Starz' 'Torchwood' Draws Combined 1.5 Million for Premiere

Starz viewers embraced America's version of the popular British series Torchwood to the tune of a combined 1.5 million viewers for the show's July 8 premiere.

Torchwood: Miracle Day drew 1.51 million viewers for two Friday night airings - the premiere episode averaged 819,000 viewers and an 11 p.m. repeat garnered 657,000 viewers, according to Starz officials.

Torchwood's debut fell just short of the Starz record 1.57 million viewers generated by the April 1 premiere of Camelot. That series, a retelling of the King Arthur tale, was recently cancelled by the network.

Torchwood: Miracle Day, which follows original members of the Torchwood team as they work with American authorities to determine why no deaths are occurring around the world, also drew 2 million total viewers over several weekend airings, slightly behind the 2.08 million viewers generated for the Camelot premiere, the network said.

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.