Showtime is feeling giddy after the Sunday (June 30) premieres for “Ray Donovan” and “Dexter.”
“Dexter” kicked off the night by drawing 2.5 million viewers for the launch of its eight-and-final season, representing the show’s biggest premiere to date, inching up four percent from last year’s opener. Including a later encore, “Dexter” drew 3.2 million viewers for the night, while Showtime would like you to know that post-9 p.m. airings, DVR and OnDemand represented 64 percent of the “Dexter” audience in previous seasons.
Each season premiere for “Dexter” has been up from the previous season premiere.
Airing at 10 p.m., “Ray Donovan” drew 1.35 million viewers, making it Showtime’s best-ever new series premiere, rising 25 percent above the initial airing of “Homeland” two years ago. Including its first encore, “Ray Donovan” drew 2.2 million viewers on its first night. And, again, Showtime would like you to know that “Ray Donovan” was sampled early by 816,000 viewers on Showtime OnDemand and Showtime Anytime.
While network TV was a bit of a wasteland on Sunday night — a “Mentalist” repeat was the 10 p.m. hour’s most watched program — cable competition included the BET Awards, “True Blood” and “The Killing.”