NBC has given a second season renewal to its original drama series Aquarius starring David Duchovny, it was announced today by Jennifer Salke, President, NBC Entertainment.
The drama series made TV history in May as the first broadcast series to be streamed in its entirety following its debut, with NBC making all 12 Aquarius episodes available online for the four weeks following its initial NBC telecast.
Duchovny stars as a 1960s LAPD cop on the hunt for Charles Manson. The cast also includes Gethin Anthony, Grey Damon, Emma Dumont, Claire Holt, Michaela McManus and Brian F. O'Byrne.
Writer John McNamara serves as executive producer with Marty Adelstein, David Duckovny and Melanie Green. Aquarius is a production of Tomorrow Studios, a joint partnership between Marty Adelstein and ITV Studios.
Salke commented, "With its riveting drama and innovative release strategy, Aquarius has excited the critics, hooked millions of viewers and energized our summer. It's no secret that the way people watch television is evolving, so we took a unique approach to how we delivered Aquarius and it's driven some record numbers for NBC Digital and helped us reach viewers who might have otherwise overlooked a great summer drama."
Added Robert Hayes, Executive Vice President of NBC Entertainment Digital, "Beyond generating some truly impressive view totals, the network's unique release strategy with Aquarius has helped us gain new insights into viewership patterns, binging behavior and social engagement, significantly expanding our knowledge of how people are watching our shows online."
Aquarius delivered the most-watched first 24 hours for a summer series premiere ever on NBC.com and the NBC App. With the surge in viewership generated by Aquarius, NBC Digital (NBC.com, the NBC app and Hulu) went on to log its biggest summer weekend ever.
NBC broadcasts of Aquarius are averaging a 1.2 rating in Adults 18-49 and 5.8 million viewers overall in "most current" results from Nielsen Media Research.
Across all platforms, the May 28 premiere of Aquarius grew by +91% in the seven days after its linear debut in Adults 18-49, from a 1.05 rating in Live+Same Day to a 2.01 across all platforms after seven days. DVR time-shifting has also been substantial for Aquarius, with the series growing by an average of +31% in Adults 18-49 going from its next-day Live+Same Day rating to its Live+3 results and by 1.1 million viewers overall.
