‘Poldark’ season 2 premiere in close battle to ITV’s ‘Victoria’ in live ratings

Going into its season 2 premiere, we thought that “Poldark” on the BBC was going to be the second coming of “Downton Abbey,” the rare British drama that could surpass more than 8 million viewers on a fairly-regular basis and capture most of the attention on a global scale.

However, that did not quite turn out to be the case in the official ratings that were announced on Monday. The premiere episode (per the Mirror) drew a solid 5.1 million viewers, but this was still the lowest-ever live rating for the series. For now, we attribute two different things to the rating being what it is at present:

1. Harsh competition – “Victoria” on ITV was airing in the same timeslot, and it won by a narrow margin with 5.2 million viewers when you include some +1 figures. (Both shows will likely add to their audience when the consolidated viewing figures are available.) The decision to pair these shows up against each other is more than likely hurting both of them, since we though easily one of them would be getting at least 6 million viewers otherwise.

2. The long layoff – Apparently, a year and a half between seasons is not always conducive to growth. You also run into a problem where people forget to watch, or have simply moved on to other things.

Ultimately, “Poldark” is going to be just fine given that its ratings still fall within the “hit drama” category, and it has already been renewed for a third season to boot. Therefore, you can watch the remainder of this season with confidence.