Euphoria has the internet buzzing, and it is proving to be a hit on social and digital for HBO.
For its on-air premiere during the 10 p.m. hour Sunday, the Zendaya-led show averaged 577,000 viewers, which is an average/moderate bow in itself. However, this isn’t out of the ordinary as the young adult-skewing show would likely find popularity in non-traditional viewing outside of that hour either on-demand or on HBO NOW — and it did.
It blew up to 1 million viewers when factoring in replay on the linear platform and first views on HBO GO and HBO NOW. And while HBO does not release specific streaming numbers, Euphoria had the largest premiere audience for a scripted series on HBO NOW since Westworld.
The series, which got attention prior to launch due to early positive reviews (particularly towards Zendaya’s performance) and its controversial subject matter (drugs, sex, and violence), was a hit on social media, with #EuphoriaHBO becoming the No. 1 and No. 3 trending topic in the U.S. and worldwide respectively.
There were 153,000 mentions of the show in the first 12 hours after the premiere, which is more than its lead-in Big Little Lies, which had 109,000.
Prior to its premiere, the Zendaya-led series received a glowing review of its first few episodes from us: “Zendaya masterfully and powerfully leads this brutal and emotional depiction of 2019 teenage life, obliterating her Disney image while delivering what is sure to be among the best performances on television in 2019.”
Storm Reid, Algee Smith, Austin Abrams, Nika King, Maude Apatow, Angus Cloud, Eric Dane, Alexa Demie, Jacob Elordi, Barbie Ferreira, Hunter Schafer and Sydney Sweeney round out the ensemble cast. HBO first announced the project last March, calling it a teen drama and a story of “drugs, sex, identity, trauma, social media, love, and friendship.” The story is told by “a lying, drug-addicted 17-year-old named Rue (Zendaya).”
Euphoria airs Sundays on HBO.
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Zendaya On Her Controversial HBO Series ‘Euphoria’: The First Episode Is ‘The Most Mild’
Photo: HBO
