On first count, some 1.8 million viewers took to the series premiere of Manhattan on Sunday night.
A little over half of that total, 904,000, came during the drama's first airing on WGN America, according to Nielsen data, with the balance tallied via a pair of encores on the service, plus overnight numbers from 14 metered market Tribune stations. The scripted drama from Tribune, Lionsgate and Skydance aired on all 33 Tribune stations, but the other 19 don’t receive daily numbers.
The Manhattan telecast, running 70 minutes with commercials on WGN America, pulled in 331,000 adults 25 to 54 and 233,000 persons 18 to 49, while more than trebling the network's season-to date average of 300,000 viewers on Sundays in the 9 p.m. hour
The premiere telecast also ranks as WGN America’s second-highest performance year-to-date, trailing the 1.5 million for the April bow of original drama Salem, which drew 2.3 million across four plays on its opening night.
All told, Manhattan mustered 1.4 million viewers on WGN America, including 448,000 adults 25 to 54 and 326,000 of the 18-to-49 set over three combined airings.
WGN America reaches 61.7% of the U.S. and is available in 71.4 million homes; it only has a single feed, meaning Manhattan debuted at 6 p.m. (PT) on West Coast.
Following Manhattan's bow, Hulu announced Monday that it had acquired the subscription video on demand rights to the drama, centering on the race to create the world’s first atom bomb.
