Will ‘Outlander’ season 3 moving to Sundays create larger ratings footprint?

We’ve spoken a good bit as of late regarding some story elements of the upcoming third season of “Outlander” on Starz, but in the process of that, we’ve realized that there is one especially-integral subject that has yet to be broached fully in the way that it should: The ratings. Namely, we’re discussing how this is a series that deserves even more of a following than it has.

Before we dive into here too far, there is one thing that we should acknowledge: We’re speaking in terms only of LIVE ratings. This is a show that is heavily watched via On-Demand, the Starz app, and DVR, and not all of those numbers are factored in here. While those viewings are all important, live ratings offer up the best benchmark when it comes to cross-comparison in articles like these. They’re also imperative to ad-supporting networks, though luckily “Outlander” doesn’t have to worry about that.

Season 2 ratings – Where were we at through most of last season? The second season averaged almost 1.1 million viewers, which was an increase of just over 4% from the first go-around on the network. That’s not an enormous improvement compared to another Starz series like “Power” (which gained more than 85% in viewers between its first and second season), but the distinction there is that we’re talking about an original property versus one like “Outlander” with an established following who knew about the Diana Gabaldon series before the jump. “Power” had an element-of-surprise factor going for it.

What’s different for season 3 – Namely, the night. Starz is moving their scripted lineup from Saturdays to Sundays, which greatly improves the number of people available for live viewing. There’s a reason that few networks, even with lesser competition, program on Saturdays. They see the rest of the week as an opportunity to generate some better numbers that they won’t be getting if they stay put in the previous spot, especially in their demo of young viewers. Saturdays have an easily-accessible ceiling, but it’s a limited one.

Will this move help? – Absolutely yes. To go back to the “Power” comparison, season 3 improved more than 50% in total viewers following the move to Sunday night, and “Outlander” should see a rise of its own, even if we’re not expecting one that substantial. It would be a little more troublesome if “Game of Thrones” was out there as a competitor, but it looks like with HBO delaying season 7 until summer, “Outlander” (which should premiering in the spring pending some surprise announcement) won’t be facing that sort of monster competition. We can easily see averages in the 1.3 million – 1.5 million range, though we don’t want to create specific expectations since that it puts undue pressure on a show that is already renewed for a fourth season and is doing rather fine as-is. These discussions are just fun ones to have.

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Do you expect a significant ratings increase for “Outlander” going into season 3? Share below, and head over here to take a look at some recent stories pertaining to the show. (Photo: Starz.)