The 2017 Showtime revival of the 90s hit television drama "Twin Peaks," a series created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, has recently concluded its 18-episode run. Although the show looked lackluster from the standpoint of live viewership, Showtime Networks CEO and President David Nevins still considered the show a success.
According to the numbers on an average Sunday night, "Twin Peaks" was rarely able to draw more than 300,000 live viewers. However, once time-shifting, encores and streaming views were included in the tally, the number jumped to 2 million.
Nevins explained that the live viewership of "Twin Peaks" represented a smaller portion of its total viewing. "When you see the Sunday night numbers, for most of our shows that would represent 20 percent of the weekly viewership," said Nevins to The Hollywood Reporter. "With Twin Peaks, it's closer to 10 percent of the total viewing."
Nevins explained that the numbers for "Twin Peaks" worked in the same way as the network's most watched series, like "Shameless," "Ray Donovan," "The Affair," "Homeland," and "Billions." "They're not that different. You notice certain patterns in how they perform," the executive said.
The premier week of "Twin Peaks" also drove the most number of free trial sign-ups for the network's streaming service. The number has been steady since then, hinting that those who signed up for the free trials have paid to continue having access to the service.
While the show was only intended for one season and there has been no talks about renewing the show for another season, Showtime programming president Gary Levine said that "the door's always open to David Lynch," if the director decides to continue the series.
The revival series was written by creators Lynch and Frost, with Lynch directing all 18 episodes. "This was a Herculean effort," continued Levine. "I'm not sure if any director has ever done 18 hours in a row of a series. It's remarkable what he achieved. Fans are liking it and for me that's what's satisfying."
