Episode two of Showtime’s “Billions” bested the television version of the premiere in adults 18-49 and total viewership.
Per Nielsen L+SD cable data, Sunday’s episode posted a 0.27 adults 18-49 rating and reached 950,000 total viewers. The numbers top the 0.24 and 904,000 viewership mark posted by the on-air version of last week’s premiere.
That on-air version, of course, only represented a small portion of the premiere’s reach. Last week’s “Billions” attracted a considerable pre-air audience from early streaming and on-demand viewership.
Still, week-to-week broadcast retention, let alone growth, is never a bad thing.
— “Billions” had help from lead-in “Shameless,” which improved this week despite facing competition from the NFC Championship. Sunday’s “Shameless” drew a 0.75 rating with 1.697 million total viewers, besting the 0.66 and 1.642 million drawn last week.