AMC Says ‘Better Call Saul’ Season Premiere Drove Record Signups for AMC Plus

Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill in AMC's 'Better Call Saul'
Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill in AMC's 'Better Call Saul' (Image credit: Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television)

AMC Networks said that the two-episode premiere of the sixth and final season of Better Call Saul drove record signups for AMC Plus.

AMC Plus offers subscribers early, ad-free looks at AMC original programming. The company did not say exactly how many new subscribers signed on, or how many subscribers AMC Plus has.

“It has been a long two-year wait for this final season of Better Call Saul, and the fans of the show met the moment of its return with a response befitting everything this remarkable creative team has delivered,” Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks, said. “Whether streaming on AMC Plus, watching on our linear ad-supported network or engaging on social media, the fans showed up, and last night was just the beginning of what will be an unforgettable final season of what has become a landmark series for our company and all of television.”

The first episode of the premiere, “Wine and Roses,” became the No. 1 cable drama premiere of 2022, delivering 1.4 million total viewers in Nielsen live/same day ratings and more than 500,000 adults 25-54.

The new season of Better Call Saul also generated considerable social media activity, with more than half a million engagements on the day of the premiere, up 60% from the start of Season 5. The show trended nationally on Twitter for 10 hours and was the top TV drama in social engagement, organic search, conversation and content shares, according to ListenFirst.

AMC Networks ended 2021 with more than 9 million subscribers across its portfolio of targeted streaming services, including AMC Plus, and expects to have between 20 and 25 million subscribers in 2025. ■

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.