The fifth episode of “The Penguin” achieved the series’ highest viewership yet on Sunday, reaching 1.8 million viewers across HBO and Max.
The Colin Farrell-led DC show has seen a few incremental ratings increases since its Sept. 19 debut. Warner Bros. Discovery initially reported that Episode 1 hit 5.3 million viewers, but that total accounted for four days of viewing across platforms, as the series began streaming on Max on a Friday before airing in its traditional Sunday timeslot on HBO’s linear channel. When Episode 2 debuted with 1.6 million viewers in one night the following week, WBD noted a 17% increase in single-day viewership, indicating that the premiere episode hit approximately 1.3 million viewers in its first night on Max.
WBD did not report a viewership total for Episode 3 of “The Penguin,” which aired on Oct. 6. But on Oct. 13, the fourth episode reached 1.7 million viewers — a roughly 6% increase — before Episode 5 jumped by another 6% to 1.8 million viewers.
While reporting Episode 5’s viewership, WBD also noted that Episode 1 had crossed 14.2 million viewers by Sunday, and that Sunday marked the best single day of viewership for the series overall, meaning that a higher number of subscribers were tuning in across episodes than ever before.
“The Penguin” is executive produced by showrunner Lauren LeFranc along with Matt Reeves, Dylan Clark, Farrell, director Craig Zobel and Bill Carraro and Daniel Pipski. Reeves’ 6th & Idaho Productions and Dylan Clark Productions produce in association with Warner Bros Television, where Reeves and 6th & Idaho are under an overall deal, and DC Studios.
