TV Ratings: A&E's 'Bates Motel' Opens Doors to 3 Million Viewers

A&E Network

"Bates Motel"

Viewers checked into Bates Motel on Monday night.

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Bates Motel: TV Review

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A&E's heavily promoted Psycho prequel averaged 3 million viewers during its inaugural telecast. Although that's down in viewers from last summer's Longmire launch, Bates made up for it in both adult demographics.

The original scripted drama had an especially promising start with adults 25-54 and adults 18-49, pulling 1.6 million viewers in both measures. Across multiple broadcasts, Bates Motel brought in 4.6 million total viewers, including 2.5 million adults 25-54 and 2.4 million adults 18-49.

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By comparison, last summer's debut of Longmire hit a network best for an original premiere with 4.1 million total viewers. That same episode pulled in 1.4 million adults 25-54 and a 0.8 rating with adults 18-49. During the course of its freshman season, Longmire rose to 4.5 million viewers before eventually finishing its run with 4.3 million and a high (1.6 million) among adults 25-54. Fellow A&E original The Glades maxed out around 3.4 million viewers during its last season.

A&E has long valued the older adults, but Bates Motel's equally strong performance with 18-49, coupled with Duck Dynasty's record demo hauls, show the network originals are starting to skew younger.
 
Bates Motel was developed for TV by Lost vet Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin (Friday Night Lights), who serve as showrunners, and is produced by Universal Television and Carlton Cuse Productions. It received a straight-to-series order in July for a 10-episode season.