Insofar as no second season “Bates Motel” episode matched the adults 18-49 and viewership marks posted by the March 3, 2014 season premiere, there was no reason to expect the March 9, 2015 season three premiere to do so.
It did not.
Insofar as it was a season premiere, there was reason to believe it would come closer than a routine second season episode. It did not.
Monday’s season three “Bates Motel” launch drew a 0.9 adults 18-49 rating with 2.14 million viewers. Roughly on par with the season two finale performance (0.9, 2.30 million), the showing considerably trails that of the season two premiere (1.3, 3.07 million viewers).
The “Bates Motel” season opener led into “The Returned.” The A&E remake of “Les Revenants” drew a modest 0.6 adults 18-49 rating with 1.54 million viewers.