Given its immense critical acclaim and solid lifts in time-shifted viewing, “The Americans” is not sufficiently evaluated by its live+same-day viewership performance.
That is especially true given the fact that the series airs on FX, a cable network that claims it does not even look at ratings until live+3 data becomes available.
The television industry does, however, continue to measure, assess and benchmark series based on live+same-day performance. For this Wednesday’s fourth season premiere, the assessment is not a glowing one.
In drawing what Showbuzz reports as a 0.28 adults 18-49 rating and 1.11 million total viewers, this week’s “The Americans” drew a slightly smaller audience than the season three finale (0.34, 1.22 million).
It drew a considerably smaller audience than the season three premiere (0.63, 1.90 million).
The harsh differential between the season three premiere and finale numbers (a differential mirrored by data for the first and second seasons as well as that for most television series) signals the likelihood that “The Americans” will fall from this week’s live+same-day viewership level as the season progresses.
Whether that will have any affect on the show’s prospects remains to be seen.
