‘Better Call Saul’ Debuts Strong In Monday Slot

It didn’t smash any cable records like the Sunday premiere did, but AMC’s Breaking Bad spinoff still had a very good result last night in its regular slot. The second episode of Better Call Saul drew 3.4 million total viewers and 2.1 million among adults 18-49 on Monday at 10 PM, according to Nielsen.

While down 48% in viewership and 52% in the key demo from the glory of The Walking Dead led-in first night of its

two-night premiere, the series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould improved AMC’s five-week average in the Monday slot by 494% in total audience and 629% among the 18-49s. Rating to rating, last night’s Better Call Saul got a 1.6 compared with Sunday’s 3.4 adults 18-49 result. Last night’s demo rating for BCS is tied with preliminary numbers for CBS’ NCIS:LA and ABC’s Castle as the top result in the slot on TV on Monday.

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The first original drama in the slot, Better Call Saul replaces a Monday schedule usually filled with movies and repeats by AMC. For instance, on February 2 a Breaking Bad encore ran in the time period as a part of a marathon of the Emmy- and Peabody-winning series. The repeat of the sixth show of BB’s fifth season from 10:10 to 11:15 PM last Monday pulled in 656,000 total viewers and 322,000 in the demo. Or rather, Episode 2 of BCS beat the encore of the BB that first aired on August 19, 2012, by 418% in total viewers and 552% among adults 18-49.

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Episode 2 of the Bob Odenkirk-starring show was preceded by an encore of the first episode at 9 PM. That repeat got 1.7 million viewers with 877,000 in the 18-49 demo. Banking on a big digital afterlife, AMC said it plans to issue full results for BCS’s two-night debut sometime next week when the Live+3 ratings are in. Let’s see then how much of a launch Better Call Saul got from that prized post-Walking Dead slot and how much the ratings rocket flew solo – if you know what I mean.

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