Ratings: ‘Homeland’ season 5, ‘The Affair’ season 2 finales post gains for Showtime

The ratings have just come in for Showtime’s Sunday-night lineup, and the network has a good bit to be happy about when it comes to the numbers.

Let’s start first and foremost with “Homeland,” which saw its overall viewer total improve to a season-high total of 2.07 million. That’s great news despite a lack of viewer enthusiasm for some moments of the episode, including the potential death of a major character in Peter Quinn (Rupert Friend). Typically we post 18-49 demo numbers as though they are the most-significant part of the equation, but that’s not the case as much for premium cable networks. They don’t have advertisers, and with that subscriptions matter more than anything. (For the record, though, the show did generate a 0.7 rating in the demo.)

As for “The Affair,” its second season finished with its biggest audience to date in 1.11 million viewers. This is tremendous news for a little bit of a sleeper show these days, given that it has been absent on the radar of many ever since it won at the Golden Globes in early 2015.

The fact that both shows were airing their finales almost surely helped their total ratings, but we figure that this was not the only factor. After all, you also have to remember that there was lesser competition across network and cable TV on Sunday night with shows like “The Good Wife” and “The Walking Dead” officially done for the season. This means more people out there had opportunities to catch the show live.

If you do want to get some other news right now when it comes to “Homeland,” be sure to head over to this link! Also, you can sign up over here to secure some other TV news and updates on everything we cover, sent right over to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Showtime.)