Outlander turns 5: A look back at the ratings for the series premiere

Outlander first premiered on Aug. 9, 2014. To mark the event, I’m looking back at the ratings for the series premiere and how far the show has come.

Outlander has come a long way. On this day in history, Sassenachs got to see the series for the very first time. It officially debuted on Aug. 9, 2014.

And now look at how far we’ve come. To mark the event, Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan talked about what they remembered from the first day on set, and one of the remarks as the viewer turnout. They’d been filming for months in their own bubble and finally fans tuned in to see the show.

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But what exactly did those live ratings look like? TV Series Finale still has the ratings for the very first season, based on the Live + Same Day.

What’s worth noting before we get into the numbers is that this is just live viewers on the day of the premiere. This doesn’t include anyone who watched it directly through the STARZ app. It’s only those who watched through the STARZ channel on their TV. Nielsen ratings can’t count the views on the STARZ app because STARZ doesn’t release that information (like Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime and more).

These figures are also only a sign of the U.S. viewers. They don’t account for the international viewers. And we all know that there were thousands highly anticipating this series!

So, what did the views look like? A total of 0.721 million people tuned in, with a demo rating of 0.19. The demo is the key figure for those networks that rely on advertising, and STARZ doesn’t rely on that. The premium cable network relies on subscribers.

If you compare the series premiere ratings to the likes of those on CBS, ABC, and even The CW, the ratings are going to look back. They really weren’t. These figures were a success for the network, so much so that STARZ renewed Outlander for Season 2 after just the first episode. It’s a piece of history that’s easily overlooked.

There were rumors that the second season was canceled, but those certainly didn’t hold true. In fact, the rumors started due to the decision to split the first season into two halves.

Each week on the anniversary of the Outlander Season 1 episodes, I’ll bring another look at the ratings. We’ll get a chance to see just how far the series has come.

What did you think of Outlander when it first premiered? Did you realize the show was renewed straight after the series premiere? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Outlander is available in full on STARZ.