JamesG
02-09-2015, 06:14 PM
"Better Call Saul" Debut Ratings Break Cable Records
by Dominic Patten
February 9, 2015
With the juggernaut of "The Walking Dead" as a lead-in and "The Talking Dead" pushed back to 11 PM for a week, the first night of the 2-night "Better Call Saul" premiere pulled in a very strong 6.9 million total viewers and record breaking 4.4 million among the key demo at 10 PM.
While a 57% demo drop off from its lead-in, the "Breaking Bad" spinoff scored the top demo result for a series premiere in cable history as "Saul" took out previous top spot holder "Deadwood". The HBO series had 3.7 million viewers among the 18-49s when it debuted on March 21, 2004.
The new AMC show is just behind the al time cable series debut record of 7.03 million total viewers that the June 13, 2005 debut of "The Closer" had. Obviously "Saul" is up from the last premiere to follow "The Walking Dead".
Sunday’s "Better Call Saul" also had a far better result for the "Breaking Bad" prequel of a sorts than "Breaking Bad" itself did in the long long ago days of 2008 when it debuted.
Airing on January 20, 2008, the first episode of "Breaking Bad" drew 1.4 million total viewers. Of course that was long before that other Vince Gilligan created series became a powerhouse of its own.
The premiere of the fifth and final season of "Breaking Bad" on July 15, 2012 had 2.93 million viewers. The midseason return of the split final season had 5.92 million viewers on August 11, 2013 and the finale of the Emmy wining series was watched by a series high audience of 10.28 million.
http://deadline.com/2015/02/walking-dead-ratings-better-call-saul-debut-strong-1201369284/
by Dominic Patten
February 9, 2015
With the juggernaut of "The Walking Dead" as a lead-in and "The Talking Dead" pushed back to 11 PM for a week, the first night of the 2-night "Better Call Saul" premiere pulled in a very strong 6.9 million total viewers and record breaking 4.4 million among the key demo at 10 PM.
While a 57% demo drop off from its lead-in, the "Breaking Bad" spinoff scored the top demo result for a series premiere in cable history as "Saul" took out previous top spot holder "Deadwood". The HBO series had 3.7 million viewers among the 18-49s when it debuted on March 21, 2004.
The new AMC show is just behind the al time cable series debut record of 7.03 million total viewers that the June 13, 2005 debut of "The Closer" had. Obviously "Saul" is up from the last premiere to follow "The Walking Dead".
Sunday’s "Better Call Saul" also had a far better result for the "Breaking Bad" prequel of a sorts than "Breaking Bad" itself did in the long long ago days of 2008 when it debuted.
Airing on January 20, 2008, the first episode of "Breaking Bad" drew 1.4 million total viewers. Of course that was long before that other Vince Gilligan created series became a powerhouse of its own.
The premiere of the fifth and final season of "Breaking Bad" on July 15, 2012 had 2.93 million viewers. The midseason return of the split final season had 5.92 million viewers on August 11, 2013 and the finale of the Emmy wining series was watched by a series high audience of 10.28 million.
http://deadline.com/2015/02/walking-dead-ratings-better-call-saul-debut-strong-1201369284/