“The Newsroom,” HBO’s drama about how people report and interpret the news, debuted on Sunday (June 25) with an audience that’s very much open to interpretation.
In its first airing, the Aaron Sorkin created drama drew 2.1 million viewers. That’s below the 2.2 million viewers who watched the first airing of “Game of Thrones” when it premiered in 2010, but above the premiere numbers for “True Blood” (1.4 million viewers in 2008) and “Luck” or “Treme” (1.1 million each). The numbers were far below the 4.8 million viewers who watched the premiere of “Boardwalk Empire” in 2010.
Every single one of those shows — plus all of HBO’s recent comedies which premiered to lower viewership — were renewed for second seasons by HBO, so it’s hard to imagine HBO not renewing “Newsroom.”
Including its second Sunday airing, “Newroom” drew 2.7 million viewers in its first night.
Naysayers, though, will point out that “Newsroom,” which drew decidedly mixed reviews, squandered more than half of its lead-in from “True Blood,” which drew 4.7 million viewers in its 9 p.m. airing.