'Homeland' Eclipses 'Dexter' for First Time With Record Ratings

Kent Smith/Showtime

Homeland is having quite a year. Starting the season playing a strong second fiddle to its Dexter lead-in, the sophomore Showtime drama topped the serial killer mainstay Sunday night for the first time.

our editor recommends

'Homeland' Red Flags: Will It Crash and Burn or Soar to Greatness?

'Homeland' Hits Series High With 2.07 Million Viewers, Helps Set Showtime Ratings Record

Can 'Dexter's' Hannah and Deb Co-Exist? Yvonne Strahovski Weighs In

PHOTOS: 'Homeland': Portraits of the Emmy-Winning Cast and Creators

It also secured a ratings high in the process. Homeland's 10 p.m. outing pulled in 2.2 million viewers. That outranked the previous series high by roughly 130,000 viewers, and, adding the numbers from an encore later in the evening, gave the show a nightly total of 2.5 million viewers.

Dexter was just shy with 2.1 million viewers at 9 p.m., though the series is by no means lagging. The current run of Dexter is averaging 6.02 million gross weekly viewers across platforms. It's the show's highest-rated season, up 12 percent from last year. For Sunday, Dexter also brought in a bigger audience with its encore, giving it 2.63 million viewers for the night.

THR COVER: 'Homeland's' Secret Weapons: Inside the 30-Year Friendship That Stuck Together

These numbers come just two weeks shy of the shows' finales. Both Dexter and Homeland, which are already renewed for respective eighth and third seasons, conclude their runs Dec. 16.

Homeland, averaging 5.7 million total weekly viewers across platforms, is up 34 percent from its freshman gross viewership.