From a media release:
#HolyDoodle! The multi-channel Season 3 premiere event of Space Canadian original series ORPHAN BLACK on April 18 drew a combined audience of 697,000 viewers to Space, CTV, Bravo, and MTV, making it the most-watched episode of the series ever, final audience data from Numeris confirms. The combined premiere reached 1.9 million viewers. ORPHAN BLACK was also the #1 entertainment program of the day on English Canadian television in the key A25-54 and A18-49 demos. Numeris also confirms that 261,000 viewers tuned in to Space’s broadcast, making Space the #1 specialty network in its Saturday 9 p.m. ET timeslot.
Immediately following the Season 3 premiere of ORPHAN BLACK, the series premiere of Space insider program INNERSPACE: AFTER THE BLACK also made waves with 115,000 viewers tuning in to the all-new after-show. ORPHAN BLACK airs Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET, exclusively on Space. For those yet to get caught up on ORPHAN BLACK,Seasons 1 and 2 are available now on CraveTVTM.
On the next episode of ORPHAN BLACK, “Formalized, Complex, and Costlyâ€Â (Saturday, May 2 at 9 p.m. ET), Leda and Castor are both on the hunt for original clone DNA. Mark and Gracie pursue new leads to find the samples that might set them free, while Art and Sarah reunite to track them down. Meanwhile, Cosima and Scott try to learn more about Castor’s biology, and Alison’s new money-making venture is going gangbusters. A shocking revelation about the Castor-Leda connection leaves the sisters reeling, just before Sarah witnesses a deadly Prolethean-Castor face-off. For a sneak peek at next week’s episode, click here.
On the next episode of INNERSPACE: AFTER THE BLACK (Saturday, May 2 at 10 p.m. ET), INNERSPACE hosts Ajay Fry and Morgan Hoffman sit down with ORPHAN BLACK co-creators, writer Graeme Manson and director John Fawcett, to dissect the events that transpired in the third episode of Season 3, and to chat about what viewers can expect from the remainder of the season. In the following week’s episode, Ajay and Morgan get an insider look at how multiple clone scenes are made as they chat with clone doubles Kathryn Alexandre and Nick Abraham.
ORPHAN BLACK is executive produced by Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier (BEING ERICA, X COMPANY), Graeme Manson (Cube, FLASHPOINT), and John Fawcett (SPARTACUS, Ginger Snaps). The series is co-created by Manson and Fawcett, with Manson also serving as writer and Fawcett as director. BBC Worldwide distributes the series internationally, reaching more than 170 countries.
ORPHAN BLACK is produced by Temple Street Productions in association with Space and BBC America. Production Executive is Gosia Kamela. Tom Hastings is Director, Drama, Independent Production, Bell Media. Corrie Coe is Senior Vice-President, Independent Production, Bell Media. Tracey Pearce is Senior Vice-President, Specialty and Pay. Phil King is President, CTV, Sports, and Entertainment Programming.
Not the best numbers for being on that many channels but considering that it was a third season premiere of a highly serialized show, I guess the numbers are good enough. I don’t think it was the best episode to put forward to new viewers. I watched every episode of last season twice and I still found it difficult to follow.
Holy Doodle – my all time favourite line :-)
btw – ask them why they caved and took out all the Canadian references – city scapes, names, mailboxes, flags – everything
Similar story in the States, the ratings fell slightly on BBCA for the premiere but got a multichannel showing that combined gave it the highest ratings ever.
The 2nd episode for the States fell below all of Season 2 ratings, but it leaked early so that may have hurt it. And both networks aren’t going to let a show with that much acclaim slip through their fingers. They’ll get the next two seasons they want. I’d actually worry about pressure to keep it on longer hurting the story.