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

Homeland continues to gain steam.

Showtime’s recently renewed sophomore drama, five episodes into its latest run, hit a series high of 2.07 million viewers at 10 p.m. on Sunday. That marks the first time the series has gone north of 2 million. The series was up 19 percent from the previous week.

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It’s also the first time Showtime has aired back-to-back originals with more than 2 million viewers tuning into each. A strong outing of Dexter, hitting its biggest ratings since the season premiere, pulled in 2.28 million viewers at 9 p.m..

Both series faced strong broadcast competition from NBC’s Sunday Night Football and the final game of the World Series, which aired on Fox.

The Emmy-winning Homeland has continued to raise the bar, recently pulling a new high of 1.75 million viewers after the record-breaking premiere. The season two premiere thus far has netted 5.2 million viewers across platforms, including DVR, on-demand, encores and streaming.

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Showtime Networks president of entertainment David Nevins recently spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about the move to air Homeland and Dexter back to back — though he maintained that strength hasn’t influenced any decision about extending Dexter past its eighth and likely final season next year.

“The pairing has worked great, but Dexter is on its own creative trajectory,” he said. “I think in a lot of ways it’s been revitalized in really interesting ways this year. We’re at a point now where both shows can stand together or alone.”