anywhere above this ratings, we see it sticking around for at least the full year and maybe even longer. (Bad news for the future of “Bunheads”? Possibly.)

Were you impressed by last night’s “Pretty Little Liars” premiere, and are you excited to see so much more? If you want to also check out the preview for next week’s new episode “Turn of the Shoe,” the best thing you can do is click here.

Photo: ABC Family