It's official: Watchmen is not just some buzzy, zeitgeisty piece of pop culture — it's a bonafide hit as far as ratings go, too. The HBO fall/winter series from Damon Lindelof is a continuation of the story laid out in the 1986-7 DC comics series Watchmen written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. The series stars Regina King, Jean Smart, Jeremy Irons, Tim Blake Nelson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Hong Chau.
According to a new report from Variety, HBO has drawn an average of 7.1 million viewers across all linear channels and streaming platforms. This viewer average includes all seven episodes that have already aired (two episodes remain in the season). Additionally, HBO's ratings indicate Watchmen is the cable channel's most popular new series of 2019 and it's most-watched new series since Big Little Lies. Considering this was a year when some of HBO's biggest show's, Game of Thrones and Veep, were coming to an end and plenty of newbies like Euphoria and His Dark Materials were coming in to fill in the gaps, this is a major win for the Lindelof series.
Looking at it on an episode-by-episode basis, Variety focuses on Episode 7, "An Almost Religious Awe," which aired on Sunday, December 1. The episode drew 779,000 viewers in the Nielsen Live+Same Day ratings. This episode's numbers were the highest of any episode since the premiere, which drew 779,000 viewers and that number grew to 1.2 million across all HBO platforms on Sunday. Lindelof has been candid in his hesitation over whether Watchmen will get another season but if ever there was proof the public is hungry for more and Watchmen's home channel, HBO, has the numbers to back it up, then maybe Season 2 should become a serious consideration.
The final episodes of HBO's Watchmen will air at 9/8c on HBO on December 8 and December 15. For more, check out our exclusive interviews with Watchmen stars Regina King, Jean Smart, and Jeremy Irons.