Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Twin Peaks season 3 premiere ratings shockingly low

The return of David Lynch's cult TV show lingered behind both HBO's The Leftovers and Starz's American Gods

Clarisse Loughrey
Wednesday 24 May 2017 04:50 EDT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

When Twin Peaks first aired on television screens, it was an unexpected hit with viewers and has since developed into something of a cult sensation.

It would be entirely expected, then, that the show's return in 2017 would spark a similar frenzy; however, the ratings for the season premiere seem to speak otherwise.

Deadline reports that only 506,000 viewers in the US tuned in to the watch the two-hour, two-episode premiere of season 3.

That set it behind both of its direct Sunday night competitors, HBO's The Leftovers and Starz's American Gods; at 770,000 and 631,000 viewers respectively, even though both are midway through their seasons.

However, it's not too much a cause for concern, and perhaps far more an indication of how viewers choose to consume this kind of work.

Perhaps because it's near impossible to really spoil anything produced by David Lynch, it looks as if the weight of viewership fell on Showtime's on-demand services, with Deadline also reporting the network saw the single biggest day and weekend of signups ever for its streaming service, Showtime Anytime and Showtime On Demand.

"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 in a statement. "By that standard, the Twin Peaks premiere is the biggest single-night driver we’ve ever had."

Twin Peaks: It Is Happening Again trailer

Twin Peaks airs 2am on Mondays on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV with the Entertainment Pass, in a simulcast with the USTwin Peaks airs 2am on Mondays on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV with the Entertainment Pass, in a simulcast with the US airing on Showtime. The episode will then be shown again at 9pm on the following day. You can catch up now on season one and two via Sky Box Sets and NOW TV.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in