“True Detective: Night Country” finished off with a season-high viewership for its finale, drawing 3.2 million across HBO and Max.
The Feb. 18 audience came in 57% higher than the “Night Country” premiere in January, indicating strong word-of-mouth for the six-episode season. It also marks an 18% uptick from the season’s third episode three weeks prior.
Last week, the penultimate episode of the season landed 5 million viewers, but that was across an extended window since it debuted earlier in the week ahead of Super Bowl LVIII. Warner Bros. Discovery did not release viewership date for the fourth episode of the season.
Across all episodes, “True Detective: Night Country” averaged 12.7 million cross-platform viewers. That’s higher than the previous three seasons of the HBO series, but the numbers get a boost since “Night Country” is the first season to be produced after the launch of the streaming service Max. This season’s viewership counts factor in Nielsen’s traditional measurement of linear telecasts as well as Warner Bros. Discovery’s own internal data regarding its streamer, with both counted across each episode’s first night of availability.
“True Detective: Night Country” stars Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as Liz Danvers and Evangeline Navarro, respectively — a pair of Alaskan detectives investigating the disappearance of eight scientists at the Tsalal Arctic Research Station. The cast also features Finn Bennett, Fiona Shaw, Christopher Eccleston, Isabella Star LaBlanc and John Hawkes.
In an interview with PvNew, creator Issa López discussed the resolution of the season’s mystery and the storyline’s surprising connection to the first season of the series, starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.