Ratings
“48 HOURS: THE PLOT TO KILL DR. SIEVERS” IS SATURDAY’S #1 NON-SPORTS PRIMETIME PROGRAM WITH VIEWERS
(L-R) Dr. Teresa Sievers, Curtis Wayne Wright and Mark Sievers
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48 HOURS: “The Plot to Kill Dr. Sievers” was Saturday’s #1 primetime non-sports broadcast program with viewers, according to Nielsen live plus same day ratings for Saturday, Feb. 15. The broadcast delivered 3.42 million viewers, a 0.7/03 with adults 25-54 and a 0.4/03 with adults 18-49.
48 HOURS was up +40% in adults 25-54, +33% in adults 18-49 and +24% in viewers, when compared to the same night a year ago.
Saturday’s broadcast featured Erin Moriarty and 48 HOURS’ investigation into the murder of Dr. Teresa Sievers and the search by Lee County Sheriff’s deputies to find who killed her. Sievers was found bludgeoned to death in the kitchen of her Bonita Springs, Fla., home in 2015. There were no immediate suspects, and her husband, Mark Sievers, had an airtight alibi.
A tip led deputies on a 1,100-mile trek and turned up unlikely suspects: career criminal Jimmy Ray Rodgers and Curtis Wayne Wright, Mark Sievers’ best friend who also happened to look just like Sievers. Wright even shaved his head when Sievers started losing his hair.
Mark Sievers, who was away from home with the couple’s two daughters when his wife was murdered, immediately spoke to police without an attorney. Then, two months after the murder, police made a stunning announcement with the arrests of Rodgers and Wright. The case would be far from closed with the initial arrests. Instead, the arrests led to more questions about what happened, and another unexpected twist at Wright’s murder trial. When he was asked who killed Dr. Sievers, Wright said Rodgers and he “physically did it, but Mark Sievers was also involved in the planning.”
Prosecutors made their case by using evidence they gathered from a large digital footprint left behind by the killers, from a GPS unit they used, which traced their path from Missouri to the Sievers’ home, to cell phone records and security camera video from a Walmart store, where they purchased multiple items used in the murder.
48 HOURS: “The Plot to Kill Dr. Sievers” is produced by Marcelena Spencer, Susan Mallie and Lisa Freed. Kayla Laine, Jordan Kinsey and Dena Goldstein are the associate producers. Michael McHugh is the producer-editor. Mike Baluzy, Marcus Balsam, Kevin McLaughlin, George Baluzy, Marlon Disla, Jud Johnston, Michael Vele, Gayce Arlotta-Berner and Jon Baskin are the editors. Patti Aronofsky is the senior producer. Anthony Batson is the senior broadcast producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.
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Richard Huff
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