Breaking Bad returned to series highs of 2.6 million viewers and 1.5 1.4 million adults 18-49 (~a 1.1 national adults 18-49 rating) . That's up 30% in total viewers from last year's premiere which scored just under 2 million and up around 22% with adults 18-49. An impressive feat for a series in its fourth season. The wisdom of the crowds got it right again with nearly 70% predicting series high ratings.
Update: As Julia notes in the comments, other than The Walking Dead, last night's Breaking Bad was the best season premiere ever for AMC in adults 18-49. Though the season four premiere of Mad Men last summer scored more viewers (2.9 million), it only had a 0.9 adults 18-49 rating.
Update 2: Ratings notes from AMC:
Last night's premiere of AMC's Breaking Bad (season four) at 10PM is THE HIGHEST PERFORMING EPISODE OF THE SERIES TO DATE for: HH Rating, Total Viewers, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 and GREW 30% IN HH RATING VERSUS LAST YEAR'S PREMIERE.
Following are some key highlights:
- HH Rating: 1.8 HH, up 30%
- Total viewers: 2.6 million, up 32%
- Adults 18-49: 1.4 million, up 21%
- Adults 25-54: 1.4 million, up 26%- For the demos (Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54) last night's premiere of Breaking Bad is the second highest series premiere in network history behind The Walking Dead.
