According to the L.A. Times, the first episode of Cosmos, a Spacetime Odyssey, drew 5.8 million viewers on Fox last night. Not horrible, but hardly a, um, stellar performance.
Instead of true science, more viewers seemed to prefer sci-fi drama, with 13.3 million tuning in to the launch of ABC’s Resurrection, about the dead returning to life.
On the other hand, Cosmos‘ numbers should increase due to its spread-out distribution model.
[I]t premiered simultaneously on 10 networks, including Fox, National Geographic, FX and FXX. …. Given the broad distribution, plus the time-shifting capabilities of DVRs, Cosmos might ultimately yield a decent audience.
(Hemant adds: It’s also worth noting that Long Island Medium, another show involving dead people communicating with the living, was trending on Twitter last night at a rate outpacing the Cosmos chatter. While it’s on basic cable and didn’t have the Fox-boosted ratings, it’s still a disappointing outcome. However, Cosmos Executive Producer Seth MacFarlane just pointed out on Twitter that the show reached anywhere from 12-17.5 million people.)
