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August 11, 2014
 

THE SKED Friday Cable Ratings: “The Knick” Premieres Low

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Written by: Mitch Salem
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As we’ve noted before, we’ll mostly be taking a break from reporting Friday ratings until the fall season begins, but this past Friday had an arrival worth making an exception:  the premiere of Cinemax’s THE KNICK.  That show, despite the participation of director Steven Soderbergh and star Clive Owen, was designed more to draw prestige and possible awards than ratings, which is a good thing, because it certainly didn’t deliver the latter.  The first airing at 10PM was at 0.1 with 18-49s, and had 354K total viewers.  It did best with men over 50, where it was at 0.24.  Even multiplying to account for the limited households that have Cinemax, those numbers aren’t much.  (Later airings were even more microscopic, although mothership network HBO is rerunning the first episode, which may get it a bit more attention.)  Compare that to the season finale of Banshee a few months ago, which had double the total viewers and an 0.3 in 18-49s.

And yet, it will all be worthwhile for Cinemax if the Golden Globes, let alone the Emmys, give some love to the show when awards season begins.



About the Author

Mitch Salem
MITCH SALEM has worked on the business side of the entertainment industry for 20 years, as a senior business affairs executive and attorney for such companies as NBC, ABC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, and BermanBraun Productions, and before that, at the NY law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During all that, he has more or less constantly been going to the movies and watching TV, and writing about both since the 1980s. His film reviews also currently appear on screened.com and the-burg.com. In addition, he is co-writer of an episode of the television series "Felicity."