Dirty John opened to strong ratings for Bravo, becoming the most-watched scripted telecast in the cable network’s history.
Granted, Bravo doesn’t have a deep history of scripted programming, but the performance of the limited series is considerably higher than that of the No. 2 all-time scripted show on the channel. Dirty Johnalso finished ahead of most other scripted shows on cable for the week of Nov. 19-25.
After three days of delayed viewing, the Dirty Johnpremiere brought in 2.09 million viewers — 41 percent more than the second most-watched scripted show ever on Bravo (that would be the 2014 series debut of Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce, with 1.48 million). That puts it in the same ballpark as the cabler’s unscripted series The Real Housewives of Orange County (2.25 million) and Below Deck (2.24 million).
The premiere also averaged 826,000 viewers in the adults 18-49 demographic — a 0.64 national rating — and just over 1 million adults 25-54. Add in replays (including those on USA, E! and Oxygen) and streaming, and the total audience grows to 3.8 million viewers.
Dirty John also outperformed nearly every other scripted series on cable for the week of Nov. 19. It only trailed The Walking Dead in adults 18-49 and 25-54, and finished in a virtual tie for second in viewers (with OWN’s Greenleaf finale) and adults 18-49 (with Doctor Who on BBC America).
The series from showrunner Alexandra Cunningham and Universal Cable Productions landed a two-season order with Bravo. Season one, based on a podcast and series of articles from the Los Angeles Times, stars Connie Britton and Eric Bana.
(Excerpt) Read more in: The Hollywood Reporter