'Succession' Continues To Put Up Record Ratings

"Succession" continues to put up impressive TV ratings as the final season chugs along.

The fourth episode of the fourth and final season aired this past Sunday night, and viewers watched as the Roy children grappled with the death of their father and media titan Logan Roy.

Episode three - Logan's death episode - was watched by a series record high 2.5 million people in the initial Sunday night airing on linear and streaming.

Well, the record only lasted a week.

Episode four set a new record with "2.6 million viewers across HBO Max and linear telecasts," according to an HBO release.

That means "Succession" has now put up record ratings in consecutive weeks.

"Succession" is stronger than ever before.

It really shouldn't be all that surprising the HBO series put up a new record just one week after the episode that saw Logan Roy die in shocking fashion.

Episode three was a record. It only makes sense that more people would tune in for the next episode to see how everything shook out.

In fact, I'd argue it would have been very surprising if the episode from this past Sunday didn't outperform episode three.

It's important to keep things in perspective.

As I pointed out last week following episode three, "Succession" might be garnering record ratings, but it's still significantly behind the biggest hits on TV. The audience for the HBO hit is definitely much smaller and more narrow. It's a show that mostly plays to the coasts and people interested in media.

The first six episodes of “The Last of Us” averaged more than 30 million viewers, "House of the Dragon" was right around that number and the season five "Yellowstone" premiere had more than 12 million viewers.

"Succession" is popular and huge on social media. However, it's not in the same category as the shows listed above.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't be watching. "Succession" is definitely elite, and one of the best shows on TV. I can't wait to find out how the story of the Roy family shakes out.

Written by
David Hookstead is a reporter for OutKick covering a variety of topics with a focus on football and culture. He also hosts of the podcast American Joyride that is accessible on Outkick where he interviews American heroes and outlines their unique stories. Before joining OutKick, Hookstead worked for the Daily Caller for seven years covering similar topics. Hookstead is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin.