Billions Scores Biggest Premiere Numbers Ever for a New Showtime Series Across Platforms

NEW YORK: The new drama Billions had the best series debut performance ever for a Showtime original series, with 2.99 million views to date for its premiere.

The drama, which stars Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis, was sampled early across platforms to Showtime subscribers, delivering 1.6 million views prior to its Sunday night debut on Showtime, the most ever for a Showtime series. On Sunday night, Billions delivered 1.4 million viewers on the network. The prior record holder was Ray Donovan, with 2.91 million views including linear premiere night and advance sampling on subscriber platforms in 2013.

“It’s a testament to the timeliness of the subject matter, the power of its stars and the brilliance of the show creators that Billions has had such a big start,” said David Nevins, the president and CEO of Showtime Networks. “I can’t wait for our subscribers to experience how this season unfolds.”