Ratings: Sons of Anarchy Gets Off to Fast Start

The Season 3 premiere of Sons of Anarchy roared out of the gate, according to early Nielsen estimates.

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Tuesday's episode drew 4.12 million viewers, ranking as the series' third most-watched episode just behind the Season 2 finale (4.33 million viewers) and the Season 2 premiere (4.29 million viewers). The show also drew 2.81 million viewers in the coveted adults-18-to-49 demographic, making it basic cable's highest-rated episode of scripted TV in 2010.

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On the broadcast networks, NBC won the evening with Minute to Win It(6.1 million viewers) and a two-hour America's Got Talent(12.3 million viewers), which improved 7 percent in the demo over the previous week.With the rest of the networks in repeats, ABC's Wipeoutalso posted gains: The show drew 8 million viewers and improved 13 percent in the demo from a week ago.