“Real World: Denver” cast members (from l-r) Tyrie, Jenn, Brooke and Stephen explore downtown on their first day. Photo from MTV.com.

–According to an MTV press release, last Wednesday’s premiere episode of “The Real World: Denver” attracted a whopping 8.5 million viewers — pretty darn good for a reality show. Of course, it’s unclear how MTV is interpreting its ratings data. That, and the hour-long show was played three times in a row and surrounded by massive advertising on MTV and its website, so it’s not surprising it may have done well. Still, it would be an auspicious start for a show that seems likely to outstrip the past seasons in terms of sexual drama and fights…

– According to MTV, “The Real World: Denver” premiere bested last year’s “Real World: Key West” premiere by 2 million viewers (or 32 percent). I’m sure it helps that it was on three times as long. MTV’s website also enjoyed heavy traffic as users flocked to it for video streams of various specials and episodes. The first 24 hours after the premiere MTV.com experienced 223,000 streams.

Here are more stats directly from MTV:

–”The Real World: Denver” reached close to 5.3 million P12-34 viewers, 10% higher than the previous season. (P12-34 is the viewers’ age).

– Overall, the three airings of “The Real World: Denver” grossed 4.37 P12-34 rating points, up 19% from last season’s Key West premiere.

– Ratings consistently increased each hour among P12-34.

– With the “Real World Denver” block, MTV was the most watched cable network for the night (8-11p) among P12-34.

– To date, “The Real World: Denver” full episode has yielded over 330K streams.

– Streams to the premiere episode of “The After Show” in its first two days live (11/22 - 11/23) were up +81% vs. the Key West premiere episode (2/28 - 3/1).