TV Ratings: BREAKING BAD, season 4 (AMC)

The fourth season premiere of Breaking Bad broke a record for the AMC show, with a total of 2.6 million people tuning in for the tense "Box Cutter". This includes 1.5m people in the lucrative 18-49 demographic, and is a massive 30% increase on the third season premiere's numbers. This suggests the show is catching on with more people, thanks to extremely positive word-of-mouth. Breaking Bad is actually one of very few shows that's become more popular with each passing season, too.

TV Ratings: TORCHWOOD: MIRACLE DAY (BBC1)

The UK premiere of Torchwood: Miracle Day lured 4.83m viewers to BBC1 at 9pm last night, down 1m on the premiere of Children Of Earth in 2009. Of course, Children was a world premiere of that particular miniseries, whereas Miracle has been controversially delayed in reaching the UK after Starz aired it in the US last Friday. So it's more than likely the 1m drop-off is partly because of torrent downloads this past week, and the fact this isn't being stripped across the whole week (so the need to watch episode 1 on the day of transmission, or risk falling behind, isn't so strong.)

Over in the US last Friday, Miracle Day's world premiere attracted 819,000 viewers for Starz at 10pm and 687,000 for the 11pm repeat, resulting in a total of 1.51 million viewers. This a fraction below the premiere of Camelot (1.57m), a show that Starz cancelled after one season—but not purely because of ratings and demographics, so this doesn't mean Miracle Day's doomed, too. Anything in the 1.5m range is a big hit for a premium cable channel like Starz.

Incidentally, Channel 4's The Killing was direct competition for Torchwood in the UK last night, and the crime drama remake dropped to 1.5m viewers—losing 670,000 viewers from its two-part premiere. Some of the loss may be attributed to people giving Torchwood preference, with 311k watching The Killing an hour later on Channel 4+1. So the loss of audience for the show probably isn't that bad, when you factor in the presence of a big Thursday night rival.

TV Ratings: THE KILLING (Channel 4)

The US remake of Danish hit The Killing began its UK run on Channel 4 last night at 9pm, with a double-bill that attracted an average of 2.19 million viewers (10.3% of the audience). 231,000 additional viewers were watching on Channel 4+1 from 10pm.

The response to The Killing in the UK is going to be very interesting, seeing as BBC4 broadcast the original show earlier this year. More Brits will be able to compare and contrast than Americans. Of course, the vast majority of people watching this US remake won't have seen the original, but some will also have heard about the American discontent over the season finale. Will any of that impact the show? I don't think so. I think we oversell the power of social media these days, as most "normal" viewers won't be aware of how this remake slowly lost its critical acclaim. My own opinion is well-known here: the show has a fantastic start, a handful of entertaining episodes to follow, but then it runs around in circles for six hours, before ending on an infuriating note.

What do you think? Did you watch The Killing on Channel 4? Have you seen original? If so, how did it measure up? Will you continue to watch this 13-part drama, based on these two episodes, or was it too depressing and relentlessly grim for you?

TV Ratings: FALLING SKIES (FX), season 1 premiere; LUTHER (BBC1), series 2 finale

TNT's post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama Falling Skies received its UK premiere last night on FX at 9pm. It managed a very promising 423,000, with an audience share of 1.3% over its hour. This is way down on FX's ratings for The Walking Dead's launch last year (736k), but Skies received nowhere near the same level of promotion and marketing.

Simultaneously on BBC One, gritty crime thriller Luther came to a conclusion with its fourth episode, managing to entice a year overnight high of 5.74m (24.8% of the audience). It comfortably beat its terrestrial competition, which included ITV1's Sextuplets: The Little Lambs (3.04m) and Channel 4's new series of Undercover Boss (2.59m).

TV Ratings: GAME OF THRONES, season 1 finale (Sky Atlantic & HBO)

The finale of HBO's Game Of Thrones was a ratings winner for Sky Atlantic on Monday night at 9pm, as the medieval fantasy's last episode averaged 667,000 viewers over the hour. This is just below its premiere high of 743,000.

Over in the US, the finale lured a series high of 3 million on Sunday night for HBO (the previous high being 2.72m for episode 8), boosted to 3.9 if you count a repeat. The show has largely maintained around 2.4 million viewers each week. The overall performance of Game Of Thrones has been below HBO's other new drama Boardwalk Empire (which regularly had over 3 million viewers), but it obviously has a narrower appeal than a lavish period gangster drama.

A special overview of Game Of Thrones' first season will be posted here soon, as so many people e-mailed or tweeted me to ask why I haven't been reviewing it every week. Stay tuned.

TV Ratings: THE KENNEDYS (BBC2)

It debuted in the UK on The History Channel some time ago, but controversial US miniseries The Kennedys finally arrived on terrestrial TV last night. BBC2's double-bill from 9 till 10.30pm attracted an impressive average of 2.6 million over its two episodes (2.47m for 9pm, 2.21m for 9.45pm). The BBC HD simulcast also lured 171,000 and 152,000 viewers.

It was a decent showing for a drama that's been heavily criticized (people clearly wanted to see for themselves), but it couldn't defeat a repeat of Miranda on BBC1 (3.51m), and the Lady Gaga special of ITV1's Paul O'Grady (3.38m). But it did entice more viewers than Channel 4's panel show hour of 8 Out Of 10 Cats (1.49m) and King Of... (1.2m), together with Channel 5's terrestrial premiere of US crime drama Castle (1.69m).

TV Ratings: LUTHER, series 2 premiere (BBC1)

BBC1's gritty crime drama Luther returned for a four-part second series last night (reviewed here), attracting an impressive 5.6 million viewers (25.2% of the audience), which matched its premiere's numbers from last summer.

This is particularly good because Luther's first series lost viewers over its six-week run, so perhaps this is a sign audiences have changed their mind about the show? Or are people just willing to give it a second chance? It probably didn't hurt that there was no real competition in the 9pm hour, with Luther easily winning its timeslot against ITV1's Baby Hospital (2.62m), BBC2's The Country House Revealed (1.42m), Channel 4's The Fairy Jobmother (1.26m), and Channel 5's CSI (908k).

Considering the premiere's effective shock-ending, I expect next week's episode to retain the majority of those 5.6m viewers. Ratings tend to slip after much-publicized premiere, but it'll be interesting to see what happens. The number may stabilize, if those catching up on iPlayer this week are inspired to watch episode 2 live next Tuesday. It's not like there are adverts to escape, is it.

If Luther maintains this level of ratings success, I suspect the BBC will soon be asking Idris Elba to return for a third series—provided he can fit it into his busy schedule! The actor's currently in contention to star in Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim movie, amongst other things. It helps that, by all accounts, Elba seems to like mixing American work with British, so I hope he'll make himself available. I'd be happy with occasional feature-length specials, if all else fails.

TV Ratings: GLEE, season 2 finale (E4)

"... start spreading the news, they're leaving E4..."

Glee's second season concluded on E4 last night, achieving an impressive 1.24 million in the ratings (5.1% of the audience). That's actually down 300,000 on season 1's finale, although 391,000 watched the episode on E4+1—so maybe that's where the missing 300k went?

The musical comedy-drama continued to be one of E4's best performing shows this year, regularly breaking through the 1m barrier, making it one of the most popular digital channel shows.

Of course, Glee's finale is a bittersweet swansong for E4, now that Sky have bought the rights to season 3. Sky plan to show new episodes on Sky1 just days after their US premiere on Fox—scheduling E4 had success with in the second-half of season 1, before reverting back to the typical four-month gap for season 2.

It's a gap that shortens over time (as US TV have regular hiatuses, allowing E4 to slowly catch-up), but is still seen as a problem for modern audiences who have the option to download torrents. It doesn't seem to have dented the audience too badly in this case (do we overestimate how many people download shows like Glee?), but you do have to wonder if a next-day UK premiere would have boosted ratings even higher.

TV Ratings: 'Doctor Who' (BBC America)

Alex Kingston as River Song in DOCTOR WHO

The ratings for Doctor Who's series 6 premiere on BBC America are in! "The Impossible Astronaut" is confirmed as the cable channel's highest-rated show ever. 1.28m people tuned into the episode on Saturday evening, which was itself set in America. That's an improvement of 71,000 viewers over series 5's premiere last year.

Naturally, broadcasting the episode the same day as the UK helped matters (by curbing online piracy), but it's perhaps surprising only an extra 71,000 people were added to last year's figures. Maybe the BBC have overestimated the number of Americans willing to download the series online? I wonder if the BBC were imagining there were hundreds of thousands of American fans who wouldn't ordinarily wait for BBC America's broadcast, when in fact most probably do wait for it to be televised. Or download in addition to watching it on US television?

Any thoughts, American readers?

TV Ratings: 'Doctor Who' (BBC1)

Saturday's series 6 premiere of Doctor Who attracted 6.5 million viewers at 6pm, the show's earliest timeslot to date. That's down 1.2m viewers from series 5's launch, but obviously there was more hoopla about Who's return with brand new actors last spring. The atypically hot Easter weekend also played a part, with many people likely to have deferred the live broadcast with the intention of catching a repeat or watching the BBC iPlayer. Doctor Who was still the second most-watched show that evening, beaten only by Britain's Got Talent on ITV1. Who's consolidated viewing figures are also likely to push the overall rating up to 8.5m or more.

This was a successful return, dampened by the weather and a timeslot that arguably clashed with some barbecues and outdoor pursuits. It'll be interesting to see what next weekend's ratings are, seeing as it's the second of a two-part premiere (the first for nu-Who.) Hopefully those who missed its return will have caught up by 30 April, so the next episode makes sense to them.

What are your thoughts on the ratings and timeslot? Did you watch live, or wait for a repeat on BBC3? Maybe you chose to iPlayer the episode the next day? Have you yet to see it, owing to the weather? Maybe you took an Easter break, so that's why you haven't got around to it yet? Or were you sat comfortably on your sofa come 6pm, eager to watch the latest adventure?

TV Ratings: 'Game Of Thrones' (HBO & Sky Atlantic)

After years in development and months of hype, HBO's long-awaited medieval fantasy drama Game Of Thrones made its premiere on Sunday night in the US, attracting 2.2m viewers. Considering the show's expense and lavish marketing drive, that's disappointing but not disastrous. It's double what Mildred Pierce managed recently, but 54% lower than Boardwalk Empire's premiere (4.8m) and worse than any Empire episode from last year. Its performance is comparable to what True Blood averaged over season 1, so it'll potentially grow in popularity like that vampire drama did. Plus, if you factor in Thrones' second repeat (1.2m) and third repeat (800k), that's a very healthy 4.2m people watching the first episode within 48-hours... but will they be back for episode 2 next Sunday?

Here in the UK, Thrones did much better for Sky Atlantic. The show's Monday night premiere drew an impressive average of 743,000 viewers (compared to Empire's debut of 438,000), and that peaked at 823,000. This makes Thrones the fledgling channel's biggest hit to date, and the figure will probably rise by 50% when Sky+ viewing is taken into account.

In the US, people are saying Boardwalk performed better because of Martin Scorsese and Steve Buscemi's involvement, whereas Thrones had nothing similar to lean on. That sounds ridiculous to me, and certainly wasn't the case in the UK -- where Thrones comfortably wiped the floor with Empire's debut.

Personally, I think two things went haywire with Game Of Thrones in the US. Firstly, it's a tough show to encapsulate in a sentence. If anyone asks you what Thrones is about, or why they should watch it, can you give them a satisfying, simple answer? Secondly, the US hype-machine went into overdrive and, frankly, got up people's noses. As a keen Twitterer, even I was exhausted and bored by the number of US critics who were posting Thrones interviews, previews, handy guides, advanced reviews, pre-air reviews, and now post-air reviews with ratings analysis.

Critics certainly have a role to play in championing TV shows, but maybe they should exercise restraint with a huge show like Thrones that's already got the might of HBO behind it? The sheer onslaught of Thrones-related blogs over the past few months has been actively annoying, and even I felt myself getting tired and bored with Thrones before it had even aired!

It possibly didn't help that Thrones is debuting in the spring, now the weather's improved and people are less inclined to be watching TV on a warm evening. I'm pretty sure it would have done better if it debuted in the autumn/winter; a season that would also compliment the show's aesthetic and atmosphere.

What do you think? Any theories on why Thrones wasn't the colossal success HBO wanted, and why it did much better in the UK? Do you think it'll rise to 4m+ viewers over time, or will there be a sharp drop-off next weekend?

TV Ratings: 'Campus' (Channel 4)

The brand new university-set comedy Campus began on Monday night at 10pm over on Channel 4, but it could only muster 610,000 viewers in a timeslot that averages 1.8 million. That's very worrying, really. Reviews, including my own, were generally negative, so I don't think word-of-mouth's going to play much of a role. But I intend to keep watching -- if only because episode 1 was an extension of the 2009 pilot, so perhaps the remaining five episodes will do a better job justifying that indulgent 70-minute runtime?

TV Ratings: 'The Borgias' (Showtime), 'Camelot' (Starz), 'The Kennedys' (ReelzChannel) & 'The Killing' (AMC)

Four high-profile US cable shows debuted over the weekend, and all did very well in the ratings. Camelot, Starz's take on the Arthurian legend, attracted 1.1 million viewers (equaling the record set by Spartacus: Gods Of The Arena recently), despite the first episode being a repeat of a preview that aired a month ago; AMC's remake of The Killing lured 2.7 million people to its two-part premiere, the network's second-highest debut behind The Walking Dead; Showtime's historical epic The Borgias appealed to 1.5 million people, making it their most successful drama premiere in seven years; and controversial miniseries The Kennedys gave ReelzChannel a record-breaking 1.9 million viewers. I wonder if those ratings will stay strong next weekend...

In other words: it was a tremendous weekend for US cable television. Did you watch those shows? If so, which was your favourite? My order, best to worst, would be: The Killing, The Borgias, Camelot, The Kennedys. Do you agree?

TV Ratings: 'Bored To Death', Sky Atlantic

HBO's comedy-drama Bored To Death premiered on Sky Atlantic on Monday at 10.15pm, but could only manage a staggeringly awful 50,600 viewers. I mean, that's just abysmal. It doesn't help that Bored To Death is now two years old (plenty of time for its natural audience to seek it out elsewhere), and it wasn't marketed very strongly, but it goes to show what kind of causal audience SkyA attracts after 10pm. I don't dare to imagine what future ratings will be like, considering Bored To Death's pilot is its worst episode and has probably ensured most of that 50k don't come back.

Is Sky Atlantic having problems because it's not the kind of channel viewers will drift to, in the hope of finding something to watch? Its schedule doesn't contain much "bubblegum TV" you can idly chew on, as the emphasis is on dramas that require your full attention, patience and commitment. Maybe SkyA is always going to struggle because of its position in the marketplace, beyond the seriously expensive HBO shows Sky will throw some marketing muscle behind (like Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire and Game Of Thrones.)

While I'm here, Spartacus: Gods Of The Arena remained a strong performer for Sky1, with 409,900 viewers tuning in for episode 2. That's a slight drop from the 482k who watched the premiere, but nothing to get concerned about.

TV Ratings: 'Spartacus: Gods Of The Arena', Sky1

The six-part prequel to Spartacus: Blood & Sand made its UK debut last night (Sky1, 10pm), attracting a healthy average of 482,000 viewers. Spartacus: Gods Of The Arena was expected to air on Bravo (where Blood & Sand's premiere drew 365,000 viewers last summer), but following Sky's buyout and closure of Bravo Spartacus was inherited by Sky1 (along with Hawaii Five-0.)

On a related note, I've heard a rumour that Sky are close to agreeing to let Virgin Media carry Sky Atlantic, which would bring the UK's new "home of HBO" to an additional 3 million homes. There's been no official word on this, but hopefully it's true.

TV Ratings: 'Twenty Twelve', BBC Four

The brand new docuspoof Twenty Twelve, about the preparations for London's 2012 Olympic Games, attracted a fairly disappointing 341,000 viewers on Monday at 10pm, with an extra 8,000 watching the BBC HD repeat immediately after. Why no high-def simulcast, as happened with Episodes? It really is ridiculous. On the upside, Twenty Twelve still managed to beat the final episode of Sky Living's supernatural drama Bedlam, which ended with 257,000 viewers in the 10pm hour.

Considering BBC4's hardly a beacon for great comedy (now Charlie Brooker's gone mainstream), I don't think 341k is too shabby for a show that wasn't widely promoted. Hopefully more people will discover it on iPlayer this week and word-of-mouth will spread, because it was a promising start.

Incidentally, here's an interesting article about how Twenty Twelve's creator John Morton allegedly stole the concept from Australian comedy The Games. It certainly sounds like compelling evidence.

TV Ratings: 'Monroe', ITV1

As I mentioned in my review yesterday, ITV1's Monroe made a positive start on Thursday night at 9pm. The brand new medical drama starring James Nesbitt attracted 5.9m viewers, with an additional 143,000 tuning in an hour later on ITV1+1. It comfortably beat BBC1's Comic Relief: Famous & In The Slums (3.68m), Channel 4's Love Thy Neighbour (1.02m), and BBC2's The British At Work (1.65m). As a whole, ITV won the primetime battle on Thursday with 23.9% of the audience, ahead of BBC1's 18.3%.

TV Ratings: 'Friday Night Dinner', Channel 4

Great news for Channel 4, who scored a weekend hit with their new sitcom Friday Night Dinner. The comedy, about two twentysomething brothers who have a meal with their parents every Friday, attracted 2.2 million viewers on Friday night at 10pm. That's the best debut for a new comedy since Max & Paddy's Road To Nowhere in 2004. Let's see how many tune in for episode 2 this week...

TV Ratings: 'Mad Dogs', Sky1

Sky1's new drama Mad Dogs got off to a great start on Thursday night at 9pm, with 960,000 viewers tuning in for Part One. My guess is that the star-power of the four leads (Philip Glenister, John Simm, Max Beesley, Ben Chaplin) was too much to resist, particularly on an evening that's hardly flowing with TV gems. There was also another effective marketing campaign.

I can't imagine many of that 960k not watching Part Two next week, given this opener's stunning climax that almost demands you watch more. I'm just glad Sky are channelling some of their cash into an original homegrown series, given all the emphasis that's been placed on Sky's US acquisitions this year. Incidentally, while Mad Dogs was clearly a hit with audiences, I was surprised by the lack of comments on my review. Did nobody here care?

TV Ratings: 'Outcasts', BBC1

BBC1's brand new sci-fi drama Outcasts debuted on Monday with a decent 4.45 million viewers at 9pm (17.9% of the audience for that hour), beating ITV1's weight-loss series The Biggest Loser, Channel 4's One Born Every Minute (2.6m), Channel 5's new documentary Royal Navy Caribbean Patrol (2m) and BBC2's Horizon: How to Survive A Car Crash (1.5m).

Outcast's second episode lost 1.13m viewers last night at 9pm, down to 3.32m (13% share). Is the show on a downward spiral already, or will the more positive reaction to episode 2 encourage people to catchup before episode 3 next Monday?