The finale of True Detective: Night Country concluded with a bang, attracting the largest first-night audience of the season and surpassing the initial viewership numbers. The episode seamlessly integrated into CBS' lineup, following its post-Super Bowl premiere. The closing episode of Night Country on Sunday garnered 3.2 million cross-platform viewers, including the first airing on HBO, two replays later in the night, and streaming on Max. This marked the highest night one tune-in for the six-episode season. The previous week's episode accumulated 5 million viewers over three days after its early release on Max during Super Bowl weekend.
Notably, Night Country stands out as the most-watched season of True Detective to date, with an average of 12.7 million viewers per episode since its season premiere on January 14. This surpasses the 11.9 million average viewership of the show's first season in 2014. HBO tracks viewership for 90 days from a season premiere, and the availability of earlier seasons for streaming was limited as they predated Max's launch.
The season finale saw a steady increase in viewership over the six episodes, with the finale attracting approximately 57% more viewers than the season premiere and a 55% increase compared to the season three finale in February 2019. Night Country's average viewership of 12.7 million for the season outperforms the second season of The White Lotus (10.1 million viewers before its finale) and the final season of Succession (8.7 million viewers).
Setting a new record for HBO since the conclusion of Game of Thrones, The Last of Us' first season in 2023 drew over 30 million viewers per episode across all platforms within the first 90 days. In other Sunday highlights, Tracker on CBS attracted 6.64 million viewers, following its lead-in from Equalizer (6.32 million). The season premiere of American Idol on ABC saw a slight decline of about 16% from last year's debut, with 4.45 million viewers tuning in. The People's Choice Awards on NBC garnered 2.91 million viewers, excluding the simulcast on E!, compared to 3.54 million viewers on the network for the previous ceremony in December 2022.
Complete broadcast ratings for Sunday will be released later in the week, providing a comprehensive overview of the viewership landscape across various networks and shows.
