'Shameless' Season 2 Finale Audience Grows 26 Percent Over Last Year

Showtime

Showtime’s big finale night for Shameless, House of Lies and Californication has the premium cable network celebrating viewership numbers for all three series.

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With an audience of 1.45 million viewers for the 9 p.m. airing and 2 million total for the night, the second season finale of William H. Macy-led Shameless beat its first season-ender by 26 percent and 33 percent for the night. Over eight weeks, Season 2 averages 4.85 million total weekly viewers across all platforms (including On Demand, replays and Live+7), a 29% increase over last season. Shameless ranks as Showtime’s second most-watched show after Dexter.

Don Cheadle’s House of Lies delivered 775,000 viewers at 10 p.m. and 1.1 million viewers for the night. The series averages 3.35 million total weekly viewers across all platforms and it’s pacing to become the cable channel’s highest viewed comedy.

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Californication’s fifth season finale saw gains, as well. The David Duchovny comedy delivered 768,000 viewers at 10:30 p.m. and 984,000 viewers for the evening. That’s a 40 percent increase over last season’s finale. Season 5 currently averages 2.8 million total weekly viewers, which represents a 12 percent gain over last season.

Showtime renewed all three series in Feb. with a winter 2013 return.