History Channel's Vikings returned for its second series and premiered to decent numbers, though it was down from its debut last year without The Bible to help.
Vikings averaged 3.6 million viewers in its return, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The drama pulled in 1.7 million viewers in the key 18-49 demographic and 1.8 in the slightly older 25-54 category.
The premiere was strong enough for Vikings to have premiered as the third strongest cable program, behind American Horror Story: Coven and The Walking Dead.
When it had Roma Downey and Mark Burnett's Bible as a lead-in, the show debuted to 6.2 million viewers. Deadline reports that despite the steep drop from last year's start, Vikings' second season premiere averaged similar numbers to how the show finished out its freshmen season after Bible ended.
Without The Bible, Vikings managed a 3.6 million viewers for its last four season one episodes. With the strong History program as a lead-in, Vikings had averaged 4.3 million viewers.
image courtesy of Amazon