'The Newsroom' Debut Rating Outperforms 'True Blood' Premiere

Time will tell whether it follows up and capitalizes as "True Blood" and "Game of Thrones" so clearly did. But for a time, "The Newsroom" has a received a warm HBO welcome.

Sunday night's premiere rating lumps it into select, encouraging company. The Aaron Sorkin drama tearing away a fictitious cable news network's curtain made its anticipated bow last night to an audience of 2.7 million viewers across two airings. In the past four seasons, not many HBO series premieres have fared as well.

The initial 10 PM ET premiere garnered 2.1 million alone. The significance? Well, "True Blood" - now in its fifth season - was welcomed by 1.4 million viewers during its 2008 premiere. "Luck" and "Treme" each premiered to 1.1-million-viewer audiences. Ranking about "The Newsroom," the 2010 "Game of Thrones" premiere pulled 2.4 million and the "Boardwalk Empire" premiere the same year debuted with 4.8 million viewers.

Ironically, though, the premiere was a significant drop-off from its lead-in. A brand-new "True Blood" outing drew 4.7 million viewers in its initial 9 PM airing, around 5 million flat when accounting for its encore airing.