The Night Of [HBO]
Perhaps it was because the premiere’s early availability bottlenecked last week’s rating. Perhaps it was because said premiere received strong word-of-mouth. Perhaps it was because this week’s episode received solid lead-in support from a screening of “Straight Outta Compton.”
Regardless of the explanation, the data is clear: Sunday’s “The Night Of” was up significantly in the live+same-day ratings.
According to L+SD data posted by Showbuzz, Sunday’s installment of the miniseries drew a 0.52 adults 18-49 rating and 1.28 million total viewers. The numbers top the 0.26 rating and 0.77 million viewer mark drawn by last week’s premiere.
— “The Night Of” led into the second season premiere of “Ballers,” which drew a 0.79 adults 18-49 rating and 1.59 million total viewers. While down from the 1.1 rating and 2.16 million viewer mark drawn by the June 21, 2015 series premiere (which received far stronger lead-in support from “True Detective”), the numbers top the 0.71 rating and 1.40 million mark drawn by the first season finale.
The numbers were also the clear best drawn by one of Sunday’s programs. Among adults 18-49, “Ballers” was the #2 cable original beneath only Starz’ “Power.”
“Ballers” led into the premiere of “Vice Principals,” which posted a 0.55 adults 18-49 rating and 1.15 million total viewers. The numbers were down from those drawn by last year’s “The Brink” premiere (0.66, 1.60 million), but that broadcast received lead-in support from the aforementioned, higher rated “Ballers” series premiere.