‘The Idol’ Episode 2 Viewership Dips But Premiere Audience Outpaces ‘The White Lotus’ & ‘Euphoria’

The buzz surrounding HBO’s controversial new series The Idol might just be working to its benefit.

Episode 2 aired on Sunday night, drawing about 800,000 total viewers across Max and linear HBO telecasts. That’s a slight dip from last week’s premiere audience of 913,000. According to HBO, viewing held steady on Max and the dip in viewers came via linear.

More from Deadline

• Tony Awards Viewership Up 2% Versus 2022 With Streaming Audience Record

• 'Barry's Henry Winkler On The Moment Gene Cousineau Snapped, Prison Theater, His "Dreaded Fear" Of AI And Takeaways From The WGA Strike: "America Has Literally Eaten Itself" - Deadline FYC House + HBO Max

• 'The Idol' Creator Sam Levinson & Star Lily-Rose Depp On Jocelyn's "Self Sabotage" In Episode 2

That makes sense, considering the series is likely targeting a younger demographic than the typical linear television viewer. Nielsen reports that The Idol viewers on Max are tracking 21 years younger than viewers via the HBO channel, a wider disparity than the typical HBO drama.

As predicted, viewing for the premiere episode has significantly increased since the episode aired. It has now surpassed 3.6M viewers in its first week on the service, which HBO says outpaces the series premieres for both The White Lotus (3M in 2021) and Euphoria (3.3M in 2019) in the same time period.

By the end of Season 1, the average episodic audience was 6.6M for Euphoria. As for The White Lotus, Season 1 episodes grew to about 9.3M viewers.

Co-created by Levinson, Tesfaye and Reza Fahim, in The Idol, after a nervous breakdown derailed Jocelyn’s (Depp) last tour, she’s determined to claim her rightful status as the greatest and sexiest pop star in America. Her passions are reignited by Tedros (Tesfaye), a nightclub impresario with a sordid past. Will her romantic awakening take her to glorious new heights or the deepest and darkest depths of her soul?

Troye Sivan also stars along with Dan Levy, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Eli Roth, Hari Nef, Jane Adams, Jennie Ruby Jane, Mike Dean, Moses Sumney, Rachel Sennott, Ramsey, Suzanna Son and Hank Azaria.

Levinson, Tesfaye and Fahim executive produce with Kevin Turen, Ashley Levinson, Joseph Epstein, Aaron L. Gilbert for Bron, and Sara E. White. Levinson also directs. The series is produced in partnership with A24.

Best of Deadline

• TV Shows Affected By WGA Strike: 'Daredevil: Born Again', 'Etoile', 'Zero Day', 'Hysteria!', & More - Updated List

• 2023 Premiere Dates For New & Returning Series On Broadcast, Cable & Streaming

• 2023-24 Awards Season Calendar - Dates For Oscars, Emmys, Major Film Festivals, Guilds & More

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.