The People v. O.J. Simpson premiere breaks viewer records for FX

The numbers aren’t that surprising, given the pre-publicity surrounding The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, but the results are no less significant; the anthology series starring Cuba Gooding Jr. as the former NFL player-turned-convicted felon netted more than 5 million viewers, a record for an FX debut.

Nielsen says the first installment of the miniseries also averaged a 2.0 rating in adults 18–49, which represents 2.481 million viewers. That’s better than the first episode of American Horror Story, which achieved a 1.6 in 2011.

Variety says the last time that an FX show broke a premiere record was in 2002 with the start of The Shield, which earned a 2.4.

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FX won’t announce ratings until it sees three days’ worth of time-shifting viewing.

The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.