If there’s one thing to take from Succession ending, it’s going out while the audience is still growing.
Succession Season 4 Episode 1 on Sunday scored for HBO and HBO Max, with a combined tally of 2.3 million viewers.
Total viewing for Sunday night was up 62% compared to Succession Season 3 Episode 1 (1.4 million) and 33% compared to Succession Season 3 Episode 9 (1.7M).
HBO notes that Succession Season 3 episodes went on to average 7.2 million viewers per episode across platforms.
Compared to other Sunday night HBO Original premieres, Sunday’s total viewing number was 51% ahead of the premiere of The White Lotus Season 2.
However, the series trailed House of the Dragon, The Last of Us, and Euphoria among recent HBO series.
Created by Jesse Armstrong, the ten-episode Succession Season 4 debuted on March 26, with new episodes debuting Sundays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.
The series explores themes of power and family dynamics through the eyes of patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox) and his four grown children, Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Siobhan (Sarah Snook), Roman (Kieran Culkin), and Connor (Alan Ruck).
Fans of the award-winning drama were left in shock when Armstrong announced the series would wrap with Season 4.
But it’s always best to go out when fans still want more, and that appears to be the case with Succession.
Many shows tend to lose steam as they progress, but HBO appears to have nailed a formula that allows its shows to be some of the most talked about on the air.
Succession has been a heavy hitter on the awards front, too.
The first three seasons have garnered 48 Emmy® nominations and 13 wins, including Outstanding Drama Series, for the second and third seasons.
Succession Season 3, which premiered in October 2021, earned the SAG Award for drama ensemble and swept at WGA, DGA, and PGA.
What are your thoughts on the strong numbers?
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Catch new episodes on Sundays at 9 p.m., exclusively on HBO and HBO Max.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.