L+SD Ratings: “American Horror Story: Cult” Premiere Falls From Last Year, Still Dominates Cable

In terms of live+same-day ratings, the premiere of “American Horror Story: Cult” was down sharply from last season’s “AHS: Roanoke” premiere.

It did, however, outperform every other episode of “Roanoke.” It also ranked as cable’s #1 Tuesday original in adults 18-49 and overall viewers. It was the night’s #2 overall original (below only NBC’s “America’s Got Talent”) in adults 18-49.

According to live+same-day data posted by Showbuzz, the “AHS: Cult” opener drew a 2.02 adults 18-49 rating and averaged 3.93 million overall viewers.

The numbers trail the 2.78 rating and 5.14 million viewer mark drawn by last October’s “Roanoke” premiere but markedly top the 1.33 rating and 2.45 million viewer figure posted by that season’s finale.

Both “Cult” figures markedly top those drawn by any other Tuesday cable original. “SmackDown! Live,” the #2 performer in adults 18-49, distantly trailed with a 0.8 rating.

“The Rachel Maddow Show,” which took second place for viewership, averaged 2.74 million.

While the past few “AHS” seasons have endured live+same-day ratings declines, they have still posted very impressive numbers by cable standards. “AHS” also tends to receive huge lifts once DVR viewership is taken into account.

FX, it should be noted, stresses that it does not ascribe much importance to live+same-day numbers in today’s age of time-shifted, multi-platform viewing.