Returning to the small screen after a couple of months being on winter break, 'Outlander' proved itself to be one of the most popular fantasy shows today after opening this Saturday with more than 1.2 million viewers by 9 PM. The numbers doubled the following day, garnering a total of around 2.4 million, causing Starz to remark, "The Droughtlander has ended." (courtesy of a report from Deadline)
'Outlander' has grown its viewerbase a huge percentage since it premiered last year. When the show debuted last summer, it had 721,000 viewers. The current statistics show just how much people have come to love 'Outlander' in spite of its "feminist" tones, which is quite impressive given that Saturday's episode went head to head against the NCAA Men's Basketball semifinal (Kentucky vs. Wisconsin) airing during that time.
Speaking of the feminism shown in the popular TV series, another interesting thing to note is how women make up a huge percentage of the show's viewership: last Saturday's midseason premiere saw more than 760,000 women over the age of 18 watch 'Outlander', which was second only to the midseason finale (which brought in 887,000 female viewers).
Additionally, the return of 'Outlander' also attracted a lot of social media attention, becoming a trending topic for more than 12 hours on Facebook and Twitter during its premiere. According to Nielsen, 'Outlander' became the second highest TV show topic amongst Twitter users last Saturday.
The success earned by 'Outlander' simply shows just how open the public has become when it comes to balancing the roles of men and women in film. It was not long ago when media outlets and production companies found it difficult to cast strong and independent female characters due to the discrimination that they have received all these years. If anything, 'Outlander' has become a means of promoting gender equality in terms of roles in TV shows.
'Outlander' airs every Saturday on Starz.
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