Twin Peaks season 3 premiere ratings shockingly low

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When Twin Peaks first aired on television screens, it was an unexpected hit with viewers and has since developed into something of a cult sensation.

It would be entirely expected, then, that the show's return in 2017 would spark a similar frenzy; however, the ratings for the season premiere seem to speak otherwise.

Deadline reports that only 506,000 viewers in the US tuned in to the watch the two-hour, two-episode premiere of season 3.

That set it behind both of its direct Sunday night competitors, HBO's The Leftovers and Starz's American Gods; at 770,000 and 631,000 viewers respectively, even though both are midway through their seasons.

However, it's not too much a cause for concern, and perhaps far more an indication of how viewers choose to consume this kind of work.

Perhaps because it's near impossible to really spoil anything produced by David Lynch, it looks as if the weight of viewership fell on Showtime's on-demand services, with Deadline also reporting the network saw the single biggest day and weekend of signups ever for its streaming service, Showtime Anytime and Showtime On Demand.

"In the world that we live in now, offering original programming that attracts new subscribers is our primary business objective," said David Nevins, President and CEO, Showtime Networks in a statement. "By that standard, the Twin Peaks premiere is the biggest single-night driver we’ve ever had."

Twin Peaks airs 2am on Mondays on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV with the Entertainment Pass, in a simulcast with the USTwin Peaks airs 2am on Mondays on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV with the Entertainment Pass, in a simulcast with the US airing on Showtime. The episode will then be shown again at 9pm on the following day. You can catch up now on season one and two via Sky Box Sets and NOW TV.