Virgin Media bought the US import to form the backbone of its new general entertainment channel, Virgin 1, which is being positioned as a direct rival to Sky One. Virgin 1 also has 'The Sarah Connor Chronicles', a TV spin-off from the 'Terminator' movies, in the pipeline.
'The Riches', which stars Eddie Izzard as the head of a family of travelling con artists, peaked with 422,000 viewers at 10pm. The unofficial overnight figures include Virgin 1's time-shifted channel Virgin 1+1.
Sky One's 'Prison Break' won the 10pm-11pm slot, with an average audience of 460,000 and a 3.3% share of multi-channels homes.
'The Riches' was the second programme to be screened on Virgin 1's first night after 'Criminal Minds', another US import, which began in a one-hour slot at 9pm.
'Criminal Minds' follows a team of FBI profilers on the trail of serial killers and drew 307,000 viewers.
'The Riches' was followed by a documentary called 'Penis Envy' in a one-hour slot at 11pm. The programme pulled in 158,000 viewers.
Launch advertisers on the first night included British Airways, Lexus and L'Oreal, which were booked by Virgin Media's sales house IDS.
The deals were negotiated by media agency ZenithOptimedia, which handles media planning and buying for all three brands.
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