'Sons of Anarchy' Premiere Ratings Hit Record High of 5.4 Million

2:08 PM PDT 9/12/2012 by Michael O'Connell

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UPDATED: FX's most-watched series sets a new bar with the start of its fifth season, jumping 10 percent from previous high and likely setting a new network record.

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The FX series, the most-watched in network history, hit a new record when it returned for the premiere of its fifth season on Tuesday night. The 10 p.m. broadcast pulled in a whopping 5.47 million viewers, 3.5 million of them adults 18-49.

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It was the number one cable broadcast on Tuesday night, growing 10 percent among total viewers from previous record-setting season four premiere. With the current numbers, the episode is on track to be network's biggest single telecast ever when Nielsen releases Live+7 data.

“It’s so rare, especially in the current fragmented environment, to see a show grow into its fifth season,” FX Networks president and GM John Landgraf. “The fact that the season five premiere episode is also likely to become FX’s highest rated telecast of all time is a testament to the quality of work Kurt Sutter, the writers, directors, cast and crew have done on this extraordinarily ambitious and riveting drama.”

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Adding two encores at 11:30 p.m. and 1 a.m., the 90-minute premiere grossed 7.5 million viewers over the course of the night.

Sons of Anarchy, created by Sutter, has already been renewed for a sixth season to air in 2013.