Presidential Debate Overshadows 'Westworld'

HBO tried an interesting strategy for keeping its expensive new series Westworld from being totally obliterated by last week's presidential debate, and it's too early to tell if it worked. Judging by traditional ratings numbers, though, was no match for the real-life political intrigue over the weekend.

Westworld was up against the debate and NFL football on Sunday evening, and the debate won handily. Debate broadcasts and debate analysis on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel all drew more viewers than Westworld did. That wasn't anything to be ashamed of, since no other programming was able to compete with the debate.

Perhaps more concerning, though, is the fact that Westworld's ratings tied with those of Basketball Wives: LA and Family Guy on Adult Swim. Westworld's ratings were also down by about 12 percent compared to ratings for its debut episode the previous week.

To avoid being totally shut out by the debate, however, HBO made the second episode of Westworld available for streaming on its HBO Go and HBO Now platforms two days before its air date. HBO says that 2.7 million people watched the episode via those streaming platforms and on the air by the end of the weekend. That's down substantially from the viewership of the first episode, but it's not terrible considering the inhospitable situation the series faced.

Next weekend's third episode should give a clearer picture of just how much fans are enjoying the new series.