The People v OJ Simpson Premiere Breaks Viewer Records for FX
The numbers aren't that surprising, given the pre-publicity surrounding The People v. O.J. Simpson American Crime Story, but the results are no less significant the anthology series starring Cuba Gooding Jr. as the former NFL player-turned-convicted felon netted more than 5 million viewers, a record for an FX debut. Nielsen says the first installment of the miniseries also averaged a 2.0 rating in adults 1849, which represents 2.481 million viewers. That's better than the first episode of American Horror Story, which achieved a 1.6 in 2011. Variety says the last time that an FX show broke a premiere record was in 2002 with the start of The Shield, which earned a 2.4. FX won't announce ratings until it sees three days' worth of time-shifting viewing.