A&E Networks’ simulcast of Bonnie & Clyde shot up almost 10 million viewers on Sunday night for the first part of the miniseries.
Starring Holliday Grainder and Emile Hirsch as Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow as the Public Enemy’s celebrity couple, Bonnie & Clydeaveraged 9.8 million across History, Lifetime and A&E from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8, according to Nielsen data. Included in that body count were 4.2 million adults 25 to 54.
Outside of History’s Hatfields & McCoys and The Bible, the Bonnie & Clyde simulcast is cable’s biggest miniseries opening among total viewers since AMC’s Broken Trail back in 2006.
Breaking the networks down, History, the programming group’s top-ranked service, garnered the most viewers, averaging 3.7 million.
That was 600,000 more than women’s aimed- Lifetime, the original home for the miniseries, which also featured Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy-winner Holly Hunter, and Academy Award-winner and multiple Golden Globe and Emmy nominee William Hurt, as well as Sarah Hyland, Lane Garrison, Elizabeth Reaser, Austin Hebert and Dale Dickey.
For its part, A&E averaged 3 million watchers for the part of the sage, the second half of which debuts on Dec. 9 at 9 p.m.
Sports aside, Bonnie & Clyde was the most tweeted about program of the day, according to Nielsen SocialGuide, while it also ranked number one in Google Trends for Sunday, with more than 500,000 searches. It also attracted more than 420,000 visitors to A+E Networks sites and apps, per Adobe Analytics.
