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Spike's INK MASTER Season 2 Finale is Most Watched Episode in Series History

The live finale of Season 2 of Spike's "Ink Master" delivered 2.4 million viewers last night, Tuesday, December 18 (10:01 - 11:04 PM, ET/PT), making it the most-watched episode in series history and the fifth largest audience in network history for a non-sports original series telecast.

The one-hour live (ET) finale featured a victory by Connecticut tattoo artist and business owner Steve Tefft, was the #1 original series on cable last night among Persons 18-49. The finale also out delivered all of the competition on cable in the time slot, ranking #1 with Men 18-34, Persons 18-34 and with Men 18-49. Overall, the finale drew a 2.1 rating in Men 18-34, 1.7 with Persons 18-34 and a 1.7 with Men 18-49 and a household rating of 1.6.

"Ink Master" has furthered the network's mission to create broader-appealing shows with real stakes involved. Currently the highest-rated original series on the network, the Season 2 finale of "Ink Master" posted a 24% increase in total viewers and a 17% increase in Persons 18-49 versus last season's finale. "Ink Master" Season 2 averaged 1.9 million viewers, an 89% increase vs the YAGO time period, a 1.5 rating with Persons 18-34, up 159%, 1.5 with Men 18-34, up 122% and a 1.3 with Persons 18-49, up 137%.

In a finale that was filled with both controversy and surprise, series host Dave Navarro and judges Chris Nunez and Oliver Peck awarded a $100,000 cash prize, a feature in Inked magazine and the title of 'Ink Master' to Tefft. In a first-ever series twist during the live telecast, viewers went online and gave one artist, Tatu Baby, a second chance at becoming "Ink Master," putting her into the competition for Season 3, which is set to air next year.

The "Ink Master" live finale was also a hit on social media. "Ink Master" ranked #1 on cable and #2 on all networks (behind only 'The Voice') on the day of the finale, its highest ranking ever (Source: SocialGuide). The show also trended on Twitter with #InkMasterLive and #TatuBaby making it to the top 10 trending topics in the US and worldwide.

"Ink Master" is produced for Spike by Original Media, with Charlie Corwin, Jay Peterson, and Andrea Richter as Executive Producers of the series. Original Media currently has seventeen television series on air including the hit shows "NY Ink," "Comic Book Men," "The Rachel Zoe Project," "Swamp People," "BBQ Pitmasters," "Dual Survival" and "Mudcats." Headquartered in New York, Original Media is a subsidiary of Endemol USA.

Sharon Levy is Spike TV's Executive Vice President, Original Series and Chris Rantamaki and is Vice President of Original Programming for Spike TV and oversees production of "Ink Master."

Spike TV is available in 98.7 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.