New York, NY – November 2012 – Spike TV’s premiere of “Eddie Murphy: One Night Only” on November 14 (10:00 pm-12:00 am ET/PT) was the highest-rated and most-watched special event in channel history. The first-ever televised tribute to the comedic legend delivered 1.9 million viewers, 1.5 household rating and ranked #3 in all of cable television with Men 18-49 in its timeslot.
“Eddie Murphy is a modern icon and one of the greatest comedic storytellers of all time from stand-up, to sketch, to feature films, to animation,” said Casey Patterson, Executive Vice President, Event Production, Talent Development & Studio Relations – Viacom Entertainment Group. “He’s the king of it all and we’re thrilled his fans turned out in such a big and meaningful way for this incredible show.”
The star-studded event featured appearances by includes Chris Rock, Jamie Foxx, Adam Sandler, Tyler Perry, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Russell Brand, Samuel L. Jackson, Tracy Morgan, Brett Ratner, and Jeffrey Katzenberg. The night was punctuated with an unforgettable impromptu on-stage duet featuring Eddie and Stevie Wonder.
“‘Eddie Murphy: One Night Only’ marks Spike TV’s first foray into new broader specials for the network,” added Patterson.
The special event was also a hit on the social media front as #Eddieonspike was the #2 trending topic worldwide on Twitter and “Eddie Murphy: One Night Only” took the #4 spot among cable networks in mentions for the day. Also of note, a re-air of the show drew 1 million viewers from 12:00-2:00am ET/PT.
Don Mischer, Patterson, Charlie Haykel, and Vernon Lynch served as Executive Producers for “Eddie Murphy: One Night Only” with Juliane Hare as Producer.
“Eddie Murphy: One Night Only” paid homage to Murphy’s journey from a 15-year-old aspiring comedian, to the record-breaking “Raw,” which remains the highest grossing stand-up film of all time, to his indelible characters and impressions from “Saturday Night Live” including Buckwheat, Gumby, Mr. Robinson and James Brown. The special marked 30 years since the release of the groundbreaking stand-up concert film “Delirious,” and the classic film “48 Hrs.,” which featured the breakout performances that made him one of the biggest superstars in the world.
Spike TV is available in 99.8 million homes and is a division of Viacom Media Networks. A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV’s Internet address is www.spike.com.
