'American Horror Story: Asylum' Finale Falls Nearly 1 Million Shy of Last Season

FX

American Horror Story: Asylum closed its doors Wednesday night, putting an end to the second season of FX's anthology series. The one-hour finale brought in an average 2.3 million viewers.

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Dead even with the penultimate episode last week, it was hardly a series record for the Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk drama. Wednesday's audience fell 40 percent shy of the sophomore season premiere, which opened to a whopping 3.85 million. It's also down from last season's 3.22 million ender.

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In the key adults 18-to-49 demo, American Horror Story was outmatched by cable competition including Discovery's Moonshiners (1.5 rating) and three syndicated outings of The Big Bang Theory (1.5, 1.5, 1.4). American Horror Story, staying even with its last original, averaged a 1.3 rating in adults 18-to-49.

American Horror Story, like some broadcast offerings, has previously been topped by Moonshiners -- and, earlier in the season, A&E's cable juggernaut Duck Dynasty. 

For the first 10 episodes of the season, live-plus-7 data gives American Horror Story 4.3 million total weekly viewers. That's shy of the freshman run's 5 million average.

FX renewed American Horror Story for a third run in November. Although no title or details have been revealed, Murphy recently teased that the series would be taking place in multiple locations -- with stars Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters all returning in new roles.

American Horror Story returns in the fall.