Episode 5 of “True Detective: Night Country” has reached 5 million viewers since its early release on Max, shifted to Friday, as its usual Sunday night timeslot coincided with the Super Bowl. This figure accounts for first-party data regarding streams through the weekend combined with Nielsen’s measurement of HBO‘s Sunday night telecast.
While this does mark the highest-reported viewership for the season thus far, it’s important to note the change in measurement: The 5 million viewers were counted across the entire weekend, while previous data — 2.7 million viewers with Episode 3, 2.6 million with Episode 2 and 2 million with Episode 1 — only included one night of viewership on HBO and Max. These statistics represent a combination of Nielsen’s measurement of linear telecasts with Warner Bros. Discovery’s own data regarding streams.
Episodes 1 and 2 are averaging 12.7 million viewers to date, a number HBO says makes “Night Country” the most-watched season of the series, overtaking Season 1’s 11.9 million average. “Night Country” is also outpacing the performance of the most recent comparable titles on HBO: At similar points within their runs “The White Lotus” Season 2 was averaging 8.6 million viewers and “Succession” Season 4 was averaging 7.9 million viewers.
“True Detective: Night Country” stars Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as Liz Danvers and Evangeline Navarro, respectively. The two detectives investigate the disappearance of eight men who operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station in Ennis, Alaska. Finn Bennett, Fiona Shaw, Christopher Eccleston, Isabella Star LaBlanc and John Hawkes star alongside Foster and Reis.