Fargo, FX’s much-lauded miniseries (or “limited series,” per the network’s verbiage), starring Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman, got off to a perfectly fine start in the ratings Tuesday. The first telecast of the roughly 90-minute bow drew 2.7 million viewers and notched a 0.8 rating among viewers under 50, a number that, by itself, is neither impressive nor disastrous. On the one hand, Fargo drew slightly fewer viewers than FX’s last two drama premieres, The Bridge (3 million) and The Americans (3.2 million). But its audience was also larger than several broadcast series on Tuesday. And when you fold in two additional airings of the show from last night, Fargo was actually seen by 4.2 million viewers, not far behind the 5.1 million who watched ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Assuming Fargo gets a big boost from DVR replays, as most FX series these days do, FX execs will be fine with these ratings. Not over-the-moon thrilled, but just fine.
