Showtime's ‘Twin Peaks’ Premiere Gets 506,000 Viewers

The premiere of Showtime’s new Twin Peaks series drew 506,000 million viewers on its linear channel, an audience that paled in comparison with other premium cable shows' performances Sunday (May 21)

For example, on HBO during the same time period (9-11 p.m. ET), The Leftovers drew 770,000 viewers at 9 p.m., while Silicon Valley at 10 p.m. had 844,000.

Related: Serving Up the ‘Twin Peaks’ Premiere … And a Slice of Cherry Pie [subscription required]

The premiere of the original Twin Peaks in 1990 had 35 million viewers, but that was a vastly different era for television.

Showtime is airing 18 episodes of the new Twin Peaks, with show co-creator David Lynch directing all of them.

Video: The 'Twin Peaks' Trailer

The network said the show generated a record number of signups for its direct-to-consumer streaming service for the single biggest day and weekend in its history in terms of signups; Showtime did not provide the number of signups.

“In the world that we live in now, offering original programming that attracts new subscribers is our primary business objective,” said David Nevins, president and CEO, Showtime Networks. “By that standard, the Twin Peaks premiere is the biggest single-night driver we’ve ever had.”

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.