Could ‘Halt and Catch Fire’ season 2 happen thanks to DVR numbers?

If there was going to be one saving grace for AMC’s “Halt and Catch Fire” to get a second season on the air, it would be the live+3 data after the fact.

Now that we have those numbers, we’re feeling at least a little more confident about the show’s future on the air than we were previously. According to Deadline, the show drew close to a million viewers when you include the three days of DVR viewing to the live audience, which is a jump of over 70% from the live+same day number. That’s pretty impressive, and it shows that there is a general interest in the show. The problem is more the competition, which includes “The Leftovers” on HBO, “Masters of Sex” on Showtime, “The Strain” on FX, and more.

While we understand the “Low Winter Sun” comparisons given that the ratings for the two are fairly close to one another, there has always been one part of this that we have found problematic. “Low Winter Sun” for most of its run benefited heavily from promotion during “Breaking Bad,” though it almost went to an adverse point where the show became a laughingstock and an eyesore to fans who just wanted to watch “Talking Bad” without any interruption. That show had a much smaller live+3 growth percentage for its finale, and with this data included, “Halt and Catch Fire” had a good 100,000 more viewers in the end.

We don’t feel like any of this is a guarantee for a renewal, but we’d give the show a little more hope now, especially if AMC can get it onto Netflix quickly and have it benefit there the same way that “Breaking Bad” did.

We’ll have more on the show as soon as there is something to report, so stay tuned today!