A whole lot of people still believe.
The opening installment of Fox’s six-hour X-Files revival drew an impressive 13.5 million total viewers on Sunday night during its first half-hour (starting around 10:25 pm), leading out of a well-watched (if lop-sided) NFC Championship game (which delivered north of 40 million viewers).
For comparison’s sake, The X-Files debuted in September 1993 to 12 million total viewers, while its 2002 series finale drew 13.3 million. A year ago, CBS’ Scorpion led out of the Colts/Patriots AFC Championship clash with an audience of 12.3 million (paired with a 3.2 demo rating).
In the demo, The X-Files scored a 5.1 rating in its first half-hour; fuller ratings are still to come later today.
TVLine readers gave the mythology-heavy episode an average grade of “B+.” Episode 2 airs tonight at 8/7c.
Broadcast TV’s only other original Sunday offering, ABC’s Galavant, did 2.1 mil and a 0.5, dipping a tenth to a new series low.
