The opening weekend of Da Vinci’s Demons drove record viewership for a Starz original series.
Across the weekend from April 12-14, the show about the Renaissance genius as a young man garnered 2.14 million viewers, according to Nielsen live + same-day data, edging the 2.04 million who watched Camelot during its premiere weekend in 2010 on the premium channel.
Da Vinci’s Demons drew 1.04 million to the series bow at 10 p.m. on April 12 and a total of 1.3 million for its two airings on Friday night.
Da Vinci’s debut followed the farewell to the Spartacus franchise on Starz. Spartacus: War of the Damned completed its series run with some 2.7 million viewers over the weekend, including 2 million on Friday night and 1.43 million for its 9 p.m. premiere on April 12.
The Spartacus finale weekend audience topped its final season average weekend viewership of 2.4 million by 11% and beat its fourth-season premiere weekend mark of 2.5 million by 5%.
All told, network officials said 4.8 million watched live and same-day weekend airings of both Da Vinci’s Demons and Spartacus: War of the Damned, new records for Starz original series weekend performance.
