Outlander season 5 premiere ratings — with caveats aplenty

There is a considerable amount to talk about when it comes to the Outlander season 5 premiere ratings, with the central question being this — why in the world is Starz just not releasing some of their DVR/streaming numbers with greater regularity?

The reason that we bring this up is rather simple — viewers are going to look at the live+same-day numbers and think it’s bad news, when in reality, it’s just a tony percentage of the overall viewership. These are just the people who watched the show on Starz in the United States, and it does not include anyone who caught the show early on the app.

Without further ado, let’s get to it — the premiere episode generated 815,000 live viewers, some of the lowest live-viewer totals since the premiere of the series (back when it aired on Saturdays). Yet, to ring a panic alarm on this is very misleading. The Outlander season 5 premiere was made available on the Starz app this past Friday, meaning that it was open to streaming more than two days prior to the premiere episode actually airing. What this means, effectively, is that there was almost no reason for a lot of internet-user viewers to wait. We know that not everyone has high-speed internet and some prefer to watch on TV, but otherwise, the vast majority of people watched in advance.

This is why we wish Starz released more comprehensive viewer figures, since it’s easy to look at the 815,000 and think it’s a cause for concern. We think that there are two different things that Starz is looking at more than any other to determine ratings: The viewership across all streaming platforms, and then at the same time the subscriptions that are coming in. If the same number of people are subscribing as in years past, that is all the incentive Starz needs to find a way to keep the show going. We’re sure that they are already contemplating ideas for a season 7 — they’d need to be, since the writers would need to figure out in advance whether or not season 6 is meant to be the last. (Remember, Outlander already has a season 6 renewal at Starz.)

What do you think about the premiere ratings for Outlander season 5?

Be sure to share right now in the comments! Also, remember to stick around to get some more news when it comes to the series.

Photo: Starz