Starz Tallies 2.6M Viewers During 'Power's Opening Week

Starz’s latest original series powered its way to more than 2 million viewers during its linear weekend debut.

Power, the tale of a New York City nightclub and its drug-backed underpinnings that is executed-produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, pulled in 462,000 viewers during its 9 p.m. premiere on Saturday, June 7, according to Nielsen live + same-day data. With encores, the series tallied 1.27 million watchers on Saturday. Adding 150,000 watchers for one telecast on sister service Encore and more re-airs on Sunday drove Power's opening weekend total to 2 million.

That put Power on par with the second-season bow of Da Vinci’s Demons and last August’s limited series The White Queen, but behind the 2.6 million who tuned in during the first weekend of Black Sails, a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic Treasure Island.

The new series also collected another 480,000 viewers via initial reports from the week-long multiplatform sampling initiative the premium programmer used to bolster awareness, raising its opening week count to some 2.6 million. Additional totals from watching on multiplex, extended DVR, on-demand, Starz Play online and other sampling outlets have not been calculated.

From a demographic perspective, Power played well with both guys and gals. Women 18+ comprised 45% of Power’s weekend viewers, with men 18+ accounting for 48%. Adults 18 to 49 represented 52% of the Power audience last weekend, while adults 50+ made up 40%