Positive Debut for The Americans on FX

CABLE’S NEW SPY DRAMA DRAWS MUCH INTEREST

By Douglas Pucci
Follow @SonOfTheBronx

“The Americans,” the new FX drama series which depicts an arranged marriage of two Russian KGB spies (Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell) posing as Americans, premiered with respectable sampling on Wednesday.

For its premiere telecast, which ran from 10:00-11:38 PM Eastern, the pilot episode delivered 3.22 million Total Viewers and 1.57 million in the Adults 18-49 demographic, according to Nielsen. This figure outperformed the Oct. 2011 series premiere of “American Horror Story” in Total Viewers (3.18 million), and the Sep. 2008 series premiere of “Sons of Anarchy” in Adults 18-49 (1.55 million).

“The Americans” ranked No. 1 among all networks – broadcast and cable – in the 10 PM time period in the Men 18-34 demographic (407,000).

In combination with its two re-airings in late-night, “The Americans” cumed to 4.7 million Total Viewers and 2.54 million Adults 18-49.

“We’re very happy with premiere ratings for The Americans and, just as importantly, we’re proud of the widespread critical acclaim the show has received,” said John Landgraf, President and General Manager, FX. “We have no doubt that when we get the Live+7 time-shifted ratings from last night, The Americans will rank among the best series debuts ever on FX. We’re grateful to Executive Producers Joe Weisberg, Joel Fields, Graham Yost, and to our outstanding cast led by Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys and Noah Emmerich, as well as the entire team behind this great show.”

January 2013 has been a banner month for FX. The network recorded all-time highs (in its 18-year history) in Total Viewers; Adults and Men 18-49; Adults and Men 18-34; and Adults and Men 25-54, all thanks to “The Americans,” as well as the rest of their roster of programs which include “American Horror Story: Asylum,” “Justified,” “Anger Management,” and “Archer.”

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