A&E’s ‘Bates Motel’ premieres to 3 million viewers

A&E’s Bates Motel premiered on Monday night, getting off to a great start for the network. The series, developed by Lost’s Carlton Cuse, drew 3 million viewers for its first episode.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, that number failed to top Longmire’s premiere last season, but the show still did well in the younger demographics. It drew 1.6 million in the 25-54 and 18-49 demographics each. After subsequent airings, the show racked up 4.6 million viewers in total, 2.5 million in the 25-54 demo and 2.4 million in the 18-49 group.

While these numbers are good compared to Longmire and The Glades (the only other scripted shows on the network), it is nowhere near the numbers for Duck Dynasty. The network’s most popular show premiered to 8.6 million viewers recently, notes The Wrap.

Bates Motel received a 10-episode order and stars Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore. It is a prequel to the Alfred Hitchcock classic Psycho.

In other cable ratings news, The History Channel, another A&E network, continues to score big with The Bible and Vikings. According to Deadline, Sunday’s episode of The Bible had 10.9 million viewers, while Vikings’ third episode had 4.8 million viewers.