By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor
Torch reader Andy contributed to this report

Last night's TNA Impact scored a 1.22 rating, which was the highest rating since the February 18 Impact.

The show was up nearly 15 percent compared to last week's 1.06 rating. It was also up 22 percent compared to Impact's average rating of a 1.00 since since returning to Thursday nights on May 13.

The key to the ratings boost can be found in the demographic ratings, specifically among teenage males 12-17. The show scored a 1.21 rating in the m12-17 demo compared to a 0.97 rating on last week's show.

At first blush, the "ratings pop" could have been attributed to the "ECW Nostalgia" period with an older audience tuning in for the ECW-themed episode of Impact.

In actuality, Thursday's demographic ratings among older males were flat or lower compared to last week's demographic ratings, including males 18-34, 18-49, and 12-34, and overall adults 18-49.

The apparent actual reason for the strong ratings increase was due to younger teenage males watching TV last night. According to ratings data, there were approximately two million more male teens watching TV as a whole on Thursday night compared to last Thursday. This was mainly due to the season premiere of "Jersey Shore" on MTV.

TNA likely benefited from a larger audience to draw from, as evidenced by the 25 percent jump in the younger male demographic rating.

Caldwell's Analysis: Demographic ratings information supports the conclusion that the "ratings pop" was not due to the "ECW Nostalgia" period, but TNA drawing younger males to the program. We'll have the quarter-hour numbers early next week to break down the numbers even further to see where some of the quarter-hours "popped" to help average out to the strongest overall rating in five months.

On the flip-side, it looks like the "ECW Nostalgia" audience is not there. The demographics show the older male demographic did not increase and did not help "pop the rating" for last night's show. Part of that is TNA doesn't have the platform or awareness to draw in fans of the Original ECW. Or, those fans aren't interested in the latest resurrection of the ECW brand, which may not bode well for the Hardcore Justice PPV.

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