If you’re not watching The White Lotus, you’re missing out. Not only because it’s a very good show with lots of intrigue, sex, and cocaine, it’s also a genuine sensation: the Mike White-created HBO series had its best ratings yet for a second episode in a row.
Variety reports that “2.8 million viewers tuned into season two, episode six of The White Lotus on Sunday night. That number is calculated from a combination of Nielsen’s measurement of linear viewing on HBO’s cable channel and [Warner Bros. Discovery’s] proprietary data about streaming on HBO Max.” That’s a 22 percent increase from last week’s record-breaking episode, “That’s Amore,” which was seen by 2.3 million viewers.
Episodes of The White Lotus are now averaging 9.5 million viewers across platforms, which Warner Bros. Discovery says is nearly 60 percent more than the season one average at the same point in time. The season premiere has now been seen by 10.4 million people. Additionally, this is the fifth week in a row that The White Lotus has ranked as the No. 1 title on HBO Max.
White chalked his show’s success to two factors: a good gimmick (the dead body in the premiere) and nudity. “It’s funny how now that the show is airing, how much you realize a graphic sex scene or a sex scene that kind of is titillating for various reasons, does just spike and generate an interest in the populace, for better or worse,” he told NPR.
The old Italian ladies yelling about artichokes is a bonus.
(Via Variety)