Traitors: New Blood Tops 6 Million Viewers in Three-Day Premiere
More than 6 million viewers watched each episode of The Traitors: New Blood's two-part launch within three days.
The reality programme puts non-famous players inside an organised murder-mystery game built on bluff and deceptive behaviour. They compete for a $250,000 cash prize, according to Peacock. Studio Lambert produces the show.
The launch started with a two-hour broadcast at 8 p.m. ET on Sept. 17 on NBC. The first hour drew 2.58 million viewers. The second drew 1.93 million viewers, The Hollywood Reporter reported on Sept. 25.
Repeats on Sept. 18 lifted both totals. The encore added 1.14 million viewers to the first episode and 901,000 to the second. Combined, the two episodes reached 3.72 million and 2.84 million viewers on broadcast, an average of 3.28 million.
Streaming did the heavy lifting after that. Counting multi-platform viewing, meaning broadcast plus streaming and catch-up together over three days including the repeats, each episode passed 6 million viewers, according to NBCUniversal. The first episode grew 61 percent from its broadcast total. The second more than doubled.
That three-day result set a new high on Peacock for an NBC or Bravo show. No previous series from either network had delivered larger three-day totals on the streamer.
For viewers trying to catch up, the pattern is fixed. New episodes air on Thursdays on NBC and stream on Peacock on Fridays. The Sept. 17 premiere was only on NBC live. Viewers had to tune in there first because the two-hour opening was not available to watch live on Peacock.
What makes this stand out is the slot. New Blood had the earliest launch, excluding live sport, on NBC's autumn schedule. It kept a prime-time network berth while feeding directly into streaming the next day. That gives the new cast broadcast exposure and an immediate streaming audience.
The strong start follows a big renewal for the original series. Peacock ordered three more seasons of The Traitors on Sept. 16. Season 4, which premiered in January, rose 72 percent on the prior season. That series ranks as Peacock's second-biggest title, according to Deadline.
