The second season premiere of True Blood drew 3.7 million viewers Sunday. That makes it the most watched program on the network since the series finale of The Sopranos, which aired June 10, 2007.
That is also up 157% compared to the series premiere and 51% to last year’s series finale.
When the 11 p.m. replay is factored into the equation, True Blood drew 5.1 million viewers, the largest Sunday gross ever for the series.
via Broadcasting & Cable.
WAHOO!!!!
(Dances around the room in joy.)
Only watched it briefly last year. Looked good but have never gotten around to see it again. But surely planning to.
yes a well deserved audience…..great show
damn, HBO has found a hit.. FINALLY!
Considering how well it has done on DVD I am not surprised. I think the good news for the show is that the 11 p.m. replay earned 1.4 million viewers. I expect the initial airings to settle aroung 2.5-3 million viewers for the rest of the season because of all the replays, OnDemand, and DVR viewing that people are more likely to use during normal episodes. But I hope I am wrong and that the viwership increases.
Well, last year the ratings for each original episode doubled from pilot to finale. Now, I don’t think that’ll happen again, but I won’t be surprised if the later episodes this season are above 4 million each. TB has been remarkably successful at increasing audience size.
If the show maintains a “Did you see last night’s episode” watercooler cool, than it can maintain the number of folks that watch the first screening. Nobody wants to be the guy who turns into the “Don’t spoil it – I have it on DVR” dork.
I think it’s abundantly clear that this “True Blood” is just a flash in the pan! It’s never gonna have the longevity of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel! Will people be studying True Blood in college courses ten years from now?! I think not!! Will fans be hanging on Alan Ball’s every word about his next series?! I think not!! Will someone break into Anna Paquin’s house to steal her underwear like I did with Sarah Michelle Gellar’s frilly pink panties? I think not!!
That’s because it’s easily the greatest show on television! Congrats HBO/True Blood!
I received the first season as a gift a couple of weeks ago. It was so good I had to order HBO just to keep on watching. With True Blood, Dexter, Weeds, Nurse Jackie, and US of Tara- I may just be done with network tv (well, except for a that show on NBC whose name shall not be mentioned).
JBF, comment thread win, and only 8 comments in.
“Will people be studying True Blood in college courses ten years from now?!” I bet they will, as the show makes some deep metaphors about the social structure of this country in how the humans deal with the vampires.
Also, TB is just plain fun.
OMG PERFECT! SO happy. WOO HOO!!
There are newer viewers this season, like myself. xDD
Agreed Drew! TB is so smart. There is a constant stream of symbolism.
Ack, i thought the first season was so boring, and i’m going to be forced to watch this :-/
Oh well, only 13 episodes right?
Kermonk, it’s a show that really grows on you. Stick with it until at least the second half of the (12 episode) season, wait a few days, and see how you’re feeling.
omg i loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee this show
That is amazing I’m so happy! TB really does justify this ratings growth the season opener was awesome. I was expecting the ratings to be big but wow.
@ Bill Lol nobody has *actually* said the “C” word yet it doesn’t count
True Blood = the only thing that keeps me watching HBO
What are you saying Drew, have you seen season 2?
As I indicated, I have seen the first season and found it uninteresting.
Oh, thought you were talking about season one. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.
But I happen to love it.
Drew … as I also wrote, I don’t have a choice.
Well, grats to HBO and Alan Bell. Even though I still don’t like True Blood (And I think compared to past HBO series like The Wire, The Sopranos and Six Feet Under as well as present series like In Treatment, TB is just “mediocre”) you have to give it to them. They managed to get a ratings hit and I think clever promotion did it’s part (for example, TB was advertised on video gaming websites…I don’t ever see Lost, Heroes etc. advertised there)
True Blood did fantastic and it’s really grown its audience, HBO needed a hit show and it’s finally got one. Hopefully they can rebuild their slate from here.
close to 6 mil without dvr and on demand viewing factored in? wow. last year they got about 4 million viewers after the sunday airing when everything else was factored in (and hbo actually cares about that stuff, since they dont have to rely on ads, as long as people are watching the show theyre fine).
with that, youd figure the audience could be around 10 million when all is said and done, which is sopranos type numbers. now i dont like the show but i dont think its bad, just not my thing.
i wonder what this will do for hung, its getting the next wave of promotion and will certainly have a good lead in.
I think the show is below HBO’s usual quality.
But it’s definitely watchable and enjoyable. The boobs help a lot!
Looks like HBO found a hit. I personally think the show is trash and way below HBO quality standards (The Wire, The Sopranos, Deadwood, Carnivale…), but hey, what do I know.
And it is most definitely not the greatest show on TV at the moment as some people here think. Hell, just AMC has two better ones. Breaking Bad and Mad Men. And there’s LOST, Friday Night Lights, Dexter, Sons of Anarchy…
Awesome! I like this show a lot, but it definently isn’t as good as other HBO shows. It’s fun but you can’t take it too seriously.
What does this say about the chances of “In Treatment” getting renewed? Better I hope.
In Treatment is quality. I love that show.
As for Mad Men on AMC… there’s another show with a lot of critical acclaim that I really don’t understand. Like with True Blood, it’s decent, but it’s not the Bee’s Knees that people make it out to be.
Big Love is also like True Blood… decent. But Big Love is severely lacking in True Bloods most redeeming department: boobs!
I doubt any HBO drama will ever live up to The Wire.
WATCHED LAST YEAR, AND WILL WATCH THIS YR. HAD HBO PICKED UP ON CABLE JUST TO WATCH IT….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mWQFDDkU44
True Blood is a success because, not only is it well-written, it’s got that “escapist” quality many viewers desire at the moment. Oh, concur with an above poster that Sons of Anarchy is da ish!
I got HBO Canada only for True Blood !
Well, HBO did and excellent job promoting True Blood since Day One ,even telling viewers since the start that the show was getting a second season so they didn’t need to worry about getting hooked. Vampires are in and HBO was smart enough to se it . I got HBO when ML was canceled and I am absolutely happy with the way HBO is treating True Blood and its viewers.
I watched because of the teaser release about 6 weeks back, mostly. and then that wasn’t even in this ep. I HATE when tv shows do that. the OC ads here did that with the lesbian kiss, suggesting it was “next week” for 5 weeks (i was 5 weeks ahead via other methods than live tv) it’s shameful.
not that the ep wasn’t good, it was quite enjoyable.
I do like True Blood, but I have to agree with a previous post. “Breaking Bad” on AMC is the BEST show on television. I compare this show a lot to “Six Feet Under”.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it won the Golden Globe for best drama. I wouldn’t be surprised at all even though Damages is better. True Blood has more publicity though.
I really want to like this show. I really have tried, but I can’t help it. I just thinks its hard to watch. The books are great and I think that is the reason I am having such a hard time. I know that this is a tv website, but if you like the tv show, you will love the books.
Well, I’ve downloaded Part 1 of episode 1. Got another hour to go to get part 2, then I can watch the first episode. Then we’ll see if I’m motivated to get episode 2 tomorrow or over the weekend. Still gotta get first episode of Burn Notice.
Re-watched the original Blade movie again tonight. Do you remember Traci Lords was in that? Always cracks me up. She did quite a bit of legit acting long after the porn movies. But she’ll always be remembered as one hot sixteen-year-old.
But Kris Kristoferson was the star of those Blade movies. Best line in this one: (Vampire goons are beating up Blade, suddenly a wall explodes in, scattering debris everywhere) “Catch you fuckers at a bad time?” (Opens fire with an assault rifle) Love that stuff! And you’ll never see it on broadcast TV because the FCC won’t let them use that kind of language! LOL!
Well, just saw episode one. First impressions here.
1) This is a FUNNY show! There are some whacked characters in this show. Tara, for one. The gay short order cook, for another.
2) The guy playing vampire Bill is moderately cool. He’s got the cold vampire attitude and stare down.
3) Anna Paquin is good, if a little over the top on occasion. She’s as cute as I remember her from X-Men, although I’ve never been much of a fan. Her character is about as perky as it gets. LOL! And clearly, besides her telepathy, there’s something else going on there, as vampire Bill immediately spots her as being something more than human. It will be interesting to see how they develop her character as something more than just a down home girl who falls for the “stranger in town” cliche.
4) Lynn Collins is hot. Unfortunately, I already know she’s going to get killed off. A real waste, there.
5) Based on the Wikipedia article on the show, I’m looking forward to seeing some of the other more significant vampire characters.
“The gay short order cook, for another.”
Yes, Lafayette is one of the most enjoyable characters. Happy dance for him.
“Anna Paquin is good, if a little over the top on occasion.
Yep, she’s great. And Sookie is supposed to be a bit ditzy.
I’m glad you liked the pilot, RSH. In my opinion, the show gets quite a bit better as the first season goes on and it gets really good around episode five.
“True Blood’s ratings gains over last season may be the most impressive thing about the premiere.”
Yo Rick:
In my market (San Diego), anyone with a Time Warner Cable converter box was able to see HBO for free all weekend (I don’t normally subscribe but heard about a free “preview” weekend in the local paper).
HBO also offered up “The Dark Knight” as their big ‘new’ Saturday evening movie event.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Time Warner, which owns HBO, did this exact same thing all over the country thus possibly inflating the viewing numbers for True Blood.
Any chance you can verify and write a follow up piece?
Thanks.
Sean, we’ll be sure to post any True Blood ratings we see, and we’re on the lookout. And based on comments, the HBO free preview period was nationwide. HBO is certainly motivated to get people to sample their original programming, so the scheduling isn’t a coincidence. The sampling, and the subscriptions it generates, are much more important to them than any temporary ratings boost. Although the PR from the numbers doesn’t hurt.
“4) Lynn Collins is hot. Unfortunately, I already know she’s going to get killed off. A real waste, there.”
It is a shame she had to die, Dawn was a fun character.
I ordered the first season through I-Tunes and am loving it! Great show…. worth every penny. Keep up the good work HBO.