An ocean of hype ahead of the Season 2 premiere of “Westworld” didn’t really move the ratings needle for the show Sunday night.
The show returned to an audience of 2.06 million viewers, up slightly from 1.96 million for its series premiere in October 2016. An encore of the premiere and early streaming figures from HBO Go and HBO Now put the total “Westworld” audience for Sunday night at 3 million, off a bit from 3.3 million for the series premiere. In adults 18-49, it scored a 0.9, up from 0.8 for the series opener.
Night-of numbers for HBO (and other premium cable outlets) usually represent just a fraction of a show’s eventual audience: “Westworld” ballooned to more than 12 million multiplatform viewers per episode in its first season.
TNT had Sunday’s top show with its Cavaliers-Pacers NBA playoff telecast (2.6 in 18-49, 6.07 million viewers). “Fear the Walking Dead” (1.1) predictably fell off without “The Walking Dead” as a lead-in but is a little ahead of its second episode last season (1.0). “Into the Badlands” premiered to a 0.5 on AMC, on par with where it ended last season.
The “Westworld” lead-in gave a bit of a bump to “Silicon Valley,” which improved a tenth to 0.4. “Homeland” was steady in adults 18-49 at 0.3 but had its biggest total audience of the season with 1.39 million viewers.
Top 25 original cable shows among adults 18-49 for Sunday, April 22, 2018
| Show | Net | Time | Total viewers (000s) | 18-49 rating |
| NBA PLAYOFFS | TNT | 8:49 PM | 6,069 | 2.6 |
| NBA PLAYOFFS | TNT | 6:08 PM | 3,165 | 1.3 |
| INSIDE THE NBA PLAYOFFS | TNT | 11:23 PM | 2,386 | 1.1 |
| FEAR THE WALKING DEAD | AMC | 9:00 PM | 3,066 | 1.1 |
| REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ATLANTA | BRAVO | 8:00 PM | 2,319 | 0.9 |
| WESTWORLD | HBO | 9:05 PM | 2,055 | 0.9 |
| MIKE TYSON MYSTERIES | ADULT SWIM | 11:30 PM | 1,002 | 0.5 |
| INTO THE BADLANDS | AMC | 10:02 PM | 1,349 | 0.5 |
| NAKED AND AFRAID | DISCOVERY | 9:00 PM | 1,476 | 0.4 |
| LAST WEEK TONIGHT | HBO | 11:18 PM | 1,188 | 0.4 |
| REAL HOUSEWIVES OF POTOMAC | BRAVO | 10:00 PM | 1,152 | 0.4 |
| SILICON VALLEY | HBO | 10:16 PM | 858 | 0.4 |
| BALLMASTRZ: 9009 | ADULT SWIM | 12:00 AM | 729 | 0.4 |
| WORST COOKS IN AMERICA | FOOD | 9:00 PM | 1,329 | 0.4 |
| DISAPPEARED | ID | 9:00 PM | 1,306 | 0.4 |
| GUY’S GROCERY GAMES | FOOD | 8:00 PM | 1,062 | 0.3 |
| HOMELAND | SHOWTIME | 9:07 PM | 1,387 | 0.3 |
| SOUTHERN CHARM NEW ORLEANS | BRAVO | 9:00 PM | 954 | 0.3 |
| BAR RESCUE | PARAMOUNT | 10:00 PM | 783 | 0.3 |
| MEXICO LIFE | HGTV | 10:00 PM | 1,657 | 0.3 |
| BALLMASTRZ: 9009 | ADULT SWIM | 12:15 AM | 651 | 0.3 |
| SPORTSCENTER | ESPN | 10:00 AM | 742 | 0.3 |
| WHEN CALLS THE HEART | HALLMARK | 9:00 PM | 2,570 | 0.3 |
| CARIBBEAN LIFE | HGTV | 9:30 PM | 1,616 | 0.3 |
| MLB SUNDAY NIGHT | ESPN | 8:00 PM | 1,276 | 0.3 |
Source: The Nielsen Company.
