'Vikings' Draw 3.4 Million Viewers In Season Two Finale

History's Vikings drew an impressive 3.4 million viewers in its May 1 finale, but it wasn’t enough to conquer the ratings for last season’s final episode.

The season two finale of Vikings fell short of the 3.6 million watchers the series drew in its April 2013 freshman season finale. In addition, Thursday's finale drew 1.6 million viewers in the network’s target adult 25-54 demo, as well as 1.4 million adult 18-49, according to Nielsen.

Overall, season two of Vikings drew 5.1 million total viewers on a live+7 basis, along with 2.7 million adult 25-54 viewers and 2.5 million adult 18-49 viewers, all up double digits from comparable numbers during the show's freshman campaign.

History has already renewed Vikings for a third season that will premiere next year, said network officials.

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.