Preacher [Lewis Jacobs / AMC]
Sunday’s “Preacher” retained a solid percentage of the audience drawn by its “Fear The Walking Dead”-boosted May 22 series premiere.
Lead-out “Feed The Beast,” however, got off to a slow start.
According to national data posted by Showbuzz, Sunday’s episode drew a 0.80 adults 18-49 rating and 2.08 million total viewers.
Airing out of the “FTWD” midseason finale, the aforementioned series premiere posted a 0.90 rating and 2.38 million total viewers.
Given the loss of such pivotal lead-in support, competition from the NBA Finals, and the fact that Sunday’s episode would not have benefited from premiere week curiosity, the retention rate is impressive.
The question, of course, comes down to whether AMC was happy with the premiere performance. If it likes the way “Preacher” performed on May 22, it cannot possibly be upset with how it performed this week.
It may, however, have a harder time smiling about the way “Feed The Beast” debuted. Sunday’s premiere delivered a soft 0.31 adults 18-49 and 0.98 million total viewers, losing more than half of its lead-in despite facing less competition. The performance is not absolutely terrible by cable standards — and a chunk of the episode did contend with the NBA Finals — but it is certainly not stellar. The retention rate is also disappointing.