Last Sunday, the series premiere of AMC’s Better Call Saul broke ratings records in the key 18-49 demographic, making it the most watched premiere in cable history. But now that the numbers are in for the viewers who caught the show after the premiere, this series is proving that a spinoff with a built-in audience will show up in droves — not only did Better Call Saul win the most viewers in the 18-49 demo the night of the premiere, but it won that demo plus the 25-54 demo in the Live+3 ratings. That refers to everyone who watched the show on demand or on DVR up to three days after the original broadcast, for a total of 9.8 million viewers for the premiere of the Breaking Bad spinoff.
And that was just the first night. The second episode, which aired last Monday, also garnered a ratings jump when accounting for the Live+3 ratings, giving that episode a total of 5.8 million viewers. A drop-off, but not a bad showing at all. The AMC executives were very pleased, as Charlie Collier said:
“This is a terrific start for a program we love. We so appreciate everyone involved, starting with creators and showrunners Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, series star Bob Odenkirk and an amazing studio partner in Sony, team of EPs, cast and crew. There are many who are responsible for taking Better Call Saul from ‘Can we actually do this?’ to the biggest series premiere in the history of cable television.”
As it stands now, Better Call Saul is currently the second-highest rated show on cable, behind only its zombie neighbor The Walking Dead. Not bad for a show that’s been on for about a week.
Source: Deadline
