Cinemax’s new period drama The Knick drew some great reviews and lots of buzz, but all the attention to the show didn’t cause viewers to flock to its initial telecast last Friday. Per Nielsen, episode one of the Steven Soderbergh series attracted a modest 354,000 viewers last Friday at 10 p.m. That’s a smaller number than caught the first episode of 2011’s Strike Back (567,000) or last year’s Banshee (483,000). This doesn’t make The Knick a flop or even a disappointment for Cinemax — at all. For one thing, the show aired multiple times over the weekend, on both Cinemax and, on Saturday night, sister network HBO (where it drew 533,000 viewers). Add up all the airings and 1.7 million viewers caught the premiere of the show, a solid number for a premium network such as Cinemax. It’s also likely another million or two viewers will catch up on the premiere via VOD or replays of the show this week, as well as through yet-to-be-tallied DVR recordings. Another sign Cinemax execs aren’t too concerned with the first night numbers: They ordered a second season of it last month, before the first episode even aired.
