‘Bates Motel’ renewed, season 3 official; also, ‘Shameless,’ ‘Silicon Valley’ ratings
There are a few ratings-related topics that we want to get through in this article, but we have to start things off by getting through what is probably the biggest news of all: The renewal of “Bates Motel” for an expected third season. This is A&E’s flagship signature show at this point, given that “Those Who Kill” disappointed and “Longmire” skews extremely old in the 18-49 demographic.
This renewal will be for a ten-episode third season, which will be produced this fall in preparation for a premiere at some point in the early spring of next year. In a statement confirming this news, the network’s Executive Vice President and General Manager David McKillop had the following to say:
“The incredible writing team and talented Bates Motel cast has made this series one of the most compelling original dramas on television … The brilliant twists and turns of the past two seasons keep its loyal fan base coming back for more. We are so proud of the show.”
As for some other interesting ratings notes from this weekend:
- “Silicon Valley” started its run on HBO with 2 million viewers, a strong total that is the best start for a comedy on the network since “Hung.” Granted, it had a lot of help courtesy of the “Game of Thrones” premiere being the network’s most-watched hour since “The Sopranos” finale.
- Meanwhile, “Veep” failed to even make it to a million viewers, which has to feel somewhat disappointing given where the viewership was just an hour beforehand.
- “Shameless” ended its fourth season with just over 1.9 million viewers, a nice improvement over its season 3 finale.
- “House of Lies” also finished with more than 700,000 viewers, and improvement from where it ended things off in 2013.