Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story had incorrect ratings for the “Big Little Lies” season premiere.
After struggling against the Oscars, the first season of “Big Little Lies” posted five consecutive week-over-week viewership gains.
The upward trajectory did not continue for the season two premiere.
According to live+same-day data posted by Showbuzz, Sunday’s “Big Little Lies” drew a 0.39 adults 18-49 rating and averaged 1.42 million overall viewers.
The numbers sharply trail the 0.66 rating and 1.86 million viewer mark posted by the first season finale but best the 0.31 and 1.13 million figure drawn by the series premiere. The viewership figure also tops that for all other first season episodes.
Given the ample buzz that has lingered since midway through the first season, the decline from the finale is surely disappointing. That said, “Big Little Lies” will surely follow the typical HBO protocol of adding a significant amount of viewers through streaming, on-demand and DVR.