Showtime debuted its new series City On a Hill ,starring Kevin Bacon and Aldis Hodge, Sunday night. Unlike other recent Showtime additions, like The Chi, SMILF, Kidding and Black Monday, which all launched at 10 PM behind the network’s flagship series, Shameless, City On a Hill was a self-starter, opening the night at 9 PM.
The 1990s Boston crime drama, which had been available online for 10 days prior to its TV debut, opened with 532,000 viewers at 9 PM. With replays, City On a Hill drew 765,000 linear viewers on premiere night. Adding 615,000 who have watched the premiere so far, the opener’s total viewership-to-date stands at 1.38 million.
That number was in the ballpark of other recent Showtime debuts that had also been exposed online prior to their linear premieres and had all led to Season 2 renewals.
With a strong lead-in from Shameless, the SMILF premiere drew 758,000 at 10 PM, 1.01 million viewers on premiere night. Sampling for the premiere over a two-week period drew an additional 440,000 viewers, bringing the total viewership to 1.45 million.
The Chi drew 533.000 viewers in its premiere airing against the Golden Globes; had a total opening night audience of 875,000. Adding the around 800,000 who watched the series’ pilot online over the prior month, the Chicago drama’s grad total was 1.68 million.
The Jim Carrey starrer Kidding posted 443,000 viewers for its linear debut, 787,000 for the night. The series, which had garnered 360,000 viewers for the 10-day sneak for a total of 1.15 million.
Black Monday got off to the slowest start with 327,000 for its linear debut in January.
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