‘The Idol’ Debut Was No ‘Succession’ Finale, but Was It a Success?
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Sunday night’s viewership of “The Idol” was nothing to idolize — but it’s a start. A start to what, exactly? Only time will tell.
The first of five episodes for the Sam Levinson series starring The Weeknd and Lily Rose-Depp drew 913,000 viewers across linear (HBO) and streaming (Max), per the research team at those very platforms. That’s not a lot, though “The Idol” did have to contend with Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Speaking of the NBA, “The Idol” premiere came in a bit higher than the debut of HBO’s 2022 dramedy “Winning Time” (901,000 viewers).
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In a note sent to IndieWire, an HBO/Max spokesperson was quick to point out that, these days, only about 10-20 percent of per-episode viewership of their Sunday series actually happens on Night 1. Case in point: “Winning Time” episodes ended up averaging 1.2 million viewers each Sunday, but with HBO’s unique (and yes, convenient) approach to measuring delayed viewing, those episodes each brought in 6 million viewers by the end of Season 1. More on that opportunistic — but not unfair — computation below.
In 2021, a then-unknown (and then-limited) series “The White Lotus” Season 1 bowed to 944,000 viewers. That season, new episodes averaged 1.1 million viewers on Sunday, a number that soared to 9.3 million with what HBO calls its “average episodic audience.”
Phenomenons are often born on demand. But then there is “The Last of Us,” which regularly drew 8 million sets of eyeballs to HBO and HBO Max (as it was then known) each Sunday. There are hits, and then there are smash hits.
We’ll get (and share) delayed-viewing statistics on “The Idol” as the season goes on.
Last Sunday, May 28, marked the series finales for HBO Sunday series “Succession” and “Barry.” It also marked the middle day of Memorial Day Weekend, which can slow down viewership.
The “Succession” finale drew 2.928 million viewers — a new series record — that evening. “Barry” drew 700,000 viewers; it was delayed 30 minutes due to the lengthy “Succession” conclusion. “The Idol” is now in the regular “Succession” time slot.
Per HBO’s “average episodic audience” data, “Succession” episodes went on to average 8.7 million viewers apiece in Season 4. The same statistic for “Barry” brought each final-season episode up to 3.4 million viewers.
As promised, here’s how those giant jumps work: HBO and Max tally each episode’s delayed viewing from premiere night through the duration of the season. So for “Succession” Episode 401, which debuted on March 26 on HBO and Max, “average episodic audience” counts more than two months of viewership in its overall figure.
“The Idol” does not (yet, at least) have the fanbase or the critical adoration built up by four excellent and Emmy-hogging seasons of “Succession.” The miniseries got plenty of press attention from the long and messy lead-up to finally coming out, and the provocative material that made it on camera was arguably eclipsed by all the drama that took place behind the scenes.
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