The Season 2 premiere of HBO’s The White Lotus just surpassed 1.5 million national views on Sunday night, according to Warner Bros. Discovery. This number includes both cable viewers and streamers on HBO Max.
Total cross-platform viewing was up 63% vs. the Season 1 premiere night, which drew approximately 944,000 views. The season 2 debut also experienced a 35% increase in views compared to the average debut night audience for each episode across season 1. The freshman season's average amount of viewers per episode across national platforms is 9.3 million, but the series is experiencing a resurgence of views in the past few weeks leading up to the season 2 premiere. The White Lotus ranked among the top 5 series on HBO Max last week, though the series’ record of 1.9 million viewers has yet to be broken. The first installment, which premiered in July 2021, received 20 Emmy nominations across 13 categories at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards. It won a total of 10 wins, the most wins of any program this year, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.
The White Lotus is written and directed by Mike White and made its debut as a limited series in 2021 before being renewed for a second season due to the first season's popularity. Season 1, however, did experience a slow start and gradually gained popularity via word-of-mouth. It has now transitioned into an anthology, and it is expected to be renewed for a third season. In 2022, it went on to tie with Ted Lasso as the second-most nominated program at the 2022 Emmys.
The White Lotus is an American comedy-drama series that follows the dysfunctional guests and employees of the fictional White Lotus resort chain. The first season takes place in the Hawaii location of the resort chain, while the second season takes place in Sicily. The hit series deals with current issues such as wealth, imperialism, questionable morals, and class divide. It balances humor with controversy, and is designed to create conflicting feelings in its audience, and leaves the audience expecting the unexpected.
Season 2 is executive produced by White, Mark Kamine, and David Bernad. Jennifer Coolidge and Jon Gries will reprise their Season 1 roles, and they will be joined by new cast members including F. Murray Abraham, Adam DiMarco, Beatrice Grannò, Meghann Fahy, Tom Hollander, Sabrina Impacciatore, Michael Imperioli, Theo James, Aubrey Plaza, and more.
Season 1 is currently available for streaming on HBO Max, and new episodes of Season 2 air every Sunday on HBO at 9 pm EST. Checkout the official Season 2 trailer below: