‘Roots’ revival gets off to solid ratings start on History, Lifetime, A&E

On Monday night, the trio of History, Lifetime, and A&E all went all-in on “Roots,” opting to simulcast the first part of the epic miniseries revival across all of their different platforms at the same time. It is a move that we have seen them do before with miniseries, and there is a fairly simple reason for it as a whole: It’s a huge event! The networks want people to be talking about this, and also realizing the historical significance of it all.

The ratings are now in for the first episode, and we feel like there are many positive things that we can say here. With a grand total of 5.3 million viewers across the three networks, this became the best opening for a miniseries of this variety since “Bonnie & Clyde” almost three years ago. Millions more watched courtesy of repeat airings.

Did we think that the ratings would have been even higher going into this episode airing? Probably, but there were a few reasons for the likely fall.

1. You gotta remember that this was Memorial Day. More often than not, ratings are down across the board for this day.

2. Also, remember here for a minute that this was up against a key basketball game between the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder. That game helped to destroy many programming options.

We’ll be back soon with some other news in terms of what the ratings are like for episode 2. Stay tuned!

If you do want to get some other news right now when it comes to the “Roots” miniseries, be sure to head over here to see a preview for Tuesday night’s new installment right now! Also, sign up over here to score some other TV news on all we cover, sent right over to you via our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: History.)