Outlander season 3 premiere ratings up slightly versus season 2

One of our goals for the Outlander season 3 premiere ratings was to see them rise to their highest point yet, and after seeing the first batch of numbers, we’re pleased to call that a success!

The premiere episode of the Starz show ended up (during its 8:00 p.m. Eastern airing) generating 1.493 million viewers. This makes the premiere episode officially the most-watched episode of the show ever in the live+same-day measures, and it’s a nice victory following an extensive promotional tour by stars Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan.

When you consider some of the caveats in this performance, it is even more of a victory for the network. Remember that Sunday left many without power or the opportunity to watch television thanks to Hurricane Irma. There were also small groups of fans who saw the premiere in advance, but that’s such a small sliver that it wouldn’t impact the rating too much one way or another. (Maybe it would’ve been 1.494 million had some of those people watched the episode live.)

The even bigger caveat at the moment is that for this show especially, the live+same-day ratings are just a tiny piece of the overall pie. There are so many viewers who watch these episodes early via the Starz app, just as there are also many who will watch it after the fact with either repeat airings or on their DVR. Given that the show is airing opposite football, it’s possible this year that we could see an additional impact in DVR ratings. While we may not have exact multi-platform ratings for the entire season, we’re hoping to get some more data on the premiere and then again by the end of the season. We will, however, offer up live+same-day ratings throughout the season.

Two more things to remember when it comes to the ratings here. Unlike most of what we do here at CarterMatt, the 18-49 demographic ratings don’t matter so we’re not going to bother reporting them. Starz is subscriber-based, so in that sense, you also have to remember that ratings don’t necessarily mean as much in general as the number of subscribers the show brings to the table. Granted, having higher viewers does tend to mean that more people are subscribing to you, so there is a comparison here even if it’s not a direct one-for-one.

Throughout the season, we’ll measure these ratings versus the second season to see how it’s faring, and also if it could get that early season 5 renewal. With the way that the show does produce new episodes far in advance, it would benefit the producers very much to know by the end of the year/early in 2018 as to whether or not the show is going to be coming back.

Update: More ratings info!

We just received a release from Starz with more information, and we suggest that you check that out over here.

What do you think about the Outlander season 3 premiere ratings?

Share in the comments below! Meanwhile, you can also head over to the link here in the event you want to see some of the latest social ratings for the show; these do matter in their own right! (Photo: Starz.)