Ray Donovan’s Sunday debut drew an audience of 1.35 million viewers, making it the most-watched Showtime original series premiere ever.
The previous record holder was Homeland in 2011, with an audience of 1.08 million.
Ray Donovan was also available On Demand for two weeks before its premiere. With those numbers and the show’s second run on Sunday night, the series premiere boasted a total audience of over 3 million (via the LA Times).
The new drama series, which stars Liev Schreiber as a “fixer” for Hollywood’s rich and famous, will have a twelve-episode first season and has garnered a great deal of critical acclaim.
Additionally, Dexter (the lead-in to Ray Donovan) set a season premiere record of 2.5 million viewers with the beginning of its eighth and final season.