‘Better Call Saul’ ends season 1 with ratings high note

The end of “Better Call Saul” season 1 happened last week, and since that time we’ve been waiting to get an answer on one simple question: What sort of ratings milestone did the show actually achieve?

We knew going in here that it was going to have a particularly hard time matching the final season of “Breaking Bad,” given that this was a much-hyped series with years of binge-watching on Netflix built in. It’s harder to convince people to watch live without necessary investment beforehand. This also aired on a different night in Monday, and was a prequel to events that you already knew happened.

In the end, AMC has to be more than pleased. The network announced today the the show averaged almost six million viewers weekly with the live+3 data factored in, which makes it the #1 new cable show of the year so far. Maybe this number is slightly inflated by the first episode, which drew an enormous boost coming from airing after the midseason premiere of “The Walking Dead.”

With this said, there was never some huge demand for “Better Call Saul” to get huge ratings or face the ax. It was renewed for a second season before the first season even aired, so there was no concern here other than making sure fans were satisfied. We didn’t love the finale, but as a whole we’d label season 1 successful, and a great introduction to the man who will someday be known as Saul Goodman.

Season 2 should premiere at some point in early 2016. It has been ordered for 13 episodes.

(Photo: AMC.)