The premiere of Showtime’s new Twin Peaks series drew 506,000 viewers on its linear channel. That paled next to other cable shows’ performances on Sunday. HBO’s The Leftovers drew 770,000 viewers at 9, while Silicon Valley at 10 had 844,000.
The debut had 1.1 million viewers with on demand and streaming numbers added in.
The premiere of the original Twin Peaks in 1990 had 35 million viewers, but that was a vastly different era for television.
Showtime is airing 18 episodes of the new Twin Peaks, with David Lynch directing all of them.
The network said the show generated a record number of sign-ups for its streaming service, with the single biggest day and weekend in terms of sign-ups in network history. It did not provide the number of signups.
“In the world that we live in now, offering original programming that attracts new subscribers is our primary business objective,” said David Nevins, president and CEO, Showtime Networks. “By that standard, the Twin Peaks premiere is the biggest single-night driver we’ve ever had.”
After the premiere, Showtime offered subscribers access to two more episodes, scheduled to air on the linear channel May 28, on Showtime Anytime and on demand.
Twin Peaks is written, executive produced and created by Lynch and Mark Frost and is executive produced by Sabrina S. Sutherland.
