Exclusive: TLC's hit 'Sister Wives' got its highest-rated episode with catfishing finale

The catfishing drama on the "Sister Wives" finale and "90 Day Fiance" delivered big Sunday night ratings for TLC, the cable network told Business Insider exclusively.

The 9 p.m. finale episode of "Sister Wives" averaged 2.9 million total viewers, which gives the show its biggest audience and highest ratings of the season. It also garnered its highest ratings since January 2o14 with TLC's target audience, women aged 25 to 54 years old.

The good news continues for TLC: The "Sister Wives" finale helped drive "90 Day Fiance" at 10 p.m. to its highest-rated and most-watched episode of the season among households, total viewers, and across all key women's and adult demographics.

Furthermore, the episode ranked second to this fall's biggest series debut, AMC's "Into the Badlands," on cable in TLC's target audience of women ages 25 to 54, women from 18 to 49, and all viewers aged 25 to 49 years old.

The catfishing drama has inspired a lot of headlines in the past few weeks. On the finale episode, Meri explained how empty nest syndrome (her daughter went away to college recently) drove her online where she met a man who she would later find out was really a woman.

More will be revealed next week on the two-hour "Sister Wives Tell All" special Sunday at 8 p.m.

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