FX's 'Americans' Draws 3.2 Million Viewers in Premiere

New drama tops 'American Horror Story's 2011 debut in total viewers

By Andrea Morabito -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/31/2013 4:19:26 PM

FX's new drama The Americans drew 3.22 million total viewers to its 10 p.m. series premiere on Wednesday, according to Nielsen, just topping the 3.18 million viewers who watched the debut of American Horror Story, FX's last drama launch, in 2011.

The premiere episode, which ran from 10-11:38 p.m., also delivered 1.57 million adults 18-49, below the two million demo viewers for AHS. Combined with its two encore telecasts, The Americans netted 4.7 million total viewers and 2.54 million adults 18-49.

"We're very happy with premiere ratings for The Americans and, just as importantly, we're proud of the widespread critical acclaim the show has received," said John Landgraf, president and general manager, FX.  "We have no doubt that when we get the Live+7 time-shifted ratings from last night, The Americans will rank among the best series debuts ever on FX."

The Americans stars Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as KGB agents living undercover in the U.S. in the 1980s. Joe Weisberg, Joel Fields and Graham Yost are the executive producers.