TV Ratings: ‘Power’ Eclipses ‘Spartacus’ as Starz’s Biggest Draw

Power continues to click for Starz. The drama, which proved a big draw for the pay cable network last summer, returned Saturday with its sophomore season premiere — and the episode now ranks as the most watched (pre-DVR) in network history.

Ahead of time-shifting, the premiere telecast of the episode drew 1.43 million viewers. With encores over the course of the weekend, it grossed 3.62 million live-plus-same-day viewers. That pushes Power past Spartacus: Vengeance‘s 3.33 million stat for the largest weekend haul of any Starz original to date.

Over the course of its freshman season, Power pulled an average 4.7 million viewers per episode with time-shifting and encores. If the show keeps up the premiere momentum, it will easily eclipse that number.

Compared to the series premiere week a year ago, Power was up a whopping 79 percent.