'Newsroom' premiere numbers are open to interpretation
Aaron Sorkin drama drew 2.1 million viewers on Sunday night
"The Newsroom"
Credit: HBO
"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.
A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupBaywatchboy
June 25, 2012 at 7:01PM EST Reply to CommentIf you're going to do this comparison, please tell me how much of its lead-in did True Blood squander when it debuted (with 66% of viewers that Newsroom had)?
June 25, 2012 at 7:28PM EST-Daniel
Balaji K
June 25, 2012 at 10:46PM EST Reply to CommentThis is not related to this post, but I had to ask somewhere. Sorry about that.
Dan, do you know when ABC, CBS and The CW will release fall premiere dates? Last year, I think The CW released on June 21, ABC on June 28, and CBS on June 30. Do you think it will happen this week?
dan Balaji - Total mystery. CBS will almost certainly go last, because CBS always goes last because CBS doesn't care. I wonder if The CW will hold off for a while because their premieres won't go until October for the most part, so they may want to get a sense of when everything is launching so they can hold for max efficiency?
June 26, 2012 at 2:21AM ESTBut yeah, it could be any second! Or not for another week or two? And I feel like last year's premiere announcements were earlier than usual? But I could be wrong...
-Daniel
Balaji K Thanks for the response. I'm hoping the announcements will come in this week or next.
June 26, 2012 at 9:58AM ESTJonathan
June 26, 2012 at 5:14AM EST Reply to CommentYou mean the audiences between True Blood and The Newsroom aren't that compatible? Shocking.
Balaji K
June 26, 2012 at 9:59AM EST Reply to CommentLet's see if HBO announces the renewal today.