'Outlander' return ratings double to set record

Starz’ Outlander returned to record ratings Saturday night.

The romantic time-travel adventure drama delivered 1.5 million viewers for the first airing of its season 2 debut — double the show’s 2014 series premiere. The performance is also up 25 percent from the show’s midseason return last April.

The season 2 premiere numbers will dramatically increase once Starz adds repeats and on-demand viewing into the tally — right now the full tally stands at 2.7 million viewers and counting. In terms of next-day numbers, this is the biggest launch ever for a sesaon premiere on the network.

Outlander benefited from stronger reviews this time around, on average (here’s EW’s take). The series was also recently in the running for a Golden Globe for best drama. Plus, having a sexy EW cover that flew off the newsstands probably didn’t hurt either.