Outlander season 3 episode 8 ratings preview: Will ‘First Wife’ win big?

What should the Outlander season 3 episode 8 ratings expectations be for Starz and for the show’s fans? As we like to do an advance here at CarterMatt, let’s examine the possibilities!

The first thing we should do is look back at how this past episode of Outlander season 3 performed. The results there were mixed. While Outlander season 3 episode 7 did generate better overall numbers than any previous episode of the show’s first or second season, its total of 1.52 million viewers was the lowest since the second episode on September 17th. What is the reason for that? It could be attributed to a number of different things, but more than likely the big one here is the hype starting to cool off a little bit after the big Print Shop reunion for Jamie and Claire. That was the event that the network was promoting heavily for many weeks on end, even to the point where there were mobile print shops set up at various fan events leading up to the premiere.

So is “First Wife” the episode where the show is going to recover and get moving back in the right direction? If we were to predict right now, our sentiment is that this will be an episode that does take a small upswing in total viewership. We don’t want to sit here and say that it will set another record similar to what “A. Malcolm” and the print shop reunion did, but we do think that somewhere around the lines of 1.55 million or 1.56 million is reasonable given that there were no major events hyped up for this episode in advance. There is a fight between Jamie and Claire that was pushed heavily in previews, but will that be enough to get more casual viewers watching live?

At one point earlier this year we speculated that maybe the show would be able to reach the 2 million viewer mark in live viewing by the end of the season. This episode is really going to be the opportunity to determine whether or not this is possible. If the ratings don’t increase by much in this episode, that 2 million viewer milestone may be a little out of reach for now. If it doesn’t happen, it’s hard to be all that upset given that Outlander season 3 is up more than 40% in total viewership from season 2. Some of that probably has to do with the show airing on Sundays now as opposed to Saturdays, but even with that in mind there are other factors. Consider the new viewers flocking to the show thanks to either recommendations or just finding out about it somewhere on the internet. Starz has done an incredible job marketing the series and getting it out to people who may not be that familiar with the source material. The majority of new viewers coming to the show now are people who don’t have the same sort of familiarity with the books and are getting to explore and experience this world for the first time through this medium.

So when are we going to have the official ratings for First Wife? Think along the lines of Tuesday. Pending some sort of Nielsen ratings delay, that is when we have all of our ratings pieces online. We imagine that there will be plenty do discuss here at CarterMatt.

Not to toot our own horn here too much, but so far this season all of our ratings predictions have been right on the money in terms of rises and falls. Given that we’re predicting a rise this week let’s hope it pans out!

What are your Outlander season 3 episode 8 ratings expectations?

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