“The White Lotus” kicked off its third season with a ratings bang.
The Season 3 premiere of Mike White’s anthology series brought in 2.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen viewing figures and internal streaming data. The Season 3 premiere, which competed with the three-hour “SNL50” celebration, debuted simultaneously on HBO and Max on Sunday night.
That’s up 57% from the Season 2 premiere, which scored 1.5 million viewers across Max and HBO, and up a whopping 155% from the 944,000 viewers that tuned in for the series premiere in July 2021. However, the Season 3 premiere did not outpace viewership for the Season 2 finale, which scored a series-high viewership of 4.1 million as the central mystery of Season 2 was uncovered.
After 36 hours of viewing, the Season 3 premiere scored double the viewership the Season 2 premiere had tallied in the same window of time, growing 90% since its initial debut on Sunday night to reach 4.6 million cross platform viewers domestically. In Europe and Latin America, viewing for the premiere on Max more than tripled its audience compared to last season’s opener.
“The White Lotus” was the most-watched title on Max globally on Sunday night, and the show saw an 84% increase in viewing in the week leading up to the premiere compared to last season.
Viewership for the Season 3 premiere is expected to keep growing, with Season 1 going on to average 9.3 million viewers while Season 2 went on to average 15.5 million viewers.
Season 3 introduced a new deathly mystery, opening with a shooting that had Zion (Nicholas Duvernay) praying for the safety of his mother, Belinda (Natasha Rothwell). Rothwell’s Belinda was one of two familiar faces seen in the Season 3 premiere, with Jon Gries’ Greg also returning, promising to keep the thread going on the fatal twist for Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya.
In addition to Rothwell and Gries, Season 3 also includes Walton Goggins, Parker Posey, Carrie Coon, Michelle Monaghan, Leslie Bibb, Jason Isaacs, Sam Nivola, Sarah Catherine Hook, Aimee Lou Wood, Patrick Schwarzenegger and Lisa Manobal.
Plus, “The White Lotus” has already been renewed for a fourth season on HBO.
“The White Lotus” airs Sundays on HBO and Max.
