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Big Little Lies debuts strong for Foxtel

Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon drama premieres bigger than Westworld or Game of Thrones launches.

US drama Big Little Lies, with Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Shailene Woodley, has recorded the largest HBO series launch in subscription history.

The first episode pulled a cumulative audience of 420,000 viewers across its multiple viewings in its first week on Showcase. The figure outranks other HBO dramas based on their first episode:

1 Big Little Lies 420,000
2 Westworld 358,000
3 Game of Thrones 208,000
4 The Night Of 202,000
5 True Detective 189,000

Brian Walsh, Foxtel’s Executive Director of Television, said, “These ratings numbers are a huge coup for a new Foxtel drama series, particularly for a premiere episode.

“It’s testament to HBO’s powerful story-telling ability, coupled with exceptional casting, and film-like cinematography, that viewers cannot wait to start watching one of their new programs.

“Our strategy is to deliver widely-anticipated premium drama to our subscribers at the same time as the US broadcast, or as close to the US broadcast as possible to ensure our market is part of the global conversation around the world’s hottest shows. By garnering the largest HBO series launch audience in our history, we’re able to see the results of these programming strategies first-hand.”

The series, based on the novel by Australian author Liane Moriarty, screens at 1pm Mondays simultaneously with the US, and again at 8:30pm.

2 Responses

  1. I’m up to episode three and so far I think it’s sublime. The three leads are fantastic, particularly Witherspoon, who shines in all her scenes. I saw someone somewhere liken this character she’s playing to that of a future Annette from Cruel Intentions (Her character from that movie…) which I think is a deliciously brilliant observation. She definitely has the more showy role, but Kidman and Woodley are great in their more understated roles. Plus we all know Dern can play unhinged really well (Enlightened anyone? R.I.P)… the males are all less impressive at the moment, but they haven’t had much to do tbh…
    All in all, I’m loving it.

  2. The ads for this show pulled me in and i was hooked from the first five minutes. agree that there is something about HBO shows that sets them apart from other companies. amazing story, filming making and cast.

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