HBO “Succession” opened its fourth and final season with a record audience of 2.3 million viewers on its first night, the Nielsen company announced on Tuesday.
This surpasses the previous peak for drama about a slanderous family of media moguls. He beat the 1.7 million who watched last season’s finale on the first night he was available, Nielsen said.
For HBO, first-night audiences are typically only a fraction of the number of people who will watch one of their shows. For example, each episode last season averaged 7.2 million viewers when delayed viewing is taken into account.
The numbers indicate that more and more people are understanding the two-time Emmy winner for Best Drama, just like it’s nearing the end. There was anticipation for the season premiere, with HBO saying there were four times as many viewers as previous “Succession” episodes on HBO Max last week compared to the previous week.
The first episode showed just how tense things are between family patriarch Logan Roy and three of his four children, critic Brian Lowry wrote for CNN.
“There was a lot going on in this season’s opener, but the primary function of the premiere was to set the stage for the battles and challenges to come,” Lowry wrote.
