While HBO’s “True Detective” did not end its streak of losses in the adults 18-49 demographic, it did enjoy its first viewership gain of the season.
Sunday’s episode, which was the fifth of the current sophomore installment, posted a 1.03 adults 18-49 rating with 2.415 million viewers. The demo number trails last week’s 1.08 mark, but the viewership average tops last week’s sum of 2.359 million.
Since HBO is a subscription-driven premium network rather than an ad-supported one, the viewership number is more important than the adults 18-49 rating.
Lead-out “Ballers” achieved a similar performance. Its demo rating slipped to a 0.79 (from a 0.84), but its viewership total rose to 1.641 million (from 1.591 million).
“The Brink” was up in both categories (0.43/1.062 million vs. 0.39/0.989 million), while “Last Week Tonight” was even in the demo (0.41) but up in viewership (1.042 vs. 1.013 million).
