Outlander Season 1, Episode 16 ratings throwback: Another unsurprising dip in the live ratings

Here’s a look back at the live ratings for the Outlander Season 1 finale

The Outlander Season 1 finale aired for the first time on this day in history. Usually, finales pull in the highest ratings of the season, but this finale saw an unsurprising dip in the live audience and demo.

The audience was a smaller dip than the demo. According to TV Series Finale, the audience dipped by 3%, taking it below the million once more. The demo dipped by another 20%, tying for the season low with the series premiere.

Keep in mind that these figures are just for the live viewing figures. They don’t count those who would have caught the episode at a later date or those who watched through the app or DVR. It also didn’t matter as the second season had already been confirmed.

Why the Outlander Season 1 finale rating tip was unsurprising

When you consider things, it isn’t really that surprising that the views dipped so much for the Outlander Season 1 finale. One thing we know is that the majority of viewers in the first season were going to be those who had read the books.

STARZ was still a fairly small network at the time. It still is when you look at the broadcast networks and streaming services. It didn’t have many originals at the time, and it was the book readers who had been excited to see the 20-year-old novel transformed onscreen.

Book fans knew the topic of the episode. They knew that Jamie would share the story of the things Black Jack Randall did to him. It was a heavy episode and one that was extremely graphic.

Since this episode, the show has taken another approach to these types of scenes. Had this episode been filmed today, the show wouldn’t have likely done it the way they did back then. Stylizing these types of scenes is now more common.

So it’s not surprising the live ratings were low. There are many fans who skip the episode (and the chapters in the book).

Outlander Season 1 throwbacks will pick back up again in August, as we start back from the beginning again. Season 2 throwbacks continue weekly to mark the anniversary of the episodes.