FX’s ‘Sons of Anarchy’ spin-off ‘Mayans MC’ is most-watched cable TV debut

FX

• “Mayans MC” is the most-watched cable premiere of 2018
  so far. 
• The “Sons of Anarchy” spin-off dominated the night it
  premiered, and 6.8 million people have already watched
  it.
• The premiere had more viewers than the “Sons of
  Anarchy” premiere in 2008. 
• This shows that streaming services making original TV
  shows, like Netflix, haven’t completely taken over
  television.

Despite buzz dwindling for its programs over the year, FX is
still at the top of the cable TV game. 

On Monday, FX announced that its “Sons of Anarchy” spin-off
“Mayans MC” premiered with the best ratings of any new cable
series this year. This comes as no surprise, considering “Sons of
Anarchy,” which began in 2008, was a huge hit for the cable
network, and was instrumental for FX establishing itself as a
home for prestige dramas, along with shows like “The Americans”
and “Justified.”

The “Mayans MC” premiere, which aired Tuesday, September 4, had
an audience of 2.8 million adults 25-54, 2.5 million adults
18-49, and 1 million adults 18-34. Combined, these are higher
than the “Sons of Anarchy” premiere numbers in 2008. “Mayans MC”
was also the most-watched show the night it aired. 6.8 million
total viewers have watched the premiere across linear and
non-linear platforms.

The episode was the most-watched drama series premiere on FX
since 2016’s “The People vs. OJ Simpson.” And 19% of the
premiere’s viewers were Hispanic (the average for
English-language cable scripted series is 10%). 

With its record-breaking premiere, “Mayans MC” showed that
despite the binge-watching revolution and the rise of streaming
services like Netflix (and the cord cutters that have come with
them), cable dramas still have a place in television, since there
are plenty (literally millions) of people who will watch them
live on air.

Critics, however, were less enthusiastic about “Mayans MC,”
giving it a 67% score on Rotten Tomatoes (it has an 81% audience
score on the site.)

“Mayans MC” airs Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. on FX.