Lifetime premiere sets record

Sunday’s debut of “Army Wives” on Lifetime scored the network’s best ratings for a series premiere in its two-decade history, buoying the channel’s hopes for its new summer schedule.

The ensemble drama set on an Army post drew an average of 3.5 million viewers, small by broadcast network standards but good enough to beat the previous Lifetime record held by the FBI drama “Missing” for its 2003 premiere.

Lifetime has devoted substantial resources to marketing “Army Wives,” the story of five military spouses and their relationships. The series will be joined July 15 by two other new dramas, “Side Order of Life” and “State of Mind,” to create a slate of original programming on Sunday nights.