The second season premiere of HBO’s “The Leftovers” was by far the series’ least-watched and lowest-rated episode yet.
Airing against a full fall slate for the first time in its run, Sunday’s episode drew a mere 0.3 adults 18-49 rating with 713,000 total viewers.
No first season “Leftovers” episode drew fewer than 1.38 million viewers; Sunday’s season premiere, therefore, barely drew 50% of the weakest first season audience.
The June 29, 2014 series premiere posted a 0.8 rating with 1.767 million total viewers. The September 7, 2014 first season finale, which faced Sunday Night Football, drew a 0.7 rating with 1.531 million total viewers.
Of relevance is the fact that this week’s “Leftovers” was the first to ever face a full slate of fall competition. Last season’s finale aired opposite a Sunday Night Football game, but it dealt with neither AMC’s “Fear The Walking Dead” nor in-season programming on FOX, ABC, and CBS.
That does not, however, entirely excuse the dismal performance. It certainly fails to provide optimism about the show’s prospects moving forward — instead of dealing with “Fear The Walking Dead,” it will face the original “The Walking Dead” in the coming weeks.
