After a promising ratings start, new HBO drama Westworld is showing linear ratings growth. Airing against NFL football and baseball, the third episode of the futuristic series drew 2.1 million total viewers at 9 PM. That was the largest viewership for an original linear airing of the series to date, up +7% from the series opener. For comparison, by its third episode, HBO’s most recent new drama, Vinyl, had lost -30% of its premiere audience. (The third episode of Westworld also was up from the Episode 2 linear debut by +40%, but those comparisons are skewed as HBO released the October 9 episodes of its series early because of the second Presidential debate.) Westworld also posted a new Live+same day high in adults 18-49 with a 0.9 rating for its third outing.

In multi-platform viewing, Episode 3 of Westworld was on par with the series opener, with 3.2 million total viewers Sunday night for HBO broadcasts and streams on HBO Go and HBO Now. (The premiere night total was 3.3 million).

To-date, the series premiere episode of Westworld has amassed nearly 12 million viewers, continuing to track ahead of the debuts of Game of Thrones and True Detective. The second episode is now approaching 6.5 million viewers, slightly below Episode 1 over a comparable time period (close to 7 million).‎